The last month of my summer before starting med school I had the opportunity to be a camp counselor at Camp Riley. The camp was located at Bradford Woods, a beautiful place in southern Indiana. More beautiful than the scenery that surrounded me were the hearts of the people residing in the cabins. Arriving at camp with my best friend, we had no clue where we were supposed to be or who are campers were. I had come to camp with nail polish in hand prepared to meet a cabin full of girls. To my surprise, I was going to be living with thirteen to fifteen year old boys for a week. The first camper I met was Ben. Ben was quiet at first and after I asked him if he was excited for camp, he replied, "can we go to cabin now?" Camp Riley is a camp for kids, some with limiting factors, that we toss out the door, and then challenge them to overcome obstacles. Some of our campers had diagnoses such as Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Spina bifida, and other congenital disorders. The counselors were never told any of the childrens' diagnoses and I think this was for the best. You were to look at the child as a child, not an autistic child. You were to figure out his likes and dislikes, his struggles and strengths by getting to know him. Back to Ben. . . Ben's parents were older and very kind. Ben's dad said he loved reading his book to people, and I asked Ben to show me his book. Ben showed it to me and was very happy. However, as we waited in line to have Ben talk to different people and for his parents to fill out paperwork, Ben became restless. It was noisy in the building and hot. Ben started swinging his book behind him back and forth. He kept saying how he wanted to leave. At first, I did not know how to deal with this boys sudden frustration that was turning violent. His dad knew how to talk to him and how to handle the situation. He taught me how to get Ben's attention and how to help him. That was not the end of my education for the week. Ben was in his own world. He also brought his friend Will into his world, another one of our campers in our cabin. Ben would scream Will's name as to say YOU ARE MY BUDDY! Ben also liked slamming doors and colliding toys together. He turned out to need more than one counselor to attend to him. One day, we worked with Ben for 2.5 hours trying to get him to take his medicine. He hit us, he hit himself, he tried to push the medicine on the floor. It was only until we put the medicine into chocolate ice cream that he finally took it. And, you know, how can you blame a kid for wanting his meds to be placed in ice cream. I wouldn't have them any other way. Ben loved ice cream and pools, completing 58 laps in the pool for his challenge, a kid after my own heart.
Another camper Ronald wanted to be a doctor when he grew up. When the nurse came at night to give the other campers their medicines, Ronald would help her out. This little future doctor had a ton of energy and wanted to do everything. He swam in the lake, helped out at dinnertime, helped the other campers wheel their wheelchair, and always did it with a smile. At the end of the week, Ronald's mother was the last to come to pick up her son. Ronald waited and waited with the counselors. I told Ronald if his mom didn't come to pick him up before midnight that he could come home with me. Ronald said, "Yeah! I'm going to come home with you!" He asked me a bunch of questions, if I had room, who else lived at my home. I told him we could eat pancakes everyday for breakfast. He replied, "Well, we might get sick of pancakes, what about eggs and ham too?" I asked him if he could cook anything. He said, "Brownies and cookies." I said I could live off a diet of brownies and cookies :)
I have a lot of respect for the camp counselors who stayed for 9 weeks caring for campers. It was a rewarding and exhausting experience. My patience grew immensely and I felt increased joy for small things. I can understand how the look in a person's eyes means they are happy or sad. I looked at the face of a young boy who was overjoyed that the entire camp sang happy birthday to him and felt his joy. Human beings, whether they are different races, different nationalities, different cultures, different religions, have different political views, or have different abilities, all experience the same emotions and are all connected to one another. We must learn to love each other and understand each other. That is why we are here.
I plan to go back next summer, maybe for two weeks!
No comments:
Post a Comment