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Howdy all,
How are ya going? Well, I am back from my camp adventures and I thought I would share. Enjoy!! :D
Sunday: I was terrified of going. Who knows why? I was worried about connecting with the campers, the careers, the disabilities, the age of everyone and basically everything. Poor Kylie-Anne had to put up with me going into her room every five minutes asking about what usually happens at camps and what to take and what should I do if…. Poor darling put up with it well. Then Yolanda, Peta, and Nick came and picked me up. I decided shortly before they came that I just had to calm down. I had to or else I would literally make myself sick with worry and stress. Relax and let God work his magic. We arrived and Yolanda (the only person I really knew well) knew tons of people. I discovered I wasn’t in a cabin with her but decided not to ask to be changed. There was a game of soccer but I decided to not make an idiot of myself too soon. J Realised at dinner time that I hadn’t said anything about being a vegetarian when I handed in the form. The cook looked like she wanted to kill me (She got a lot nicer through the rest of the week especially since about five other people had done similar things with their diet). The vegetarian thing got to me. It made me realize a bit more that I was at a Christian camp and not a SDA one. I know it shouldn’t make a difference and it didn’t a bit later but it kind of caught me off guard and I felt quite out of place. I don’t know. Maybe it is because all cafeterias that I go to are vegetarian and all the camps I have been to have been vegetarian. Anyway, after dinner we got to know everyone. Played a few games and memory things. It was cool but I still didn’t know much about the people around me. Then there was a talk about how to relate to mentally disabled kids etc. I got asked to get up with a few other girls to do a scenario. I had to ultra excited about meeting up with an old mate and forgetting about my camper. Sharon and I got quite excited and hugged a thousand times and towards the end no one could understand us because we were talking so fast. That was cool. After this we then watched Cosi – which is a very cool movie about mentally disabled people and then putting together an opera. I enjoyed it a lot.
(By the way, I was in a cabin with a few other girls: Nina who was our team leader who is quite arty and works at a bronzing place – quite complicated process but she enjoys it. Sharon is a friend from Yolanda’ church and is studying contracting stuff. Quite a nice girl and we saw a lot of each other though the week. Holly is 14 and is learning ballet. Quite young and wasn’t as responsible as the rest of us but you had to give her some credit because she turned up at the camp and knew no one. All up the cabin was a good group).
Monday: the campers turned up around 9:30am. Sharon, Peta and I were helping making the name badges at this time and I have to admit I was quite nervous to meet my camper. The fact that I was told that she has trouble fully understanding verbal communication had me worried but Kate was no problem all week. A good kid, really. J Sharon, Holly and my campers were all friends which was good. It sort of assisted in Nina’s camper, Lisa being left behind a lot which became a problem later in the week. Sharon’s camper, Jessica is a selective mute but Sharon handled her quite well. Sophie, Holly’s camper, was a mothering kind of friend but was pretty independent. We had morning tea with the parents which I think the parents liked.
We then had worship. Now the theme for the camp was Building a Life that stays standing up. So we the able campers were called Chippies and the Disabled campers were called Sparkies, both which are used on building sites. Greg, Yolanda’s dad was the speaker and he was quite good. Foundations of Faith, Walls of Praise to God, saying sorry and obedience, and other good stuff. We would sing together, had a combined thing and then separate for Chippies and Sparkies. We then had lunch.
After lunch we had plant regeneration and shelter building. We had to dig weeds and put in plants and then divide into groups to build shelters. I have to say that our shelter was the best but that was because we had some pretty good building sort of guys on our team. I spent most of my time assisting one camper called Rob who couldn’t walk too well to put up small sticks etc. We then did a tour with the whole group. Kate started complaining of a sore ankle (she had hurt it last year and it was still hurting). Sophie slipped on a rock and banged her knees so we didn’t have very happy campers for a little while. We soon discovered with all the girls in our cabin that the problem wasn’t as big as they were making it out to be; they just wanted to ensure that they attention on them.
After a quick shower and tea, we piled into the bus and went to Manly for ice cream. This was an interesting experience. I felt a lot like a mother making sure people got across the road safely and everyone got ice creams etc. We caught a couple of stares from other people but oh, well, their loss for not being on the camp.
The ride home was painful in regard to noise. And it wasn’t the campers; it was the careers. Getting quite loud when we were trying to calm everyone down. You could see that a few people had come to the camp to meet members of the opposite sex; and not really help out and be responsible. It was quite sad to see.
