Phone: 1.800.775.1797

Focusing on cultural identity and diversity, children will be taught to identify their culture, recognize the many others that exist, and embrace the differences. They will be afforded a platform where they can ex-press their identity in their own words and learn about the different cultures that exist in America and around the world. Children will be asked to participate in fun and interactive exercises where they have to use food, language, and music as socializing tools to identify commonalities and learn more about them-selves and each other. The children will hopefully walk away with a better understanding of themselves and the world around them.

BILEN MANDEFRO is an educator, adviser, motivator, and training specialist with wide-ranging ex-perience working with learners in both the collegiate as well corporate centralized training environ-ments. Bilen works for Strayer University, currently serving as a Manager of Learning and Development where she is responsible for the creation and delivery of academic training programs for employees at the university. Bilen holds a Master of Science in Human Resource Management and Organizational Development from Strayer University and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and Conflict Man-agement from Wright State University of Ohio. In her free time, Bilen enjoys reading and traveling. She also volunteers with the DC Public Schools (DCPS) Beautification Day efforts and Teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) classes in her community.

In celebration of or 10th year anniversary, this year we have selected the two commonly accepted Ethiopi-an traditional drinks of celebration, Tella & Tej to be demonstrated and discussed during the Adult Cook-ing Session. We are especially proud to have two moms leading our cooking sessions and sharing with you the joy, camaraderie and true love that goes into Ethiopian home cooking and celebrations. We are also bringing back the most favored cooking session yet, “Let’s Make Dabo Kolo” for the children’s cooking session.

Teshager Tesfaye, the founder of Tologood, will introduce the cooking lesson. Tolofood is a food delivery service that is being launched in North America, which specializes in rapid delivery of Ethiopian food from your favorite local Ethiopian food establishment.

ROSA EBEYAN MULETA: Rosa is an Ethiopian-American mother and grandmother who has lived in the United States since 1975. She came to the United States with her husband and two young sons for her college education. After completing her Masters in Economics at the University of Nebraska, she had a distinguished 25-year career at the World Bank from where she retired in 2005. After her formal retirement, she worked for several more years as a senior consultant to the World Bank. Rosa enjoys cooking for her family, which includes her three Ethiopian-American grandchildren. Besides her deli-cious homemade Ethiopian dishes such as siga wot, misr wot, and Ethiopian style spaghetti, she bakes her signature (American) coffee cake, which is loved by all that have tasted it. Rosa acquired her culi-nary skills in childhood by observing other good cooks.

MARTA EBEYAN: Marta lives in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and is visiting her family here in the US. She is retired from a distinguished 40-year career working in many capacities for first the Lion Insurance Company and later for the Ethiopian Insurance Corporation. Marta is one of the most energetic and positive people you will meet. She is an excellent cook and is adept in both Ethiopian and European cooking. Besides cooking, Marta enjoys traveling to visit family and especially looks forward to spending time with her daughter Lily who lives in Paris, France. Like her older sister, Rosa, Marta also acquired her culinary skills in childhood by observing other cooks.

Our camp has a special focus on language, as we strongly believe language is key in connecting our kids to their heritage and culture. As such, we continue to offer both children’s and adult’s language classes. This year we have language session with a bit of a twist – Message In አማርኛ! …and we can’t wait to see the outcome.

DEREJE DESTA is the Manager of Business, Africa, for AudioNow. Dereje was the founder and Pub-lisher of Zethiopia, a Washington, D.C. based, bilingual (Amharic and English) newspaper where he currently serves as editor-at-large. He is a veteran journalist who has served as a television and radio host & producer, and editor for more than 20 years in the U.S. and Ethiopia. He reported and contribut-ed to NPR’s “Latitude” show, and won an award for international affairs reporting from New America Media and the American University. Dereje graduated from Addis Ababa University, in 1991, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Ethiopian Languages & Literature. He has shared his experience in journalism at public forums in Washington for congressional staffers at the U.S. Capitol, the George Washington Uni-versity, the American University, the U.S. Library of Congress, and National Public Radio.

The Natural Hair Care for Children is an instructive and informative discussion that will explain how to care for both girl and boys natural hair. This fun and easy workshop will take the guess work out of prod-uct selection, braiding and twisting techniques, detangling, beading, solutions for dealing with breakage and so much more. The goal is to protect, strengthen and nurture the natural beauty of your child’s hair so that he/she may wear it with pride and confidence.

APRIL REED is an expert in African hair care and recognizes that for most women our hair is every-thing. She believes that making the choice to go natural from relaxed hair or wearing our hair in its nat-ural state, is not just about styling and the aesthetic, but does have a lot to do with body image and self-esteem. However, most would agree that achieving and maintaining healthy hair is what’s most de-sired. April is a firm believer that your hair is beautiful no matter how it is, and we should be comforta-ble whether our hair is kinky, curly or straight. We should also teach our children, especially our daugh-ters the same. After much time spent researching which styles embraced both curls and kinks, what products work best, and what techniques worked in maintaining healthy hair, she made the decision to share her finding with others. Along the way she saw a need for a product that provides intense mois-ture. Her Daily Moisturizer is something she made out of necessity, then quickly realized the need to share it with others to help them avoid the frustration she experienced. It is great for both hair and skin. April currently lives in Gainesville, VA with her husband of 5 years, Justin.

SAYLA FAISON is born in Silver Spring, MD and raised in Washington, DC, Sayla has been a member of our Camp family for the last 10 years. As a recent graduate from the School Without Walls High School, Sayla will be attending Sarah Lawerence College in the fall to study anthropology. While in high school Sayla participated in an early college program with George Washington University in which she would take college courses during her junior and senior year. This program allowed her to graduate at 17 with an Associates degree from GWU as well as her high school diploma. As the daughter of an Ameri-can father and Ethiopian mother, Sayla will be sharing her unique perspective on life in America within a family sharing different heritages. She will also give us her take on what she gained from her partici-pation at camp over the last 10 years.

Every year we look forward to enjoying Ethiopian coffee – roasted, ground and brewed under the big Wil-low Tree in the traditional manner and evoking the wonderful ritual that is centuries old. Every year with all the music being played throughout the entire event, the camp ambiance is transformed to take us all back to Ethiopia! Mainly, thanks to two talented artists who have been with us from day one!

ALMAZ GETAHUN will host our Ethiopian Coffee Ceremonies. A professional dancer, Almaz, with her partner will entertain us with traditional dancing at the Ethiopian Banquet as well. In addition to being a wonderful host, Almaz will bring joy to the camp with her beautiful smile and playful nature. A great example of Ethiopian hospitality!