2017 Nina Brekelmans Running Camp for Girls: Week 2 Recap

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The second day of camp focused on building self-esteem and discussing role models. The day started by distributing camp t-shirts to everyone before jumping into a 2-kilometer run. This run differed from last week’s and mirrored parts of the race course that the girls are scheduled to run on Saturday, April 22. After stretching and a water break, the girls cooled down inside with an interactive guest lecture from Batoul Arnaout, a competitive athlete in Jordan and founder of Better Opportunities and Options for Sports Today (BOOST).

BOOST is a well-respected local organization that promotes sports in society. During the lecture, Batoul discussed how running can promote positive self-esteem and encouraged the girls to think about things they love about themselves as well as about their fellow campers. For each positive trait that the girls shared, Batoul awarded them with a smiley face sticker. Many of the girls proudly wore these stickers on their faces for the rest of the day.

In the afternoon, the girls broke into two groups and took turns eating lunch (once again donated by Siniora Food Industries) and participating in a live, interactive Skype session with Abbey D’Agostino. Abbey is an American long-distance runner, who ran with Nina at Dartmouth College and represented the United States in the 2015 World Outdoor Championships, 2016 World Indoor Championships, and 2016 Olympic Games. Beyond her amazing athletic abilities, Abbey exemplifies true sportsmanship. Her collegial attitude gained global recognition in the preliminary round of the 5,000-meter race at the 2016 Olympics. During this race, she and another athlete from New Zealand selflessly helped each other after falling and encouraged each other to finish the race, despite their painful injuries and falling well-behind the other competitors. This action led to Abbey and the New Zealand athlete winning the 2016 Fair Play Award.

During the session, Abbey shared her incredible and inspiring story with the girls, through instant translation (thanks to one of our excellent volunteers, Sahar Shatat). She also explained the joys of running with a supportive team as well as the importance of running for love of the sport rather than for fear of losing or disappointing others. Abbey then took questions from the girls, who were excited to use video chat—particularly to exchange waves and big smiles with Abbey throughout the discussion. The Sports City Squash Federation graciously enabled these interactive, technology-based sessions by offering the girls access to a classroom equipped with reliable wireless internet and a screen. 

Altogether, the girls went home happy, decked out in smiley face stickers and their new Nina Brekelmans Running Camp for Girls t-shirts!

Batoul Arnaout

Batoul Arnaout

Abbey D'Agostino

Abbey D'Agostino

2017 Nina Brekelmans Running Camp for Girls: Week 1 Recap

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On the first day of camp, the girls learned about Nina’s legacy and did their first run together—one loop at the Sports City complex, which is exactly 1.8 kilometers (or a little over a mile). After the run, they took a water break before getting into groups and doing sprints for about 20 minutes. The girls seemed to really enjoy the sprints because of the short distance and thrill of competing with each other! 

Then they shifted into the first guest speaker presentation from Jasmine Kadoura, with assistance from her friend, Farah Shouani. The presentation focused on strength training as well as its importance for runners and involved four different exercises for the girls to try in groups of 10 to 15. These exercises included duck walks, using resistance bands, and doing ladder exercises. Jasmine concluded her presentation with a full-group exercise, where girls tried to catch a soccer ball so they could pick an exercise for the group to do (e.g., lunges, squats, push-ups, or burpees—which are a more elaborate form of a push-up). The girls seemed to really enjoy this game, as they tried to elbow each other out of the way so they could catch the ball, and then the girls waited in anticipation to see if the ball-catcher would pick a relatively hard or easy exercise.

We wrapped up the day by eating lunch (donated by Siniora Food Industries) as well as distributing introductory surveys for the girls to fill out about their views on running and healthy lifestyles. Overall, the girls seemed happy and excited to be out and about at Sport City on a nice day! 

Notes from Amman: Gearing up for the 2017 Camp and Race

The camp leadership team meets in Amman at Sport City to plan for this year's events. (L to R: Bishr Khasawneh, Lilly Frost, Lena Hamvas, Matthew Liston, Ibrahim Abu Asbeh, Batoul Arnaout, and Mohammad Al-Sweity).

The camp leadership team meets in Amman at Sport City to plan for this year's events. (L to R: Bishr Khasawneh, Lilly Frost, Lena Hamvas, Matthew Liston, Ibrahim Abu Asbeh, Batoul Arnaout, and Mohammad Al-Sweity).

