There are things you simply can't capture in writing. It is impossible to write down the ear-to-ear
smiles, the hearty laugh, all the adventure these near hundred young people experienced in the past 12
days. At the beginning of the camp, everyone was able to show what they brought to the camp but they all returned to their homes with unforgettable memories, new friends for life and tremendous gratitude.

The camp has always put great stress on expanding the knowledge and stregthening the sense of
national identity of the students taking part. As part of the 'Who knows what?', every camper had to show what makes him/her special, what makes each of them unique. Outstanding recitations, their own poems or songs, piano pieces, short films proved to us that yes, good choices were made in assessing the applications, that valuable young people came to join us in the Rákóczi Family Circle. In the presentation on human rights, the campers learned about their minority rights, in the Prezi center, they learned about entrepreneurship, also learning of the sad historical tragedies of our history, such as the deportations to forced labour camps and the 1956 Revolution.

As part of the camp, they visited Hungary's important historical and geographic sites, where they were always welcomed with open arms. They prayed at the grave of Cardinal Mindszenty, sang the National Anthem in Vizsoly, strolled at the Mohács memorial, climbed down into the Aggtelek caves, climbed up to the Citadel, swam in the cool, silky waters of the Balaton. They are all memorable individually but what they experienced will be  unforgettable and they will return home with the knowledge that they are not homeless, not orphans. Wherever in the world they may live, they are part of one nation, one family that cares about them, looks after its members as this camp prominently showed.

During the camp, there were meteoric character developments, just as there were those who received the love and knowledge more introspectively but, by camp’s end, the members of the Bethlen and Rákóczi groups had melded into one team. Citing Géza Ottlik, “Where words thin, the truth thickens," which is true of this writing as these young people carry the torch of the Rákóczi spirit, independent of place of dwelling, age, family situation.

A more detailed accounting of the camp will appear in the September issue in the columns of the
Kanadai/Amerikai Magyarság.

Csőke Márk