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A very different camp from the ones held in previous years, as this year the girls were taken to a very cosmopolitan city – Paris. On the whole the camp proved to be a success, but not without challenges for both teachers and participants alike. The transport arrangements were well organised, but for some the journey turned out to be much longer than the rest, specially after adding on the inconvenience of a two hour delay in the Euro Star schedule. The Paris summer heat, especially in the metros, was another challenge we had to face, but the girls coped very well and thanks to generous parents, always had enough resources to buy cold drinks and ice creams on the way!
Our next challenge was to move a group of 52 from one place to another. The ‘outing groups’ insisted on staying together when travelling on metros, much to the amazement of les parisiens! We are happy to say that we did not loose anyone in the maze of metro corridors! The girls did extremely well to look after and help each other, particularly when out and about. The outings and excursions were enjoyed by all and the shopping trips were, of course, very popular yet again! We are truly indebted to the members of Paris Jamaat and particularly the President, Nizarbhai, for looking after our every need. We were truly spoilt during our entire stay!
The hotel accommodation was superb, but it was quite tiring going through 17 rooms to wake girls up for Fajr Namaz!! The tests and lessons were conducted very well, with tayyamum tests done in the park! The lectures and discussions were enjoyed by all with everyone participating well. Having said all that, anything we can improve on for next time? Well of course – stricter bed times, more lessons and outings, less shopping!!
Location
This year the Girls Summer Camp was held in Paris and was hosted by the North Paris Jamaat. A combination of both the location and price (see below) for this year’s camp was a strong factor in making the camp very attractive and heavily over subscribed. The key factors in determining that Paris was a popular choice were; - Well known capital city with many tourist attractions
- Lots of shopping possibilities
- Euro Disney
Disadvantages of hosting the camp in a major capital city included - Transportation of all the girls around the capital city (see section on transport below)
- Safety and security of being in a large cosmopolitan city
Hosts This year’s camp was hosted by the North Paris Jamaat. The jamaat cannot be commended enough for the most welcoming hospitality they showed the girls at the camp. Every effort was made by the jamaat to ensure the girls were well looked after, made to feel at home, and every convinience was provided. The Paris Jamaat also went out of their way to host a presentation ceremony for the girls including giving them individual gifts. Special thanks should go to the President of the Paris Jamaat, Br Nizar , and Sister Zainab who both went out of their way to ensure we were accomodated properly and well looked after. Transport Transport to and from Paris Transport to and from Paris was via the Eurostrar train which departed from London Waterloo and arrived directly at Paris Gard du Nord station. Girls from Birmingham made their way down to London (Stanmore Mosque) via British Rail where they joined with the rest of the participants for registration and lunch. All participants then together travelled to London Waterloo via coach. At Paris, transportation to the Paris Jamaat was via the Paris Metro. Advantages of travelling to Paris via Eurostar include - Flexibility in booking and changes in participants, allowing for late changes and additional bookings
- Price
- Direct transport to the centre of Paris
- Novelty factor – many participants had never travelled on the Eurostar previously
Disadvantages of travelling via Eurostar include - Additional cost of getting to / from London Waterloo
- Storage and handling of luggage (though this taught the girls a valuable lesson in travelling lite!)
Transport in and around Paris Transportation in and around Paris was mainly via the Paris Metro as well as via coach for excursions (City tour by night and Euro Disney). Many girls had previously not travelled public transport and appreciated the experience of using a Metro system which was both easy to use, cheap, and quick. However, supervisors had to be extra vigilant when travelling by Metro as it was over crowded making it potentially easy for girls to get separated. The girls also learnt to be extra vigilant of their belongings as the Paris Metro was notorious for pick-pockets as two girls found at their cost. Overall, however, travel by the Paris Metro was an efficient and economic way to get around Paris.
Accommodation
This year, for the first time, girls stayed at a hotel (Hotel Etap, 3*). The hotel was located within 5 minutes walk from the North Paris Jamaat (where meals were eaten and daily lessons held) and provided very comfortable accommodation. Girls were accomodated 3 to a room, with each room having its own bathroom. Advantages of staying at the hotel included - Very comfortable accommodation
- Plenty of bathrooms
Disadvantages of staying at the hotel however outweighed the advantages. These included - Inconvinience and time in moving the girls between the hotel and the Mosque on a daily basis (even though these were within a 5 minute walk from each other)
- Waking the girls for fajr namaaz and breakfast (many rooms to get through!)