By Lena Hamvas

Lena Hamvas is part of this year's leadership team and teaches English in Irbid, Jordan, as a 2016-2017 Fulbright scholar. 

Nina Brekelmans had a mission to improve running infrastructure for girls in Jordan and encourage healthy lifestyles through running, a mission we are determined to follow.

When a fourth grade student of mine heard about the running camp in class, she said, “Yes! I love running. Please, teacher, sign me up!”

When I asked teachers to announce the running camp in class to the girls, they lit up with excitement. One English teacher said, “Wow! That is such a good idea for girls in Jordan. This is wonderful because girls need to learn that they can do sports too, and the community needs more girls doing sports!”

There is a group of girls in Irbid, Jordan (1.5 hours north of Amman) who are taking English classes and heard about the running camp.  From these girls, 9 of 10 girls showed interest in running in the Nina Brekelmans Running Camp.  However, since they are far away from Amman and are not able to come to the camp each week, they have committed to practicing once a week in Irbid as a group with plans to join the girls in Amman for the race.

Fulbright volunteers at the 2016 race

Fulbright volunteers at the 2016 race

Campers with Batoul Arnaout, founder of BOOST and a favorite speaker and leader for the camp/race

Campers with Batoul Arnaout, founder of BOOST and a favorite speaker and leader for the camp/race

The local community is very excited about the running camp, and we are very excited to help build the infrastructure to make it all happen!

The Nina Brekelmans Running Camp for Girls will have girls from many different neighborhoods. The girls range in age from  8-14 years old. A group of dedicated volunteers from the community at-large will help make the camp happen. The volunteers will be helping the girls with running practice and understanding the lessons given by guest speakers. We will have guest speakers who will speak about healthy lifestyles and about sports in the community and around the world. This year, the girls will have the chance to interact with runners from the United States who knew Nina Brekelmans. This is a good opportunity to exchange cultures through the love of sports.

After four weeks of camp, the girls will run in a race on April 22. This will give them a chance to use what they practiced during the camp and run in a real race. The camp and race will give the girls a chance to meet people in their communities who like to run and do sports. After the camp ends, we hope the girls will be inspired to continue doing sports in their community throughout the rest of the year.

Now Available - Nina Brekelmans Patches!

We are little more than three weeks away from kicking off the 2nd annual Nina Brekelmans Running Camp for Girls on March 25, and cannot wait to welcome this year’s runners to camp!  

We are on track to achieve our goal of doubling the size of the camp. The Fulbright team is recruiting volunteers, and we’re putting together a great lineup of speakers, potentially even including Olympic runners (more on that to come!). Our coaches and host, Sports City, are preparing for another great camp, as are our many Jordanian friends and sponsors.

We also felt now was the perfect time for our supporters to join us keeping Nina’s spirit in our minds and hearts.

We just received a new order of the popular patches that were created for that very purpose. Nina’s friends and family frequently wear these patches while running or doing other activities in her memory. And if you already have one, consider buying one for someone else!

We think this is a powerful way to promote Nina’s vision to empower young women in Jordan. Plus, you can help us meet our goal to raise $1,500 to ensure our team has supplemental resources to provide our camp-goers and race participants with an exceptional experience. These funds will be used to defray camp costs for transportation and snacks as well as t-shirts, race bibs, and medals.

Buy one, or buy a bunch! You can get one for $12, 3 for $35, or 5 for $50. All proceeds from the patches directly support the camp and race.

Year Two Update: Announcing Dates for the Nina Brekelmans Camp and Race for Girls

We are excited to announce the dates for the 2nd annual Nina Brekelmans Running Camp for Girls and Nina Brekelmans Race for Girls in Amman, Jordan!

The camp will be held on four consecutive Saturdays - March 25, April 1, April 8 and April 15 - at Sports City, the area’s premier urban park and athletic facility in Amman. The culminating event - a 3k race - will be held the following weekend at Sports City.

The camp and race were successfully piloted last spring with the support of Nina’s family and friends and the U.S. Fulbright program. Together, we commemorated her vision to promote self-confidence, leadership, and well-being among young women in Jordan through running.

When the camp started, more than half of the girls had never run 3k. Week by week, the girls learned more about running techniques and training, heard from guest speakers, and bonded over lunch and team activities.

In the end, the girls even made history! With widespread participation from across Jordan, more than 70 girls completed the capstone event: a 3k race through Sports City’s pathways that also happened to be the first girls-only footrace in Jordan.

