How a US camp helps Russian-speaking kids in time of war
To look at them running and playing on the campground in the autumn sunshine, they might be any kids enjoying Minnesota’s fall vacation from school. But listening to them, and to the adults cheering them on, reveals something unique about the gathering: Everyone is speaking Russian.
At the year’s final session of “Игра. Unplugged,” or Russian Camp MN, in southwestern Minnesota, the overall peacefulness feels especially precious. Many staffers and campers, some of whom have recently arrived from Ukraine are concerned about family members there and in Russia. Opposing views of the war between those countries have brought tension among some expatriates.
Yet the camp community has remained intact, as its members negotiate new understandings of what it means to
