It’s a hot and humid day, but the kids are buzzing. As they pile out of a coach bus at a secluded retreat center surrounded by trees and open fields, one girl spins in circles and says, “No FGM, no FGM!”

So it’s definitely not your typical camp.

Last Saturday, about 60 girls and boys and some parents and volunteers traveled to the rural town of Sharpsburg, Maryland, for a one-day retreat that teaches kids about the harm caused by female genital mutilation: cutting all or part of a woman’s external genitalia, typically when she’s under age 15. It’s often a rite of passage for girls, though there are also reports of infants being cut.

A Day Camp That Teaches Kids In The U.S. About Female Genital Mutilation – NPR