Obaro Village, first Black Catholic youth camp, set for June and July
By Natalie Hoefer
It’s been less than a year since Irorobeje Crystal Owhoso-Maddox was hired as archdiocesan coordinator of Black Catholic Ministry, and already she is breaking new ground with the archdiocese’s first Black Catholic summer youth academy in June and July.
The program, designed for students entering fifth through ninth grades, is called Obaro Village.
“Obaro means ‘future’ in the Urhobo language of Nigeria,” explains Owhoso-Maddox, whose parents are natives of the West African country.
The idea for the academy stemmed from two realities she observed.
“When I started my job last July, I noticed there wasn’t a youth program through the Black Catholic Ministry,” says Owhoso-Maddox.
“Second, there is kind of a decline in the Black Catholic community,” she adds. A February 2021 Pew Research Center study reported that 54% of Black Catholics in America who were raised in the faith no longer affiliate with the Church. “So I thought, ‘How can I create an environment to develop a sense of belonging for Black Catholic youths in the archdiocese?’ ”
The answer was simple. She created Obaro Village based on a youth summer camp she created in her former job as director of K-12 school and community programs at Marian University in Indianapolis.
“It combined STEAM [science, technology, engineering, arts and math] activities, college exposure and character development based on Franciscan values,” explains Owhoso-Maddox.
But rather than focus on Franciscan values, Obaro Village’s faith component will be rooted in Black Catholic spirituality.
Incoming fifth- through ninth-grade students may attend either or both the June 13-19 and July 11-17 sessions.
Both cover three tiers, says Owhoso-Maddox: “First, to create an opportunity for the youths in the archdiocese to enhance their spiritual enrichment, and then STEAM activities and college exploration.”
Each session starts with a focus on the family.
Dreaming ‘big at even this young age’
“I call them Holy Family Days,” says Owhoso-Maddox of the first two days—Saturday and Sunday—of both sessions.
“My goal is that the families aren’t just dropping their kids off and leaving, but that parents and guardians will have an idea of what we’re doing, especially when it comes to spirituality and faith formation, so that these conversations can continue at home as the students ask them about their own faith journey.”
Most days begin and end at Holy Angels Parish in Indianapolis. Outings to Marian and Butler universities, also in Indianapolis, will provide college campus exposure and an introduction to possible STEAM careers.
“The kids will also make mini-cars for a soapbox derby, which involves a lot of engineering and physics principles,” says Owhoso-Maddox.
During the July session, students will participate in the two-day Youth Entrepreneur Series at the Indiana Black Expo in Indianapolis.
“These are young, ambitious youths who I’m sure have millions of ideas about what entrepreneurship is,” she says. “[The series] will be able to guide [the Obaro Village youths] through how they can dream big at even this young age.”
Youths who participate in both Obaro Village sessions “will enter into kind of a leadership role for the second week,” she adds. “That will allow them to kind of have an ownership over their experience and be able to put those leadership practices and characteristics to play.”
Whether students participate in one or both Obaro Village sessions, “I want them to walk away empowered to know that there are many different avenues of careers and that they can dream about these places that they want to go in life, whether they want to go to college or they want to have a certain profession that is adjacent of a college degree,” Owhoso-Maddox says. “Just that exposure alone to those options at this age is really important.”
But education and career choices are not separate from faith, she notes. That’s why faith and Black Catholic spirituality are interwoven throughout both sessions of Obaro Village.
‘Faith does not have to be separate’
“While kids of any faith are welcome to participate, the camp is completely grounded in the Catholic faith,” says Owhoso-Maddox.
Students will learn about the parts of the Mass and worship at Mass twice each session, and there will be “components to praise and worship every day,” she says.
Several leaders in Black Catholic ministry will call in to speak with the youths remotely. Among them are Deacon Royce Winters, director of the Office for African American Pastoral Ministries for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and Dr. Ansel Augustine, assistant director of African American Affairs for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
“We’ll also have visitors coming from the Tolton Center of Spirituality in Chicago,” says Owhoso-Maddox. “It’s named for Venerable Father Augustus Tolton, America’s first Black priest. He was born into slavery and faced challenges from racial inequality in the Church.”
One activity will use faith to explore the career of journalism.
“The kids will interview family members and different people in the community about their faith journey,” says Owhoso-Maddox. “And [the students] will learn to tell their own stories.”
She notes that the slogan for Obaro Village youth summer academy is “Rooted in Christ, Ready to Rise.”
“I want the kids to see that they can start dreaming about what they want to do and that their faith does not have to be separate, doesn’t have to be an isolated part of who they are, that it can be integrated in everything that they do,” says Owhoso-Maddox.
“And I want these children to walk away with a deeper relationship with Christ, anchored in Christ and their faith. I want them to know who they are and whose they are—that they’re a child of God.
“And I want them to have fun! Because it’s summer, and it’s good to be a kid.”
(Obaro Village will have two sessions: June 13-19 and July 11-17, with up to 50 spots available per session. Participants must be entering fifth through ninth grades in the fall and may sign up for either or both sessions. The cost is $100 per camper per week, with a $25 sibling discount for each additional child and $50 off when attending both sessions. Lunch is included. Scholarships and payment plans are available and can be requested on the application form. To register, go to tinyurl.com/Obaro2026. Volunteers are also needed for providing food and snacks; leading a workshop or session on faith and joy of the Gospels, praise and worship, leadership, culture and Black Catholic spirituality; and to be interviewed by youths about your faith journey, vocation or lived experience. To volunteer, go to tinyurl.com/ObaroVolunteer26. For more information on Obaro Village youth summer academy, contact Crystal Owhoso-Maddox at blackcatholicministry@archindy.org or 317-261-3381.) †