Welcome To The Colorado Heritage Camps, Inc.

“African/Caribbean Heritage Camp was about letting our children (and our whole family) be a part of something, of finding a place of belonging, and being so supported by everyone (other kids, families, and those awesome counselors!)” - ACHC Parent Comment

African/Caribbean Heritage Camp (ACHC) celebrates its 12th year in 2010 and remains one of the only camps of its kind in the country. This year's camp theme is "Living Transracially: It's not Black or White."

The mission of this camp is to celebrate the heritage of all adopted children of the African Diaspora. Our children hale from the United States, Africa and the Caribbean. We may be viewed outside our community as families of black and white people together, with no immediate understanding of our blended cultures and heritage. Our 2010 camp and presenters will help us explore the unique gifts and the challenges that come with our mostly transracial adoptive families and how we can inspire others to see our families differently, hopefully beyond color.

Colorado Heritage Camps developed ACHC for families who adopted:

We are excited to announce that this year, ACHC will again be held at Augustana Lutheran Church (camp is not affiliated with this church or any church, just using it's marvelous space!) in Denver, Colorado, Augustana is centrally located in Denver with easy access to and from Denver International Airport and the major interstates that serve the Denver area.

Last year we found this space and location gave us many more opportunities ot involve the cultural communities of African, Haitian, and African American communities in Denver. It is difficult for some of the people who really want to work with us and with our kids to take the time off work (many are small business owners) to come up to camp for a long weekend. In Denver, they can find a couple of hours here and there to come and be part of camp, and last year they did! We believe this "urban experience" will be a positive way to more fully immerse ourselves in cultures of the African Diaspora.

Also, last year was our biggest camp yet! It is more affordable for families to attend a camp in Denver (hotel rates are just $79 per night and include a full breakfast), so the family involvement has been able to grow and flourish at this location as well! We expect even more in 2010, and we have the room to grow!

As an urban camp, ACHC in Denver will also offer opportunities for families to explore and enjoy the many sights of the Denver/Boulder area. More information about what to see and do in the Denver/Boulder area can be found at www.Denver.org.

Registration materials are available, so NOW is the time to request registration information to be placed on our mailing list.

All are welcome, please join us!
Adopting internationally from Africa or Haiti and adopting African American children domestically offer very different experiences for our families. Colorado Heritage Camps is working very hard to provide a camp experience that serves both families of domestic and international adoption.
We are glad to continue the tradition of providing a warm and welcoming place for children to be with other adoptees who have a common racial background and therefore some common experiences growing up in North America.
Our children may face life experiences that will most likely differ from our experiences in the world. One of the best and truest parts of camp is sharing your story with other parents from all over the country about our parenting journey.

What's happening in 2010?

ACHC runs as a family camp with programming for all ages primarily led by African-Americans who hail from the United States or immigrated from Africa or the Caribbean, just like our campers. We are developing growing connections with the Ethiopian and Haitian communities in Colorado and hope to build on these connections in the years to come.

During the weekend of camp, 3 to 18-year-old campers join their peers for cultural activities, which include everything from dancing to drumming to customs to crafts and so much more, plus some outdoor summer camp fun. African-American counselors serve as role models and mentors to the children during camp.
Depending on the registration size, we typically group the kids as follows:

· Daycare – two to three year olds
· PreKindergarten/Kindergarten – three to five year olds
· Elementary – 1st to 5th Grade
· Middle School/High School

Note: Depending on the number of campers in each grade, campers may be formed into smaller sub-groups.

Life-long learning: workshops for adoptive parents
While our kids enjoy summer in Colorado, we parents participate in cultural and adoption-related sessions to help us celebrate the blessings and navigate the challenges inherent to our trans-racial adoptive families.
Adult family members attend cultural and adoption-related workshops facilitated by various experts and professionals. Many are African-American, including the ever-popular Adult Adoptee Panel, and are experts in their topics. In the past, camp has offered various topics including:

· Navigating adoption and attachment issues
· African and/or caribbean cooking
· African and Caribbean traditions, including dance and drumming performances
· African-American History
· Exploration of current African American culture
· Exploration of race and transracial family issues
· Access to adult African American transracial adoptees
· Hair and skin care

We have started work on camp programming ideas for 2010 and plan to deliver a unique blend of culture and adoption topics. Some confirmed events so far include:

· Caribbean lunch
· Haiti’s future – what happens now and how we can help
· Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony
· Ethiopian Dance performance
· Ethiopian Cooking Workshop
· African Hair Braiding

Stay tuned for more events to be confirmed in the coming months.
Again, we are very excited to meet families who have adopted both domestically and internationally and hope we can continue the tradition of providing a warm and welcoming place for children to be with other adoptees who have a common racial background and therefore some common experiences growing up! Our children may face life experiences that will most likely be different than their adoptive parents' experiences! Come share with families from around the country who participate in this fabulous family experience!
Thinking about giving camp a try but want to know more?

Click here to read our Frequently Asked Questions and
"Four Days in the Life of Heritage Camp"

For more pictures of African/Caribbean Heritage Camp 2009 click here

Though we have generated some good support from Denver's African American, African, and Haitian communities, we still need YOUR help. We need more community volunteers to work with the kids, teach workshops, cook authentic cultural meals, perform dance and music, etc., MOST importantly, we are looking for high school and college-aged African Americans to be counselors at camp, acting as role models for the children and spending time with them throughout the two days of camp. Please consider volunteering for this rewarding position!

As a non-profit 501 C(3) organization, African/Caribbean Heritage Camp is always seeking financial assistance to help keep camp costs reasonable for families, and still provide an outstanding program. If you'd like to help, please go to the Donations section of this web site, and thank you very much in advance.

We are also in need of donations of frequent flier miles to help defray costs of out of state speakers. If you have miles you can donate please email us at info@heritagecamps.org

We hope to see you at camp this summer. For further information, please contact us.