Our international January theme is Childhood. Pretty sure we’ve all been there, and some of us might even remember it, but childhood ain’t necessarily easy. Thank goodness for some amazing initiatives (and our next speakers!) like Ottawa Rock Camp for Girls to foster some Ottawa based teens inner musical creativity. 

Ottawa Rock Camp for Girls (ORC4G) is a three-day camp held annually in Ottawa since 2006. The camp was first organized locally by the feminist arts collective, Ladyfest Ottawa. In 2012 camp, a small arts collective comprised of volunteer local female musicians and music lovers took over the project. Our camp seeks to empower young women aged 13 to 17 by offering them the chance to learn an instrument, meet new friends and perform at a showcase concert. 

ORC4G believes that all girls, regardless of age, race, economic status, gender expression, size, developmental ability, religion or sexual orientation, should be able to attend camp. As such, we fundraise extensively to allow a variety of girls to participate - our suggested donation for participating in the weekend is of 20$, which includes use of instrument, rehearsal space, all meals and a showcase concert. 

Their next camp will be held in the fall of 2014, and they are actively looking for more volunteers to help fundraise, plan new activities and outreach to more communities so they can make their next event the most successful yet! 

Tickets for Maxime Brunet’s talk on ORC4G are going live Monday at 11:00am, and are available here