Press Room

AAI in the News

The stories and games of Arabian days

By Jill Smith
The Oregonian
Posted on Friday August 19, 2005

ALOHADuck, Duck, Goose isn’t quite as traditional in the hands of 11-year-old Manaf Zaghab.

Manaf’s version of the game uses Arabic instead of the English words for “duck” and “goose.” And in a surprise move, the trickster tags five “geese” in a row so they all chase him around the circle.

Manaf is one of 16 children attending the first summer camp of the new Arabic Heritage Center, a nonprofit group formed in March by a collection of Washington County families. The founders—all with Arabian backgrounds or Arabian spouses—thought such a center could help educate their children about their rich cultural heritage, introduce them to Arab peers and counter negative portrayals of the Arab world.

The center, which hopes to serve children around Portland, is without a permanent home. It rented summer camp space from Little Lambs Christian Montessori Center in Aloha. Future activities might include monthly cultural events for children and presentations in the schools. But the two-week camp is its first official project.

Campers, ages 6 to 13, are learning the Arabic language and culture through songs, games, art projects and more. Arabic is the primary language spoken in the 18 countries that the camp studies. Religion and politics are not on the camp’s agenda.

“The idea behind the camp is to create an environment where Arabs can come and be comfortable in their skin,” said Manaf’s mother, Sheri Zaghab of Beaverton.

Inevitably, children who are comfortable with their Arabian heritage become unofficial ambassadors for their ancestral countries, Zaghab and other camp organizers said.

The New York-based Arab American Institute, which tracks Arab Americans for the U.S. Census Bureau, reported that 2,133 people of Arabian ancestry lived in Washington County in 2000 and 9,316 live in Oregon. But it cautioned that the numbers probably reflect only one-third of the actual Arab American population.

At the camp, a number of children have Palestinian ties, with Egyptian and Libyan among other backgrounds.

But the camp was open to anyone, including 12-year-old Lisa Wishard of Tigard, who has no Arabian background but joined a friend who was attending.

Lisa tried the camp for one week, then liked it so much she came back for the second. She especially enjoyed the many games—from soccer to capture the flag—using Arabic words.

“That’s what makes them want to come back—that and the food,” said Cindy Radler-Okby, another camp organizer.

The camp’s theme is storytelling.

“One of our favorite characters all over the Arab world is someone called Djouha,” Radler-Okby said. “He is the trickster.”

Penny’s Puppet Productions from the Portland Children’s Museum created special puppets and performed a Djouha show for the children, she said.

And each morning 17-year-old Nayif Alokby, Radler-Okby’s visiting Palestinian nephew, dresses up as Ibn Battuta, another famous Arabic storyteller who traveled from Morocco to China in the 1300s. Alokby tells Battuta’s tales in Arabic while someone else translates.

Art projects have included wooden plaques with the Arabic words for “Welcome” or “Peace be with you” painted on them.

Many children are already beginning to use Arabic at home with their parents.

The camp’s organizers and teachers hope the children’s increased comfort with their heritage will give them strength to “introduce themselves” to others.

If an Arab-related topic comes up at school, Zaghab said, “We don’t want them to shy away from standing up to say, ‘Hey, yeah, I’m from this part of the world.’ ”