We are proud to again work with our Jordanian friends and sponsors to carry out this vision. In particular, we’re thankful for our coaches, Mohammad Sweity and Ibrahim Abu Asbeh. And once again, we have a fantastic leadership team of U.S. Fulbright students  - Matthew Liston, Lena Hamvas, and Lilly Frost - to help lead planning and logistics and to build upon last year’s success.

Now, as we ramp up preparations for the upcoming camp and race, our goals cover three areas:

  • Expansion: The initial camp was strategically small in size to provide an attentive, high-quality experience for all runners. This year we aim to double the size of the camp from nearly 25 girls to 50, while retaining a quality and supportive experience for all.

  • New connections: We are piloting a video blogging exchange to connect our young female runners with other female athletes in the US and around the world.

  • Fundraising: We are seeking $3,000 in grant funding from the U.S. State Department to cover transportation, food, and material costs for additional runners, and to expand outreach efforts throughout the Amman community. This will help us as we look to accommodate a greater number of girls from a cross-section of Jordanian society, including the refugee community. Organizers are also seeking additional donations from other foundations and private sources.

In the weeks ahead, we’ll provide more details about camp programming and the race. To follow along, sign up here for our mailing list. If you’d like to help contribute to our growth, please consider donating. The Nina Brekelmans Memorial Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit based in Washington, DC. All donations are tax-deductible.

Check out a video recap from the 2016 race for Girls

Announcing the 2016 Nina Brekelmans Memorial Endowed Scholarship Recipient, Samah Asfour

The 2016-2017 recipient of the Nina Brekelmans Memorial Endowed Scholarship is Samah Asfour. Congratulations Samah! 

Photo by Douglas Levere, University at Buffalo

Photo by Douglas Levere, University at Buffalo

Born to Palestinian immigrant parents, Samah Asfour tailored her educational and career goals to reflect her Arab identity. At the University at Buffalo, Samah majored in Political Science and Global Gender Studies and minored in French.

To advance her language skills, Samah studied abroad in Aix-en-Provence, France. While there, she began conducting research for her honors thesis topic on the discrimination against Muslim women in France and their counter-public spheres.

Dedicated to alleviating poverty in the developing world, Samah co-founded an organization on campus under the mission to promote female education as a tool of empowerment. After graduating magna cum laude in May 2015, Samah embarked on a Fulbright assignment in Amman, Jordan where she lectured at Jordan Applied University.

During her year teaching business English and tourism English courses, Samah found time to improve her Modern Standard Arabic by taking classes at both the Qasid Institute and Ahlan Jordan. Samah volunteered with Madrasati, A Queen Rania Initiative, where she created and implemented interactive English games for elementary education.

As the first recipient of the Nina Brekelmans Memorial Endowed Scholarship, Samah plans to concentrate her graduate work on women and gender in the MENA region. She hopes to gain more knowledge on Arab-American identity, Islamic feminism, and women’s roles in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Thank you to everyone that made this possible!

 

Samah and volunteers at the 2016 Nina Brekelmans Race for Girls in Amman, Jordan.

Samah and volunteers at the 2016 Nina Brekelmans Race for Girls in Amman, Jordan.

The Nina Brekelmans Story: Promoting Women’s and Girl’s Empowerment through Running and Cultural Exchange

By 2015-2016 Fulbright U.S. Students to Jordan

Summer Forester, Emily Gallagher, and Jade Graddy

On a bright spring day in April 2014, Nina Brekelmans toed the line to compete in the half marathon at the Dead Sea Ultra race in Amman, Jordan. Although Nina had never competed in this distance before, she won. During a post-race interview, Nina described the race as particularly important to her because it was her last race in Jordan before returning to the United States Tragically, this would be the last race Nina would ever run in Jordan; in June 2015, Nina passed away in a house fire in Washington, DC.

Nina was selected for a Fulbright U.S. Student grant in May 2015 and would have begun her research project in Jordan in August of that year. Nina’s passion for running intersected with and informed her scholarship. As a Fulbright U.S. Student, she planned to research how women’s involvement in elite-level distance running shifts cultural norms about women’s roles in society. Nina hoped to use this research in her lifelong endeavor to promote female participation in athletics. To be sure, Nina was well-suited for this project. During her time in Jordan as a Boren Fellow in 2013-2014, she connected with athletes, coaches, and local running organizations, all of whom embraced Nina as one of their own.

