Instead of sports or science, this summer camp teaches kids about Arabic arts and culture

At the end of June, 7-year-old Jana Matta-al-Sholi learned that there are four different ways to say the word “drum” in Arabic.

She listened to Arabic folktales from the “A Thousand and One Nights” and “Kalilah and Dimna” story collections, practiced self-defense, made new friends, and even got to do some traditional Arab drumming.

“It was loud and it was really cool. I liked the instrument,” she said.

Jana was one of about 40 children who attended the Arab Arts and Culture summer camp, run by the West Philly-based nonprofit organization Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture. Over two weeks, campers ages 5 to 14 met at Germantown Friends Meeting to learn Arabic language and calligraphy, music, art and more.

While Al-Bustan offers programming for children and adults in the community throughout the year, the summer camp is its flagship program, designed as an opportunity for Arab and non-Arab kids alike to come together over cultural discovery and exploration.

Al-Bustan’s founder, Hazami Syed, began the camp in July 2002 so that her children would have a place to feel validated in their identity, while welcoming all kids from the community at the same time.

“It was rooted in this idea of Arab American kids being able to feel comfortable in a space where they [are] sharing cultural experiences and learning more about history and language,” said Lisa Volta, Al-Bustan’s interim executive director.

“But also a place that brought others in through the arts ... to engage and learn more about something maybe a little bit different and new [to them].”

For Eissa Attar, a camp counselor, it felt “really beautiful” to watch kids of mixed heritage bond with each other. Whether they were Arab, African American Muslims, Jewish or Christian, they were all there to learn.

“For them, there’s kind of no difference. They all treat each other as equal,” he said.

Attar, 23, is a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania. He grew up in Saudi Arabia, and enjoyed sharing what he grew up learning with the children, such as traditional folktales, vocabulary, and history. In some ways, he said, it made him feel like a kid again.

“They always want to talk about the Middle East and their origins. ... And it feels like they really enjoy the free space that they have here to discuss their beautiful heritage,” he said.

That’s refreshing for him to see. Attar said that, sometimes, children from immigrant families aren’t as interested in embracing their heritage.

“A lot of kids who come from immigrant families sometimes are embarrassed of their culture. And I just want them to be proud of their culture and to be proud of their language. And to feel comfortable talking about it,” he said.

As Amani Abduh taught the children Arabic language and calligraphy over the two weeks, she knew not to expect her students to hold on to more than just the very basics after the camp ended.

While they did practice identifying different styles of Arabic calligraphy, how to write with a qalam (a pen made from reed), and learning new words through reading Arab folktales, Abduh’s larger goal instead was to gently shift their thinking.

“We try to open the door for them to get exposed to a different culture,” she said. “I hope that they keep the door open and they go through it to explore more about the Arabic culture and Arabic language.”

One example she gave was teaching the campers an essential greeting in Arabic, as-salamu alaykum, which means “peace be with you.”

“This is the very first thing in our culture — peace. So, you let them think about it. We don’t tell them, ‘look how we love to be in peace,’ ... [but] when your greeting is peace, that means you believe in peace,” she said.

The camp ended on June 28 with the campers performing some of the Arabic language and music that they learned for their parents. But Al-Bustan’s impact may already be with the campers.

Attar witnessed some of that subtle openness in the children’s lunchboxes each day. It made him smile seeing some of the Arab kids with foods he ate growing up, such as a traditional Egyptian dish. But he saw even more of the effect that the camp was having when he looked at other kids’ lunches.

“[I saw] some of the non-Arab kids also feel inspired to incorporate Arab cuisine into their lunchbox because of the camp. One of the kids was telling me how she’s learning to make Tunisian toast and how she really loves za’atar,” he said.

“It’s really fun to see people that don’t come from an Arabic speaking family also be very interested in the culture and [learning] more about [it],” he said. “I don’t think that a lot of American families have access to learn about the beauty of Arabic culture.”