Three days, no labels, just kids being kids

A three-day youth camp that began on Monday 15 June brought together students from Sydney and the Central West for an experience organisers hoped would build connection across cultural and faith lines.

What actually happened, by all accounts, was an even better outcome.

Held at The Tops Conference Centre, an excellent, purpose-built facility between Sydney and Wollongong, the camp brought together Indigenous students who had travelled several hours from Cowra High School alongside those from St Euphemia College (Bankstown) and the Islamic College of Sport NSW, which is based at Olympic Park.

The program itself was carefully built around leadership, social cohesion and structured opportunities for young people from different backgrounds to spend real time together. 

Whatever conversations about division or difference the adults involved might have anticipated, the students themselves skipped straight past them, in many instances.

Khaled Kamalmaz, a senior staff member at the Lebanese Muslim Association and one of the key figures behind the camp, said that’s exactly the pattern you hope to expect from these programs.

“You put the structure in place, you create the opportunity, and then the kids just take it from there,” Mr Kamalmaz told AMUST.

“Nobody’s asking what religion the kid next to them is during a survivor challenge, they’re just trying to win.”

Over the three days, participants worked through outdoor adventure and team-building activities including orienteering, a giant swing, zip lines and as just mentioned, survivor-style challenges.

None of it was framed as a lesson in tolerance. 

It was framed as a competition, and the students treated it as one, which meant friendships across schools, areas and backgrounds formed the way they normally do among teenagers, through shared effort and a bit of competitive needling rather than guided discussion.

One of the standout moments of the camp came when NRL star Josh Addo-Carr made a surprise visit. 

The former Wests Tigers, Melbourne Storm and Canterbury Bulldogs winger, now playing for the Parramatta Eels, joined the students for a game of touch football before speaking about his own background and the choices that shaped his career. 

At the time of writing, the man affectionately known as ‘The Foxx’ has made 214 NRL appearances and scored 165 NRL tries, with 15 appearances for NSW in State of Origin, eight Test caps for the Kangaroos and a handful of games for the Indigenous All Stars. 

He finished the visit handing out signed Parramatta Eels jerseys.

For the students, meeting Addo-Carr was a highlight of the camp, with some later describing it as one of the best moments of their lives.

But the camp wasn’t only about activity. 

Talking circles, spoken word poetry workshops and evening discussions around a firepit gave participants room to talk through questions of identity, family and where they saw their lives heading. 

Shared cultural meals gave students an easy, informal way to learn about one another’s backgrounds, and the ordinary downtime of a camp, queuing for dinner, comparing notes on the zip line, did just as much work as the structured sessions. 

Religious and community leaders from different faiths were present throughout, contributing meaningfully to discussions and helping encourage mutual understanding, rather than steering every single conversation.

Together For Humanity ran two dedicated sessions on diversity, inclusion and respectful relationships, while staff from the LMA delivered additional workshops across the program.

Osman Karolia, Principal of the Islamic College of Sport NSW, brings decades of interfaith experience to his current role. 

He said the school was proud of how its students represented both the college and the wider community at the camp. 

“This camp brought together boys from diverse backgrounds as well as Indigenous students, and it’s through this kind of connection and leadership training that we build stronger communities for tomorrow,” Mr Karolia  said.

The program closed with a certificate presentation and an address from the Hon. Stephen Kamper, Minister for Multiculturalism and Sport, who congratulated participants on their commitment to building stronger, more connected communities. 

Organisers also praised the staff at The Tops Conference Centre for their professionalism throughout.

Khaled Kamalmaz said the real measure of the camp’s success wasn’t so much in what was said, but in what happened once the adults stepped back.

“Most of these kids arrived not knowing a single person outside their own school,” he pointed out. 

“Three days later they’re walking out with new friends they never expected to make.”

“Nobody had to convince them to do that, they just did.”

The teenagers who made the eight to ten hour round trip from Cowra returned home with new friendships and no doubt plenty of stories to tell, having spent three days with students they would otherwise likely never have crossed paths with. 

For the organisers, that’s exactly the point, not a grand statement about unity, just a group of teenagers who turned up as strangers and left as mates.

With Multicultural NSW generously backing the program as part of its broader push for community harmony, here’s hoping that this great camp will be the first of many.