Following Nina’s untimely death, the U.S. Department of State and theBinational Fulbright Commission in Jordan (sponsors and administrators of the Fulbright Program in Jordan) decided to create a community engagement award to honor Nina’s legacy and to help her research continue in Jordan. The prize was $1,000 to fund a project that promoted Nina’s vision of female empowerment through running. This year’s Fulbright U.S. Student group in Jordan worked together to create a proposal.

Nina’s friends and family in the United States gave us the idea to do a camp. They had talked about creating one, but they didn’t have any on-the-ground connections in Jordan to make it a reality. Together, we started laying out the groundwork based on their ideas and the possibilities in Amman.

Planning the camp was easy, largely because Nina was so well respected by everyone she met. Every idea we had was met with a quick solution through people who knew Nina and wanted to support her legacy. We needed a location: one of her friends in Jordan had connections to Sports City where we could host the camp for free; we needed a coach: one of Jordan’s premier marathon runners happened to be her trainer and friend; we needed speakers to talk to the girls about healthy living: Nina had worked with countless people in Jordan towards this end. Nina was there in spirit and helping the camp every step of the way.

The Nina Brekelmans Camp for Girls officially launched on February 27, 2016, and continued for five consecutive Saturdays ending on March 26. Each day started with a 2-4 km run with the fifteen girls, ages 8-14, who participated in the camp. Afterwards, a guest speaker addressed the girls on topics ranging from the health and emotional benefits of running to the importance of strength training and proper nutrition. In the afternoons, we focused on team-building exercises, with a focus on positive self-image and empowerment. Through these sessions, we worked to instill a love of running and foster bonds of friendship and a supportive community.

On April 9, the camp comes to a close with a 3 km race for girls ages 8-14. This race is one of the first of its kind in Jordan, specifically focusing on young female runners. The Dead Sea Ultra race was not Nina’s last because through her vision and community support at least 50 young girls will be running in her namesake at the Nina Brekelmans Race for Girls.

Nina's Memorial Design Spotlight: Kelly Kurkjian

By Kelly Kurkjian, originally posted on the Craft Room

Last June, my cousin Nina passed away in a house fire. Nina was a beautiful soul with incredible journey ahead of her. Months after her passing, one of Nina’s best friends, Mary Grace, started to organize a 5K in her memory. As soon as I had found out of these plans, I wanted to get involved. I volunteered to design whatever was needed for the 5K.

I knew right after volunteering that this would be the most meaningful design job I’ve ever worked on. Nina was a passionate runner, who took that passion to the Middle East to help improve the lives of young women through running and athletics. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to help continue Nina’s legacy and passion by volunteering my very own passion of design.

Mary Grace, Lizzie (another one of Nina’s best friends) and I worked together to establish the logo for the race and memorial website. We experimented with many designs, but ultimately landed on a strong, bold typeface to represent her strength. We included Nina’s silhouette as well in order to represent her doing what she loved. A translation of the race name is shown in Arabic at the bottom of the logo to represent her passion for the language and connection to the people she loved in Jordan.

Once we established the logo, we kicked into full gear to make all the assets needed to make the race a success. Posters, race maps, t-shirts, and race bibs were just a selection of the things we put together for race day.

After months and months of planning and designing for the race, it had finally arrived! I can’t express the feeling of having all my family together to honor and celebrate Nina’s life and legacy. It was also finally time to meet Mary Grace, someone I had worked so closely with for months. Seeing everyone together in their bright orange shirts was emotionally overwhelming, but put the biggest smile on my face.

There have also been many extensions of the memorial identity we created, including a logo for the Nina Brekelmans Running Camp for Girls in Amman, Jordan. This camp was established in Nina’s name to continue her vision of building confidence and leadership among young women in Jordan. Check out the Nina Brekelmans Running Camp for Girls Facebook Page for updates and pictures!

I couldn’t be more honored to have created a visual identity for Nina’s legacy with Mary Grace. I am so thankful to be a part of such an incredible initiative.

Check out the Nina Brekelmans Memorial website to learn about Nina, the Memorial Scholarship 5K, Legacy Projects, Tributes, and Fire Safety.

I love you Nina, and think of you always.

NBC WASHINGTON CHANNEL 4 COVERAGE OF 5K MEMORIAL RACE

DC Fire Victim Honored With Memorial 5K in Georgetown

By Andrea Swalec

A young woman killed in a house fire near Dupont Circle last year was a dedicated runner who studied Arabic at Georgetown University. In her honor, 200 people ran a race starting on the school's campus Saturday morning to help fund an Arab Studies scholarship in her name.

