Over 6,000 children of Polish ex-pats from Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, the Ukraine and Romania are on vacation in Poland currently at 25 camps sponsored by the Catholic Charity Organization Caritas.

Father Marcin Brzezinski, deputy director of Caritas Polska, said that the vacation camps have been running since May and will continue to provide thousands of children with holidays until the middle of September. The project is financed in cooperation with the Senate’s Office of Polish Ex-pats.

The cost for holidays for 100,000 children in 2008 was about 20 million zloty (4.7 million euro). Funds come not only from the Polish government, but also from Polish-Catholic diocese all over the world.

“This year, the kids are spending time in the mountains, at the sea and in other places all over the country, under the care of professional. During their time at camp, the children are learning to dance, play volleyball and exercising – all of which is organized by professional instructors,” stated Fr. Brzezinski, adding that the children are given the opportunity to interact with people in their own age groups and develop social skills.

The Caritas-organized summer camps are targeted at less-privileged Polish families living abroad so that children of Polish descent can have close contact with their heritage and language.

This is the fourth year that Caritas has worked in cooperation with the Senate’s Office of Polish Ex-pats to organize the summer holidays. (mmj)