The Council Of European Jamaats

The success of the 1999 Kingswood Camp, provided the impetus and the inspiration for a similar styled residential camp for girls, this time in Switzerland. The Camp was organised by Madressa Teachers from England and Swtzerland, on behalf of the Council of European Jamaats. The day to day organisation and administration in the setting up and leading to the final Camp was undertaken by Shamimbai Abedi of Birmingham Jamaat.

The group was led by 4 helpers and 3 teachers and travelled by executive coach from Birmingham to Weisslingen near Zurich in Switzerland. Altogether 35 girls took part in this camp, which was based at a Youth Hostel. Girls taking part were from Stanmore, Hyderi, Birmingham, Essex, Peterborough, Isleworth, Paris, Zurich and La Chaux de Fonds. The accommodation was basic but reasonably comfortable and well equipped to cater for a large group, with a lot of space for outdoor play.

Upon arrival in Weisslingen, the group was greeted by Dr Amina Hassam, wife of the President of Switzerland Jamaat. She welcomed the girls, and said how glad she was that girls from Switzerland were having this unique opportunity to be together with girls from other Jamaats. A variety of languages were spoken all through the week. Most girls spoke English and others communicated in Swiss German or French! Translators were at hand to help the girls communicate with each other and the teachers.

The camp began with the celebration of the Wiladat of Bibi Zainab (a.s). Sister Rubabbai Master spoke of the importance of our Lady for Islam. On behalf of the group she presented the Swiss Jamaat with a model of the Rawza of Bibi Zainab to display at the recently opened Zainabiya Cente in Russikon. The group was served a delightful lunch and soon settled in, in their new surroundings.

Nearly the whole of the next day, Monday, was spent on assessements of the girls to sort out the groups for different lessons. The rest of the week was then spent in lessons in Quran Understanding and Fiqh lectures, which were all very well accepted by the girls. The girls learnt in groups, helping each other out and referring to the Quran and Risallah for guidance. Lessons were kept at a minimum during the day, in order to give the girls an opportunity to appreciate the beauty of their surroundings.

A visit to a falls was arranged for the first afternoon, where the girls admired the wonders of one of Allah's Creations. The little souvenir shop was soon filled at the end of our visit, and the ice-cream stall was packed with hungry girls eager to quench their thirst on a hot day.

The next day was an early start as lessons had to finish by 11.00 am. We were off to Ebenalp, 1644 m above sea-level, surrounded by the mountain chain of the Alpstein. The trip was to give the girls an opportunity to go up in a cable car. So far so good. The group got up the mountain by cable car in no time at all, 7 minutes precisely. At the top we all gathered to have our packed lunch and pray Namaz. The girls said that they thoroughly enjoyed praying at the top in the open air. We watched the daring paragliders descend the mountains and admired the Swiss cows, wondering how they had got so high up the mountains! After a short rest we started descending on foot along the well-prepared mountain path through some caves with a hermit's house displaying historical findings of bones and stone tools from Old Stone Age. I doubt if anybody noticed these, as the scenery around us had captured us all. We were very impressed to find a little chapel at the exit of the caves, so neatly kept, offering a place of worship so high above the village.

The walk along the path down the mountain was supposed to take us 2 hours, and the brochure stated that it was an easy and comfortable one! We soon found out that it was more than that for us city dwellers! Our three different groups took between 3 and 4 hours to reach the meeting point at the bottom. Some got lost on the way, a couple of us sprained our ankles, some of us came literally tumbling down in some places! However each and everyone of us thoroughly enjoyed it and would not have missed it for anything. The helpers were helped down by the girls and it was lovely to see girls, who did not even know each other a couple of days before, helping each other along the way. It was truly a wonderful experience.

The next morning, as usual, a delicious breakfast of fresh croissants from the local bakery was brought in to us by our team of shoppers, Sister Fatmabai Farshori and Sister Zinatbai Mohammedali of Switzerland Jamaat. There was some serious lessons to get through during the whole morning. In the afternoon the group was taken out for a shopping spree at a Mall just outside Zurich. What a lot of chocolates the girls came back with! A Barbeque was on the menu for the evening, after which a heated debate on 'Mixed or Single Sex Schools' took place in the main hall. Both teams came up with very good arguments and it was difficult to decide which party won, so we decided to call it a draw.

As usual, waking up for Fajr Namaz was very hard, and Sister Raziabai Kanani of La Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland, had yet another difficult morning task of getting the girls up with her calls of 'Haya, haya Girls'!!! Today was going to be a day off lessons. Our coach came to pick us up at 9.30 am to take us to the town of Thun , where a big boat awaited to take us to Spiez. We were met in Thun by a group of ladies from the Jamaat in Bern. The boat ride was a lovely experience, the lake we were on was surrounded by the Alps and the scenery was breathtaking. Upon our arrival in Spiez, the souvenir shop was stormed again by our group.We settled down for a packed lunch in a park near the lake. The girls prayed Namaz on the grass and a lot of discussions followed on the practical ways of doing Wudhu and offering prayers in such a place. Our coach arrived to pick us up at the meeting point and we were taken to the Capital City of Switzerland, Bern to enjoy an hours shopping on the cobbled streets with all the market stalls. Again there were a lot of good bargains to have! The group was invited to Prayers and Dinner at a Centre by Mrs Roshan Khimji and family who live there. We really appreciated their hospitality and enjoyed the food.

