REDFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — An organization that helps refugees has created a summer camp in Wayne County for people who recently have arrived in the United States from war-torn countries such as Iraq.

About 150 refugees, including children and adults, have been attending the camp organized by Southfield-based Lutheran Social Services of Michigan. The camp wraps up its first year this week.

"It's helping me with the language," Halah Abdul-Kareem, a 14-year-old who lived in Iraq and moved to Dearborn in May, told the Detroit Free Press for a story published Sunday. "I need the help."

Lutheran Social Services hopes to expand the camp in future years. Most of the camp's participants this year are from Iraq, with about 20 Hmong refugees from Southeast Asia joining them.

On one recent day, kids played on the basketball court while their parents learned English in a classroom inside a YWCA facility in suburban Detroit. The day's lesson was about how to buy fruits and vegetables in English.

Some refugees from Iraq have settled in Dearborn, where a large number of people who trace their roots to the Middle East makes everyday life easier. Halah's family has been able to shop, dine and look for jobs while speaking Arabic.

"What I found in my country, I find it here" in Dearborn, said her father, Mustafa Majeed. "It makes the new life easier."

Camp organizers say participants have shown determination.

"They're eager to learn — they get here early," said Jessica Cotton, a senior coordinator for the camp. "You can see it."