IRC youth explore and discover Point Reyes

IRC Youth at Point Reyes

Marin’s Point Reyes National Seashore is one of the coveted destinations along the Pacific coast of Northern California. For the past several years, a growing partnership between the IRC and the Point Reyes National Seashore Association (PRNSA) has led to the opportunity for IRC youth to attend their annual summer camp and appreciate this beautiful area of California.

For the past several years, the PRNSA has offered 15 scholarships to newly arrived IRC youth. Refugee youth from Burma, Bhutan, and Iraq received scholarships to attend this year’s summer session.

The last summer session ended on August 14th with the IRC youth taking part in the Nature Science Camp. The IRC youth were able to explore and discover the Point Reyes National Seashore by visiting local farms, observing wildlife, hiking trails, camping overnight, and other outdoor activities.

Julia Clothier, the camp director, envisions a continued partnership with the IRC. Julia believes it is important to have the IRC youth as part of the camp culture, as it enriches the experience for everyone involved. Furthermore, Julia aims to offer scholarships to select IRC youth in hopes they might be interested in becoming camp counselors as they get older and continue their involvement in the camp by working with future generations of refugee youth.

This wonderful experience for IRC clients would not have been possible without the support of Sonny Waloo at Vallejo Airporter, who provided transportation for all the IRC youth to and from their homes. In addition, we would like to thank our volunteers who served as chaperones: Kate Yusi, Rahael Borchers, Kate Marple-Cantrell, Wendy Hanae-Okada, and Jasmine Hartenstein.