Philosophy & History

Mission

The mission of the youth camps at Lohgarh Retreat is to inspire and nurture ambassadors of Sikhism. Seminars for parents have now been initiated to facilitate this process of educating and communicating with the youth, as well as affirm the understanding and practice of the faith by the elders.

Enriched in the teachings of gurmat, these ambassadors will attain excellence in the social, educational, political, and career domains for themselves and the Sikh Panth. Leadership skills are imparted to the young attendees to prepare them to be the trailblazers of their generation on many fronts. We also inculcate a strong sense of community and healthy self-definition for the Sikh youth during this Retreat.

Strategy

We hope to realize our mission of preparing a powerful and dedicated generation of Sikh youth in America by developing new materials and methods of passing on Sikhism to the younger generation. In short, we plan to emulate modern methods of teaching and learning used in our university and secondary school systems:

Departing from purely didactic modes of chalkboard, notes and lectures, the emphasis at the Retreat is on activities, projects, role-playing activities and role models.
Independent projects will be assigned to heighten the personal involvement of the individual Sikh youth with their community.
Subject material will make extensive use of audio-visual aids.

These new methods of teaching and learning, which add to traditional methods of instruction, will be facilitated by utilizing the teaching materials of the 20th century:

Computing Facilities: A state-of-the-art network of computers exists at the Retreat. Laser, ink-jet, and color printers, as well as modems, are hooked on the network. These computers are used as a teaching medium and for project compilation. With the proper financial support, we hope to have the machines to complete this network and a specially designed facility to house them by this summer's sessions.
Project Resources: An extensive library of books on Sikhism and other reference books exists at the Retreat.

A collection of more than 4500 photographic slides of gurdwaras, historical artifacts, paintings, etc. can be indexed through a computer, and used in various projects.

Attendees of all ages will be able to learn from and utilize a vast library of animated Sikh history on computer, which is available exclusively at Lohgarh Retreat.

An unprecedented amount of historical and religious research information will be available on-line to campers.

The facility for making and editing videos and audio recordings should be available to the campers for creative projects by this summer.