Concordia College

Concordia Hosts Camp Noah for Community

Aug 03, 2009

For a few days in August, Concordia’s Olson Forum will serve as an ark of sorts for area elementary-aged students.

About 90 children will attend Camp Noah, a weeklong day camp designed for kids who have lived through natural disasters. Five Moorhead ELCA churches are hosting the camp for students who experienced this spring’s flood.

“At the time, we were so focused on fighting the flood that we didn’t have time to focus on the emotional needs of our kids,” says Dave Traaseth ’84, the camp’s coordinator. “This gives them a chance to process what happened.”

Lutheran Social Services designed the curriculum for the camp after Grand Forks, N.D., flooded in 1997. Since then, similar camps have been coordinated for children who experienced disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, flooding in Iowa and wildfires in the West.

While most Moorhead residents escaped major damage this spring, some families had to pass through National Guard checkpoints to get to their homes behind dikes. Many children were evacuated from their homes. In addition, the Red River remains a part of their community.

The level of support children need after a disaster varies, says Dr. Susan Cordes-Green, who teaches psychology at Concordia and will provide some training for the camp staff. For some, the flood caused a major upheaval and they may need a supportive environment to help them work through some of the aftereffects. For others, camp may be a nice break from home.

“For all of them, it should provide fun and a return to being ‘just kids,’” she says.

Bible stories like the one about Noah and the ark will be used to help campers express their own feelings about the flood, says Sandra Anderson of Trinity Lutheran in Moorhead. Volunteers are trained to recognize any signs of stress the kids may show.

City leaders, first responders and the National Guard will talk about their roles in fighting the flood.

But mostly, the kids will have fun. It is a camp, after all.