Reclaiming the Cosmos for Teens and Young Adults

Youth Eco-Spirituality Leadership Camp

Spirituality and Environmental Awareness
Through Meditation and Nature Experiences

Photo by Malak,Copyright ©1999

Program for Youth

High School Students (Ages 14 – 18 or Grade 9 to OAC) plus young adults up to age 22

Deepen your connections to the earth through a curriculum that is simultaneously scientific and sacred, serious and fun, and capable of awakening young minds to a depth of awe.

The Youth Training Camp is a unique 8-day course, designed to support students while they develop a deeper sense of self through environmental leadership and eco-spirituality training.  

Now in its sixth year, our program provides high school and older students with an opportunity to explore various ecosystems through bio-regional (life-place) mapping and hands-on land use applications. By understanding flora and fauna and learning about restoration projects, students can develop and further a passion for science and embrace their role as the next generation of earth-keepers.

“Thank you so much for a really interesting and motivating week.  You have changed the way I will view things forever.”  -- youth camp counsellor, 2002.

Three essential areas of course content are:

•    Environmental training via field experience and teachings in bio-regional mapping, permaculture, environmental technologies, sustainable farming, management of waste, energy, water and health.

•    Natural Law and Eco-spirituality through exploration of diverse spiritual perspectives, cultural traditions and experiences of nature.

•    Leadership training through presentation, facilitation and communication skills; conflict resolution; team building; networking; self-empowerment; project management.

Six Goals of the Youth Training Program are to:

• Explore different philosophies and practical approaches to land use, construction, agriculture, and the management of waste, energy, water, and health;


• Practice, through hands-on field experience utilizing materials, methods and technologies in each of the above areas;
  


• Receive training in the Cosmic Camp for Kids Curriculum to be used with children to foster their own sense of awe and wonder towards the earth;
  


• Receive support in discovering and further developing their own unique and individual leadership qualities;
  


• Experience and develop skills in initiating and facilitating cooperative, co-creative group/team activities; 


• Apply leadership qualities and skills through a variety of environmental assignments and field activities. 

Curriculum Content

Indigenous/spiritual teachings on Natural Law, Sacred Law and the Ecological Balance Laws.

Teachings on Permaculture and Integrated Systems. Videos including different speakers from around the world, versed in Natural Law from diverse cultural perspectives will also be included.

The youth will be participating in periods of reflection to deepen their connections to the earth. This program is a unique opportunity for youth to see the reclamation work they are doing in the context of ecological and spiritual values. Participants will gain insights into the renewal of our bioregions flowing out of reverence for the sacredness of Creation.

Our mission is to move hearts to respond to our urgent ecological crisis and to direct them to effective means to remedy the ills.

Activities include:

•    Guided Meditations
•    Outdoor Nature Experiences
•    Teachings in Ecology & Spirituality
•    Leadership Skills Training
•    Hikes, Nature Identification
•    Great Food    
•    Swimming and Sauna
•    Option to stay on as a counselor at the Cosmic Camp for Kids  

Program Details

When:	TBA, 2006
Location:	TBA
Fee:	$300 (includes food and lodging for 8-day overnight program, and all program materials).
Application deadline:	May 20th, 2006

      

“The camp has given me a chance to see nature through the eyes of a child, allowing me to gain a greater respect for nature and my place in the universe”   --youth camp counsellor, 1999

Option to Work as a Counselor

Youth camp registrants may also apply to be to be hired on as a camp counselor for the Cosmic Camp for Kids.  Cosmic Camp for Kids takes place in July, 2006.  Our non-profit Cosmic Camp gives inner city kids the opportunity to experience the wonders of the natural world and explore current environmental issues.

Students that become counselors may earn credit towards their required volunteer hours and an honorarium, or be eligible for the Summer Youth Employment Program funded in part by the Ontario Government.

“I wouldn’t want to work with anyone but inner city children from now on” – Youth Camp Graduate and Cosmic Camp for Kids Counselor, 1999.


Camp Staff

We have an enthusiastic team, excited about offering this program because of the role that these young people will have in the world for years to come.


Marianne Karsh, B.Sc.F., M.Sc.F.

Marianne Karsh is the Director of Arborvitae and the Youth Camp. She has been leading eco-spiritual retreats and workshops in Canada since 1982.   Marianne worked as a Forest Research Scientist for over 20 years in Ontario, Newfoundland and Iceland. She is co-author of “Trees, Forestry and the Responsiveness of Creation,” published in This Sacred Earth: Religion, Nature and the Environment, a text book used widely in the U.S.

An experienced facilitator, Marianne has a deep passion for re-connecting people to the Earth. She has studied extensively at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto and is an associate of the Sisters of St. John the Divine (Anglican). She is well versed in Christian, Native and other spiritual traditions as they relate to nature and incorporates these into her ecological teachings that are grounded in hope. She is a member of the Jesuit Ecology Project, which is sponsored by the Jesuit Centre for Social Faith and Justice.

Author, scientist, world traveler and seminar leader, Marianne Karsh has been featured in articles and the media including The Globe and Mail, Woman’s Television Network and Vision TV. She is the daughter of award winning photographer Malak Karsh and is the niece of Yousuf Karsh. She shares their love of beauty that touches the soul.

“Ms. Karsh is not only reconnecting [workshop participants] to nature but also reconnecting them to the sacred archetypes of the spirit.” Michael Valpy, Globe and Mail.


Lois Zachariah BSc, MSc; and Kuruvila Zachariah MA, PhD   

With degrees from around the world (Princeton, Tambaram, Oxford, Alberta, Connecticut), Lois and Kuruvila have been working for 30 years in education and research at Conestoga College and the University of Waterloo.  For 25 years, they have been members of Christian Life Communities (CLC) of English Canada, serving as national co-presidents for two years. 

Today, Lois and Kuruvila are dedicated to guiding small groups toward becoming the primary agents of ecological renewal.  They serve on the Jesuit Ecology Project, Guelph, Ontario, under the Jesuit Centre for Social Faith and Justice. In 2002, Lois and Kuruvila co-authored (with John English, sj) Twenty-four Spiritual Exercises for the New Story of Universal Communion, a collection of Ignatian prayers with an ecological, communal focus.

“We are committed to finding and making God known in and through nature.  We achieve this through retreat leadership and education centered in a spirituality of balanced living.” – Lois and Kuruvila Zachariah


Katie Davidman, M.A.

For the last year, Katie Davidman has coordinated a grassroots multifaith ecology & social justice project called Faith & the Common Good.  Katie has spent time living in ecologically-oriented community settings in Canada and India, and has been investigating the intersections of ecology, spirituality and community for the last three years.  Katie is currently a public policy researcher and a volunteer community conflict mediator, based in Toronto.


Resource People

Arborvitae brings in local resource people and experts to help facilitate various parts of the program.   


Setting

TBA

Accomodations

TBA

To Apply

Contact Marianne Karsh for an application package:

Marianne Karsh
416.925.4051

Deadline: Applications submitted on or before May 20th , 2006 will be given priority.  Early registration is recommended, spaces are limited.

Arborvitae
804 - 60 Pleasant Blvd.
Toronto, Ontario, M4T 1K1

  WORKSHOPS| CALENDAR OF EVENTS | |RECENT PROJECTS| PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA | COSMIC CAMP FOR KIDS | |PROGRAM FOR YOUTH |
YOUTH PAGE BY COUNSELORS | |NATURE AND SPIRITUALITY BOOKS | LINKS |