From Islands to Ambassadors: A Journey Begins at Camp Erdman

The warm sunshine, salt air from the crashing waves, & gentle tradewinds greeted the 4 enthusiastic Junior Ambassadors to Camp Erdman in April.  Over the 2 day camp, JAs spent hours learning the hula, Ka Uluwehi O Ke Kai, and Oli Mahalo, which they will be performing at the We Are The BRIDGE Festival in Fukuoka this July. Importantly, they had fun connecting with each other, expanding their teamwork ability, and began developing their skills as global citizens representing Hawaii.

Camp was the second time these selected JAs met. Key to camp's success was the wonderful attitude of each JA to embrace each experience. They were willing to work hard, self-reflect, pitch in, pull together through fun and even the not-so-fun tasks covered. Through this awesome weekend experience they felt they got to know each other better laughing and collaboratively problem-solving through a wide-variety of team-building activities. They JAs especially enjoyed playing GaGa Ball, a variant of dodgeball, swimming, making unlimited s'mores at the campfire, & the connections we created over food.  They came to camp as individuals and left camp more confident to travel independently after experiencing a sense of synergy.

Mahalo to Marsha & Saki, JASH staff, who came out to ensure we had a great start to camp, Wendy & Sean who led and chaperoned the Junior Ambassadors, and the many wonderful Camp Erdman Staff for organizing the team building activities, accommodating our group, as well as the delicious meals!