Camp Hope

This last week was one of the most exhausting, and yet also one of the most rewarding experiences that I have ever had. I have spent the last week at a camp for HIV positive kids. I realize now, however, that I really had absolutely no idea what I was getting into. All I knew is that I would get a week away from the office and that I would be working with HIV positive kids.

(Camp Hope dolls that the kids got to decorate and bring home with them)

My first reality check was when I was told that I had been chosen to be a lead counselor…honestly, I hadn’t really listened to the responsibilities of a lead counselor when it was being explained because I thought that my admittance that I had absolutely no camp experience pretty much excluded me from this task…it didn’t. Being a lead counselor was actually pretty daunting to me in the beginning. I was in charge of all of my children’s medications along with being in charge of making sure that I knew where all 14 of them were at all times – not so easy when the majority of them were 13 years old with the attitudes of 20-somethings – basically, anyone who knows me - knows that I was in my element!

One of the best things about this camp was that it was completely based around these kids having fun and getting away from their stresses of everyday life, along with meeting other kids that are going through the same things that they are. You would never know by looking at these kids that they were HIV positive – but then there would be little reminders all throughout the day: at 6am when I had to set my alarm to give 3 of the children their medication an hour before they ate breakfast, at pool time where I had to make sure that the kids with holes in their ears (which are quite a few because of their compromised immune systems) had ear plugs, at any meal time where before food was served everyone got a little packet of pills with the different combination of drugs which the kids took with the familiarity that showed that this was a way of life for them now, and reminders about their status especially came whenever one of the kids had what would have been considered just a scrape of a cut to any other child at camp– but to these children it can mean a lot more – they can’t risk an infection.

One of the more complicated matters at this camp was that not all of these kids know their status – some of them just accept that they take pills all throughout the day and have never really been told why. Also, being a lead counselor, one of the more overwhelming things I had in my possession was a list consisting of all of my camper’s names along with information that might be helpful to me. Information like: “this camper may be nervous about taking her pills in the morning because the doctor just upped her dosage”, or “this child can be physically and verbally abusive and lives in a home for orphans” was all given to me before I had even met these kids. Because of all of this information I was on high alert upon meeting some of these kids, only to find that my expectations were completely surpassed. The “problem” children shone like stars when it came to doing what they were told to do and the kids that “might not want to take their medication” gobbled them up as fast as they could so that they could so that they could get back to playing!

(This is my camp hope doll)

My hardest time at camp was when it was almost over. Most of the girls in my group graduated from camp because they are now teenagers and needed to join the teen club support group. This came as quite the surprise to them because it’s the first year it’s been done. Special certificates were made, a beautiful cake was bought, and the kids trampled across the stage to collect these items with the smiles of pride – I didn’t realize it was a façade until later that night. I did a usual walk down the hall just to make sure that the girls were keeping their activities to a low roar at around 11pm when I realized that almost all of them were uncontrollably sobbing. Turns out that they were far from interested in graduating because all that meant to them was that camp was over and they weren’t coming back next year. I was blown away that all of these girls who I had just known a week then decided that they needed to sit on a bed with me and have their backs patted and soft words spoken while they tried to control their breathing from their sobbing- it was heart wrenching.

All in all camp was an amazing experience that I would repeat in a heartbeat – even though, I think that this camp lives in a land where you have to admit that sleep is completely overrated! That being said I am off to sleep!