Friday was a whole day in for the group. Lessons were being rounded up, and a special lecture on Imame Zamana was held by Sister Sajedah Rashid of Stanmore, who talked to the girls of our duties towards our twelth Imam. Jumma Namaz was prayed and the girls were asked to pack their belongings to load the coach at night. Afternoon lessons were particularly hard to conduct as temperatures were extremely high, making everbody feel drowsy. With some hesitation from the teachers and a lot of begging by the girls, everybody was allowed to have a water fight.

For the last evening, the girls were offered a speciality dinner of 'Swiss Raclette Cheese'. This was served outdoors by Dr. Amina Hassam and our dedicated two shoppers. Most girls thoroughly enjoyed this dinner, but some were glad we had pizzas on the side!! After Namaz, the girls surprised the teachers and helpers with a presentation, clearly showing us how much they had enjoyed the camps. 35 cameras were brought out for photographs! The evening ended with loading the coach with our belongings, except sleeping bags, and a 'Bonfire at Midnight', pity Sajeda Aunty forgot the marshmallows! The girls enjoyed it nevertheless, sitting around it, telling scary tales to each other with the full moon above.

The next morning we had to empty the accommodation for the next party moving in. We had become homeless! Our sleeping bags were transported to Dr Shabbir Hassam's Residence where the coach was coming to pick us up in the evening to leave for England. That day was spent in small groups exploring the town of Winterthur, more shopping of course. The group took a train back to Russikon to the residence of the President of Swiss Jamaat. At the presentation evening in the garden, we emphasised the importance of all that the girls had learnt and achieved during the week. Each girl was given a compass as a token to help them in their future travels. The coach was there to pick us up at 8.00 pm, the whole neighbourhood had gathered to see us off! Aufwiedersehen Schweiz!

Evaluation:
So, what was the Camp all about? Was it just purely a vacation for the campers, or did something useful come out of it? On the long journey back we talked about how each of felt about the camp and agreed on the following points:

1. Judging entirely from the honest, written and oral, responses from the campers and from their parents and friends, one is left in no doubt what so ever, that the Switzerland Camp 2000 has been a resounding success. The instructors could visibly see and heartily feel the changes in the Campers as the days passed by.
   
2. The Camp aimed to provide a friendly and productive atmosphere for learning Islamic issues and manners. The location of the Camp certainly provided that tranquillity. The friendliness and approachability of the Administrators and the Instructors reinforced the atmosphere not only for learning, but also combining learning with fun, in an Islamic atmosphere.
   
3. The group of girls was reasonably well behaved and we did not have any major difficulties.
   
4. The group was provided with a lot of opportunities to put what they had learnt at their madressas in practise; Namaz was prayed on time wherever the group was, on the Ferry, at a Station, on top of a mountain, in a park, near a parking lot. The importance of Namaz was emphasised again and again. Different aspects regarding performing Wudhu, using mohr or tissue, praying on grass or stone etc. could be discussed and carried out practically.
   
5. The discussions were done in such a way that the girls had lots of opportunities to ask questions and share their opinions, making them livelier and more interesting.
   
6. Girls from very different Jamaats learnt from each other and got along extremely well, breaking all language barriers.
   
7. A sense of unity was felt amongst the groups of girls, older ones were helping and positively encouraging younger participants.
   
8. The group from Switzerland benefited from the camp in many ways. With no age restrictions for that group, we had a participant of 7 years of age, who mingled very well with the group and soon became a favourite. She has expressed a wish to meet with the girls again and wants to InshaaAllah go to Mecca with the group.
   
9. It was generally felt that the girls were lacking somewhat in their Akhlaq. Rooms were left very messy and untidy, general cleanliness needs to be emphasised more. The teachers did try to give a lecture on the importance of cleanliness in Islam, but much more needs to be done on a regular basis.
   
10. Some teachers felt that the time was too short to achieve what they had wanted to, a suggestion to prolong such camps, especially if done abroad, was made in order to provide the girls with both fun and knowledge.
    
11. Levels of knowledge varies a lot between Jamaats, especially the European ones. A need for more camps for such participants was expressed.
    
12. All in all a successful camp with a very high level of commitment from all helpers, teachers and participants.
    

Acknowledgements

The assistance of the following personnel and institutions is sincerely and gratefully acknowledged. Without their support, the Camp would not have been a success it was: 

1.  The World Federation.
   
2. The President and the Secretariat of The Council of European Jamaats.
   
3. The President and Secretariat of The Council of Switzerland and all the community members in Switzerland.
   
4. Birmingham Jamaat for all the support as detailed in this report.
   
5. The Jamaats who publicised the camp and encouraged their youths to participate.
   
6. The Parents for having the trust in CoEJ, and responding to our call by sending their children
   
7. The donors and well wishers who subsidised the camp to make it accessible to the majority in the community.
   
8. The instructors who gave their time and expertise free and well beyond the call of duty to nurture the campers.
   
9. The campers, for their excellent behaviour, co-operation and positive attitude to all the activities and regulations of the Camp.
   

Summer Camp 2001
The planning for the Summer Camp 2001 began on the day when the Summer Camp 2000 ended. It is hoped to be held in August 2001. Exact dates and location will be announced when finalised.