- Potential security at the hotel (with other guests / visitors being around)
It is recommended that for future camps, a self contained and private venue is chosen where sleeping facilities are at the same location as where meals and lessons will be had. Food was catered for by the Paris jamaat who prepared excellent meals. Breakfasts were particulary popular with French croissants and baguettes. Lunch and dinner was a combination of both ‘english’ and Indian food which the girls appreciated very much. Lessons and excursions The format for each day during the camp was that the girls would have lessons in the morning followed by an excursion in the afternoon. Time permitting, evenings were reserved for Group discussions or evening social activities. In addition, one whole day was spent at Euro Disney. Lessons The theme for this year’s Girls camp was “Work hard, play hard, and always remember Allah”. The focus was to try and instil in the girls that Islam was not just something that they only thought about at Namaz time or during Ramadhan or Muharram, but that their every action should have the thought of Allah before it. To achieve this, the lessons were a combination of practical exercises, lectures, and discussions. The following was covered during the camp; - Individual wudhoo and Namaz tests for all girls
- Memorisation and practical use of some of the Names of Allah
- Memorisation of the duas to be recited when performing wudhoo
- Memorisation of the practical duas to be used in daily life (i.e dua for travel, dua for parents, etc)
- Lecture on the importance of the remembrance of Allah
- Philosophy of Namaz
- Lessons from the life of Bibi Fatema (A.S.)
- Lecture on positive actions and attitudes
- Discussion on deeds which invite unhappiness
- Lecture on the 12th Imam with practical exercises and discussions
- Discussion on tolerance
Excursions The girls participated in the following excursions; - Day trip to Euro Disney
- Night city tour of Paris
- Trip on the Bateau Mouche on the River Seine
- Visit to the Eiffel Tower
- Promenade on the Champs Elysee
- Several shopping excursions
- Visit to the park
On the whole, the excursions were very well received by the girls in spite of the extremely hot weather whilst we were there and the busy Metro system. By far, Euro Disney and the shopping excursions proved to be the most popular with the girls. The girls also requested that more sporting activities be held on future camps. Volunteer Resources This year’s camp was organised by Shamim Abidi, had two teachers (Sajida Rashid and Malika Chandoo) and were supported by four volunteers (Nikhat Panjwani, Neelam Lalji, Shellina Merali and Kulsoom Hooda). The ratio of teachers to students on average was one to seven and this was found to be an adequate and manageable number. Finances Paris is an extremely expensive city! We still managed to keep costs low by using public transport for outings. The Paris Jamaat did a brilliant job at keeping catering costs down and always had 2 ladies cooking and attending to our needs during our stay. The choice of Euro Star was very cost effective and saved us a lot of expenses. A detailed breakdown of intake and expenditure will be submitted as soon as fully compiled. Attendance There were 46 girls on the camp this year. Attendees came from London, Birmingham, Peterborough, Essex, Switzerland, Madagascar, Paris, and La Re Union. It was however disappointing that more girls from the Paris Jamat did not join the camp. We understand however, that this was largely because many of them were out of the country. Ages of the girls on the camp varied with the youngest being 10 years and the oldest being 17. On the whole, this was a manageable group, but a recommendation going forward would be that if such a wide age range is to be taken in future years, then more teachers are taken so that lessons can be split in order to give individual attention to the older girls and the younger girls separately during lessons. Observations on attendees The girls attending the camp were generally very well behaved. The teachers and volunteers worked hard to maintain discipline throughout the camp. The girls were constantly reminded to respect their surroundings and maintain Islamic behaviour when out and about. However, sleeping times were a lost battle where the teachers were concerned. The girls somehow survived the week with very little sleep! It was generally felt that some girls needed to be more considerate and keep the enjoyment within limits, so that the group as a whole could function properly and that it became less stressful for the teachers to manage them. We also feel that parents need to go through the Code of Behaviour thoroughly with their daughters before they attend camp, to make them aware of the requirements regarding their behaviour during camp.
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