Nina Brekelmans, 25, died June 3, 2015, after the house on the 1600 block of Riggs Place NW in which she rented a room caught fire overnight. According to a $10 million lawsuit filed by her family, Brekelmans was trapped in her third-floor room because her windows were stuck closed and her room had no fire escape.

The Dartmouth College graduate had recently earned a master's degree in Arab Studies from Georgetown and was headed to the Middle East as a Fulbright scholar to research female runners in Jordan, combining two of her passions, family members and friends said.

"Nina was one of the kindest, most genuine people that you'll ever meet," said Mary Grace Pellegrini, who grew up with Brekelmans in Louisville and organized the 5K.

Pellegrini, 26, asked runners to keep her Georgetown Running Club teammate in mind as they ran the course that passed through some of her favorite places, including along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath.

"Think of her when you're on the towpath this morning," Pellegrini said before the runners took off.

Brekelmans' parents, Nico and Gail Brekelmans, were among the runners who woke early on a cold Saturday morning. They, like dozens of others, wore neon orange T-shirts printed with "Nina Brekelmans Memorial Scholarship 5K" printed in English and Arabic.

"It's just wonderful everyone is here for Nina," Brekelmans' father said after he finished the race -- his first -- to huge cheers. "It's really helping us."

Top honors went to Phil Royer, who graduated from Dartmouth with Brekelmans. He finished the winding course in 16:56.

The Brekelmans, who flew in from Shanghai, announced that after the race, the scholarship in their daughter's name to the university's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies had been fully funded.

"As long as Georgetown is around, there will be a named scholarship," Nico Brekelmans said.

Funds raised from the race contributed about $10,000 to the fund, Pellegrini said.

And as runners hit the pavement in D.C., another group ran in Brekelmans' honor more than 5,000 miles away. A group of girls in Amman, Jordan, ran Saturday with the Nina Brekelmans Running Camp for Girls. The group was created to carry out Brekelmans' vision outlined in her Fulbright proposal to promote girls' health and boost their self-esteem.

The house fire that killed Brekelmans also killed Michael McLoughlin, 24, who had rented a room on the same floor. He was a Maryland native who worked for an insurance company in Bethesda and had an infectious laugh, friends and family members told The Washington Post.

Lawyers for the building's owner, Len Salas, say in court documents that the electrical fire could not have been prevented.

Brekelmans would have been 26 this month.

"Nina was a wonderful person," her father said.

"She knew exactly what she wanted to do," he added before saying he could not go on.

Nina Brekelmans Memorial Scholarship 5K Race Recap

By Dickson Mercer of GRC

March 19, 2016

Nina's father, Nico, made everyone laugh at the post-race ceremony this morning when he joked: "It's easy to organize a race, right? It's very easy to do." The Nina Brekelman's Memorial Scholarship 5k (results here), as Nico himself pointed out, was orchestrated by more than 70 GRC members. It was a short race, yet it was a marathon's worth of work led by Mary Grace, who in turn had huge assists from Lindsay and many others.

The idea for this race, as we know, was born out of tragedy. As it came together, though, it quickly grew into more than a memorial race, but really a demonstration that Nina's family, friends, and teammates were going to carry Nina's work forward. Nina's spirit would very literally live on, pushed forwarded by many, including two organizations that were particularly inspired by her: GRC, her running club, and Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS), where Nina earned her masters' degree; from runners, to scholars, to young women in Amman, Jordan, where she was a Harvard University Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) Fellow.

Nina, as Coach said today, was passionate:  "She was not the most talented runner on our team," he said in his remarks, "but she had a level of talent and desire that was truly exceptional."

And running was only part of it. Nina was committed to community engagement on a global scale. Dr. Joel Hellman, dean of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, which includes the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS), put it like this: 

"We're in a really unusual moment … where you start to see our politicians turning inward. … And it's all the more important that we here at Georgetown, in School of Foreign Services, are moving in the opposite direction, looking outward … 

"Nina was the perfect example of that."

Nina's former Dartmouth teammates, Phil Royer and Hannah Rowe, both represented GRC and won their respective races. 

Nina's parents, on the other hand, Nico and Gail, who live in Shanghai, both ran their first 5k. They arrived in D.C. on Thursday, and were joined at the race by their son and Nina's brother, Rob, who lives in London, and many members of their extended family.

