Since 1993, Global Children's Organization has held camp programs for war-traumatized or displaced children from the former Yugoslavia, including Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia. Children who attend our camps  often come from orphanages, refugee camps, destroyed homes or collective centers. GCO camps incorporate healing arts, sports, and educational activities emphasizing conflict resolution and community building.  Hundreds of children have attended these programs which were held on an island in the Adriatic Sea off the Dalmatian coast.  Beginning in the summer of 2005, GCO relocated our Balkan program to the mountains near Sarajevo.

Emira, Child Star of the Film "Welcome to Sarajevo" at '99 Badija Camp.

PAST PROGRAMS

FRIENDSHIP WITHOUT BORDERS
MOUNTAIN CAMP

Program Cornerstones

Arts and Healing:

Our Arts and Healing program includes theater, music, dance and visual arts. The program supports and encourages individual expression as well as group activities emphasizing teamwork, collaboration and creative problem solving. Drumming, singing, painting, sandplay and more, help children explore new avenues of communication and aspects of themselves.

Community Building:

Our community building curriculum includes games and exercises that promote respect, trust, and teamwork. Through these activities, children become part of a diverse camp community, and develop increasing flexibility and awareness in learning non-violent, collaborative options for problem solving.

Recreational Horseback Riding:

A highly trained staff of riding specialists provides training to campers, matching them with horses, teaching them to ride and instructing them in the care and tending of the horses and riding equipment. The kinship between horse, rider, and support staff opens doors for life-long transformations. The powerful presence and generous heart of the horse allows for a natural opportunity to overcome fear, develop confidence, increase sense of personal responsibility and emphasize mutual respect.

Sports:

Campers enjoy many sports activities in a supportive and noncompetitive environment. They gain confidence playing sports like soccer and basketball, and acquire new skills and practice team-building as they participate in hiking adventures, ropes courses, mountain biking, and group games.  

  Current Location of GCO Camp

The 2007 GCO summer programs will be  held in a beautiful 15-acre mountain retreat that has been created and developed, over the past 10 years, through the efforts of Jean Claude Carreau.  Mr. Jean Claude Carreau's son was killed by a mortar shell shot at the humanitarian convoy he was leading in July 1995, while serving as a UN peacekeeping officer in Sarajevo.  In memory and tribute to his son, Mr. Carreau has dedicated his energies and resources to developing a mountain retreat that specializes in recreational and therapeutic horseback riding for children who have suffered from the many post-war traumas and losses.  Mr. Carreau's objectives have been 1) to support the children affected by the regional conflicts in the Balkans and 2) to promote a new understanding between the peoples in the region.

Becoming a Volunteer Camp Counselor

 

Our volunteer staff is composed of people of all ages from around the world.  At camp, volunteers live, learn and work as part of a diverse staff that supports creativity, communication and cooperation and values the contributions of each volunteer. While each GCO volunteer brings his or her own unique set of talents, skills and interests, as a staff we share the vision that, working together, we are able to make a difference in the lives of the children we serve.

Interested in volunteering?  Go to our Volunteer Information page.

The first GCO Southern California, Turning Neighbors into Friends, was held from August 18-26, 2001 at Camp Coulter Pines located in the San Gabriel mountains near the village of Wrightwood, just across from Jackson Lake and minutes from Mountain High Ski Resort. The curriculum, set amidst the gorgeous outdoors, focused on community building and the arts. The second Southern California camp of the Global Children’s Organization was held June 20-July 7, 2002 at Camp Alpine Meadows in the beautiful San Gabriel mountains near Big Bear Lake. We are proud to have worked with many other organizations to have created this unique and extraordinary opportunity to bring together children from different Southern California communities.  The following organizations sent children to the Southern California camps: Community Self-Determination Institute Jewish Resettlement Agency Melrose School, Los Angeles Wilton Place School Omar Ibn Al Khattab Foundation Venice Family Center Mar Vista Family Center California State Parks Association of Los Angeles Community Partners Children's Nature Institute Board of Rabbis of Southern California In Search Services Oscar Romera Clinica Monsenor I Have a Dream Foundation YMCA of Greater Long Beach  Barrios Unidos Homies Unidos International Rescue Committee Center for Torture Victims An eclectic mix of trained volunteers staffed the camp, including three Columbian adolescents who created the Nobel-nominated Children’s Peace Movement, scientist Andre Bormanis (Star Trek science consultant),  and various  artists, musicians, and other professionals dedicated to working with children. The 2-to-1 ratio of children to volunteers/staff provided a unique mentoring and bonding experience which allowed the children to feel secure and important.

Ireland
   (click here to see map)
   (click here to see pictures of Ireland)