Photos Courtesy: Empower Camp
Author: Ashley Everett
Sarah’s hair was caked with sand. Her body tired and craving the amenities of running water, namely a hot shower.
Sarah Bachwitz, Founder and President of EmPOWER Camp, Inc., hiked the Gobi Desert in Mongolia hoping to get away from a rough year and her comfort zone. What she came home with was EmPOWER Camp.
“EmPOWER Camp had been an idea for several years, but for a long time my life choices didn’t align with my vision of radiating strength, having the courage to speak up and being confident in choosing to create the life I wanted. I had to walk the walk first, and for me, I took that literally and signed up to hike 100 km across the Gobi Desert,” says Sarah.
EmPOWER Camp’s vision is of a world where young women radiate strength, have the courage to speak up and are empowered to create the life they want to lead. In August 2018, they will launch their inaugural EmPOWER Camp program at Duffield Camp. Where girls, ages 14 – 18, will challenge themselves in the great outdoors, experience self-discovery through dynamic and customized activities, create an action plan to achieve their goals and develop meaningful friendships that will last a lifetime.
“The idea of planning a summer camp program for young women has been written on my heart for many years. I attended my first summer camp when I was 12 years old and immediately fell in love with the lifestyle,” says Sarah, “the P.O.W.E.R of camp is long-lasting and this program aims to create a life-impacting experience.”
To realize P.O.W.E.R means:
Be Proud… Know yourself, love yourself and accept yourself
Be Original… Go ahead, be a weirdo; there is only one you
Be Wild… Push your limits to ‘the end of the Earth’
Be Energized… Fearlessly chase your dreams
Be a Radiant Heroine… Share your power with others
EmPOWER Camp is just getting started, but Sarah and her team have set their intentions to grow this into Western New York’s premier women’s empowerment camp.
“I envision EmPOWER Camp becoming a movement that will inspire women to be able to chase their dreams and make a positive impact in their community,” states Sarah.
During her trek, Sarah wrote in her journal, “I can have any life I want. Chasing the Mongolia Dream to hike across the Gobi Desert is no different than chasing any other dream. If you want to change something about your life, change it! Challenges like these are all mental, take it one step at a time.”
She was finding her power.
Now she is asking you, where do you derive your inner power? And how can you share this power with others?
If you feel deeply passionate, inspired and aligned with EmPOWER Camp’s vision then take your first step today to make a difference and have an impact on our community.
You can make a donation. Every bit helps to create the camp’s inspiring programs.
You can recruit campers. Do you know a young woman, ages 14 – 18 who would love and benefit greatly from a program like this?
You can join EmPOWER Camp’s 2018 staff team. Applications are now available at empcamp.com.
You can donate resources or materials that could be used in the camp’s programming.
Or just simply spread the word. To a friend, a neighbor or your Facebook news feed.
Take that first step. Whatever that may be for you.
Because like Jane Goodall once said, “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