Nico said they were still pretty tired from the travel. "But it's worth every minute to see this and everybody coming out for Nina. Nina's friends have been just amazing - all the things they're doing. They're making a lot of things happen. And it's wonderful. It's really helping us cope with it."

Reflections on the towpath

About 200 runners gathered this morning on GU's Copley Lawn, many wearing the official race T-shirt designed by Nina's cousin, Kelly Kurkjian. The course took them on paths around the campus, with a segment on the towpath in between. And as NBC reported, Mary Grace advised race participants to use that time on the towpath to remember Nina. 

Three runners who ran with Nina at Dartmouth did exactly that.

John Schroeder, of D.C., who finished 2nd, running most of the race solo, said: "I thought about Nina, and thought about how she enjoyed running. It was a good way to remember her." He added that Nina was the only runner at Dartmouth who had earned a spot on the team as a walk-on, through sheer hard work. "It's really hard to do. It's not something I've heard of anyone doing before I got there and since I've left."

Phil, cruising to victory, looked out from the towpath and was pleased to see there were some rowers cheering for him. (Rowing, as Phil pointed out, was yet another one of Nina's passions.)

And when Hannah crossed the line, the GRC-Dartmouth sweep was complete. "I was hurting," she said, "and I honestly did think about [Nina]." 

When the going got tough, in fact, Hannah remembered Nina's distinct running form. "t's not perfect running form," she said, "but everything was driving so hard, and you knew she was putting everything into it. It just motivated me, thinking about her: just drive my arms."

Always Nina

Nina had been awarded a Fulbright fellowship. She would have been in Jordan last fall to conduct research on female distance runners and continue her studies. 

One of her big goals, as part of that, was to establish a girls running camp there. Today, with the help of current Fulbright students, 15 girls in Jordan were participating in the first ever such camp. 

There was also the idea of a scholarship.

After Nina passed, "the idea of an endowed scholarship in Nina's name was a real balm to our wounded spirits," said Osama Abi-Mershed, the director of CCAS. 

Well, that goal reached the finish line this morning too. 

Thanks to Nico's and Gail's efforts, which were supported by Nico's company, Cooper Standard, and thanks to race proceeds, Georgetown will now offer a fully-funded endowed scholarship to support students who share Nina's passion of supporting women's empowerment in the Middle East.  

"It is here as long as Georgetown, as long as the Center, is here," Rania Kiblawi, CCAS Associate Director, said.

Nina, as we have been saying - as we will continue to say - lives on.

2016 Week 5 Camp Highlights

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This Saturday is the last week of camp. The final theme was on “Global Running Culture,” where the campers discussed runners who compete all over the world, such as their coach, Mohammad Sweity. 

The day also included instructions on race-day preparations to teach the girls how to prepare for their final race. Camp concluded with a group discussion about what the runners learned from the camp and about their goals in sports and in life. 

2016 Week 4 Camp Highlights

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This week’s theme was strength training. After the morning run, the girls gathered together to listen to personal trainer Jasmine Kadoura explain why strength training should be paired with cardio. Jasmine taught them proper form for push-ups, squats, bicycle kicks, and burpees. All the girls were feeling sore by the end of the lesson and gladly welcomed a breathing exercise. 

The day ended with the girls presenting their homework from last week: to describe a role model. Each girl stood in front of the group and talked about their mom, dad, famous athletes, or even the comedian Mr. Bean. One of the mothers was listening and decided to join the conversation. She told the girls that she chose herself as a role model because it is important to always love yourself. All the girls clapped at the end of each presentation and cheered each other on. 

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2016 Week 3 Camp Highlights

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This week’s session started with a warm-up 2km lap. Then the girls were timed as they sprinted 25 meters, did 10 sit ups, and sprinted back 25 meters. They were so fast! Some girls asked if they could do it again and again so they could try and improve their times. 

Batoul Arnaout, founder of Better Opportunities and Options for Sports Today (BOOST), spoke to the girls about the power of sports. She had the girls list what they felt when they ran, which ranged from “hot” to “happy”, and encouraged them to think positively about sports. She then showed video clips of people who had handicaps, but still overcame their disabilities to become successful athletes. 

After lunch the girls were given magazine photos of people with different body sizes, ethnicity, and style and told to pick some that they thought were beautiful. They glued photos onto colorful papers and presented why they thought each person was beautiful. One of our campers, Sara, chose a women running with prosthetic legs and said she was beautiful because she was happy and exercising. 

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