Mona Eldadah first started Camp Ramadan with the goal of getting fasting Muslim children off the sofa during the holy month of Ramadan, and into fun activities that were both creative and unifying. “I felt like kids were having this isolated experience fasting at home, and felt like, ‘Ugh, I’m the only one doing this,’” explained Ms. Eldadah, an interior designer and a mother of four.
Camp Ramadan is a week-long camp at the end of the month, where kids can fast together while also doing camp activities. The camp has reached its largest number of campers to date at 101, and according to the Washington Post “has acquired the reputation as a place where D.C.-area Muslim kids can learn about and practice a core Muslim tradition, while making friends, creating art and talking freely about current affairs.”
Activities for the campers range from the youngest children learning about the animals of the Quran to teens meeting acclaimed Afghan American author Nadia Hashimi who read a passage from her new book “One Half from the East” about an Afghan girl whose parents disguise her as a boy in the restrictive Afghan society.
Camp directors say Muslim summer camps are taking off in the United States and Canada as first and second-generation parents look for fun and creative ways to preserve the Islamic faith and culture with their children.
