Kavan Rai used to say very little about practicing the Sikh religion, fearful her friends would make fun of her or shun her.
But after four summers at Sikh youth camps in Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York, she's a confident, self-assured 13-year-old.
"I used to be afraid to be who I am," said Kavan, of Vestal, in Broome County. "But not anymore. This is who I am and they need to accept me for who I am."
Kavan is one of 74 campers, ranging in age from 7 to 18, who spent this week at Camp Khanda, a Sikh youth camp at Vanderkamp in Constantia.
The youths came from across New York and also from California, Florida, New Jersey, Virginia, Wisconsin and Canada.
"They're pretty much from all areas of the country, but the majority are from New York," said Upinder Dhillon, also of Vestal, co-director of Camp Khanda along with Kirpal Singh Nijher.
Life at a Sikh camp isn't like traditional summer camps. While the children have their share of games and other camplike fun, the majority of their days are filled with prayer, hymns and classes.
Campers get up at 5 a.m. one day during the week and 6 a.m. the other days. All their activities are regulated, and they attend class daily from 9:30 a.m. to 2:10 p.m., with a 45-minute lunch break at 12:30.
Everything they're taught is geared toward Sikh heritage and history, and helping the children adjust to their environment in America while maintaining their identity as Sikhs.
"One of the issues that the Sikh face in every community is the case of mistaken identity" because of the turbans they wear, Upinder Dhillon said. "They are living in their own culture but they know they are different. Our job here is to provide them with a strong sense of identity, to give them a strong sense of who they are."
From 2:10 to 5 p.m., it's activity time.
"Soccer, football, basketball, baseball, Frisbee, whatever they want to do, they can do," Dhillon said. "Then at 5, they get cleaned up, we have turban-tying classes at 5:30, evening prayer at 6 and dinner at 7."
After supper, it's a variety of things like traditional Sikh games, pillow fights or dancing. Cookies and milk are served at 9:20, and lights go out at 10.
"Our philosophy here is to prepare them for the society in which they live and to help them become productive members of that society," said camp volunteer Mohinder Singh Kalsi.
