Culture Camp

Bringing Home Cultures They Left Behind
One day last week, one group learned an Indian dance while another practiced taekwondo stances. Nearby, Minda Swett, 12, of Manassas was one of nearly a dozen busy at an arts and crafts table, carefully cutting and gluing bits and pieces to form paper dragons.

"It's my sixth year," Swett said. "I like all the stuff, like arts and crafts and learning about adoption. I like taekwondo. I feel like a normal kid," she said with a smile.

Swett, born in China's Xinjiang province, was at Culture Camp, where each summer children come to learn about the countries of their birth.

The kids were adopted from countries in East Asia and Eastern Europe. For three days they bond over arts and crafts, music and dance, even the food and athletic traditions of their native lands.