This past July, 29 campers from all over the US, Canada, and Argentina, along with guests from Germany and Croatia, met for a week at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada to participate in the third annual Youth on the Air (YOTA) Americas camp (Photo A). YOTA camp is a weeklong summer camp for youth operators ages 15-25 from North, Central, and South America. The goal of the program is to build skills and foster lasting friendships and mentors with younger operators. Throughout the week, the focus is on hands-on, peerled activities.
YOTA camp is different from other youth programs in that the campers share each other’s expertise whenever possible. The young hams are the ones setting up the shacks, deciding on and planning activities and outings, promoting the camp, and even travel… with some oversight from the adults.