That night was the best night with regard to the girls going to bed quickly and quietly. Ok, maybe not too quietly. We had a loud snorer. I think she could beat my dad quite easily. Ah, but that is camp. J
On Tuesday we were the first up to breakfast. We had Bible Study and then morning tea. We then divided into different activities. There was music, art or woodwork and Kate wanted to go the one I had the least amount of experience in: woodwork. Ah, I believe it was one of the first times to make something which involved hammering nails into wood. We made birdhouses which was cool. It got frustrating with the bent nails and the loudness but it was fun. J
Had lunch and then a quick nap. Then we got ready to go the beach. Now that was cool. I made a new friend from one of the other campers. Elize was her name and she was pretty intense. Kind of random. We played around in the sand and made sandcastles etc. Very cool. We had a BBQ for dinner and enjoyed each other’s company on the play equipment and having assist in the girls in my cabin getting along (Kate doesn’t like me anymore; can you make her like me? etc.)
When we got back we played a few inside games but I spend most of the time reassuring Sophie. She was terrified of balloons and would start crying when one was popped. I was a bit annoyed because it meant missing out on a lot of fun but you know, this is camp. J
I believe it was Tuesday night which was the worse night for our cabin and maybe for the camp. Jessica decided she didn’t want to go to bed. She just stood there. She wouldn’t change, brush her teeth, nothing. Kate and Sophie were getting concerned and motherly which didn’t help the situation. We had to call help in but she eventually got into bed. But by this time Lisa had come to realize that she wanted attention especially from Nina. She tried hiding in the wardrobes, running around the cabin, moving up and down the bed (quite noisy with slippery mattresses and sleeping bags). So by the time everyone else had got into bed, Lisa was just getting started. She wasn’t verbally noisy but still made a lot of noise. Nina tried talking to her etc. but the kid keep disobeying … just to get attention (any attention is good attention syndrome). Well, we got Jeanine (Yolanda’s mum) in and she prayed with Lisa and tried to calm her but nah, she keep it up for a couple of hours. Poor guys were exhausted. The rest of us had got to bed and sleep and it took a while for Nina and Jeanine to realize that Lisa complaining about a sore stomach was really her complaining about having no attention. Poor guys. Lisa ended up sleeping on the floor … I think to be different (it was fine with us – keep the noise down of her moving around)
Wednesday: Breaky, Bible Study, Morning Tea, Games in the Gym (our trip to the city got cancelled because so many people were getting sick), Lunch, Nap, Watched Shrek 2, Made shelters out of boxes – ours was pretty cool but another group made a rocket which was a big hit. J We had tea and then played games at night. Nothing too crazy. We just had to sneak around the camp site and collect rings from the different stations without getting caught by the other teams – if we were then we would have to give up our rings. It was fun and we played about three times. Amazingly enough, it was a good thing that people were a bit scared of the dark or a bit slow because then we were more careful.
Ok, I can’t remember which night this was but I believe it was either Tuesday or Wednesday night. We had been getting people sick and with gastro all week but this night was the worse. In the other girls’ cabin we had one girl vomit ten times in one night – she got moved to the director’s cabins so the other girls could sleep. Poor Greg and Jeanine got barely any sleep that night. The other girls in the cabin were crying etc. so it was tough for them too. I am told, that that girl who was so sick, was a happy girl. She would vomit and then be smiling etc. until she would vomit again. I don’t think I have ever met someone who has managed to keep such a positive attitude when so sick. She actually went home the next day because she was so sick. Just for interest’s sack; we had 12 people get sick on this camp – and they haven’t had gastro come through this campsite in many years. L
Thursday: Breaky, Bible study, morning tea, more woodwork (finished off the bird house and painted it), lunch, 2hr nap, and rock climbing. This was pretty cool – I climbed the easy and medium. I think I surprised a few people because I got up without too much encouragement – I get the impression that the guys have trouble getting chicks to try it (Of course, I have thank Brandon for encouraging me with rock climbing back at Avondale J). A couple of kids gave it a try – many of them were scared of the heights but there was one Down syndrome (?) boy who climbed a number of times to the time. That was a great thing to see. J
We had afternoon tea then and we could prepare for the dinner and major concert for that night (the parents come and see it and then take the campers home). This was the first time I had seen Jeanine get noticeably stressed. Poor lady. I had planned at the beginning of the week not to have anything to do with the concert. I don’t mind making an idiot of myself – but just in front of friends. Well, I guess camp assists in you getting up the front a bit. Doing it for the campers etc. Well, our cabin of girls got up and did the Hokey Pokey. I was quite proud of the girls – they thought of it themselves and we didn’t need too much practice. And it was interesting. Elize put the opposite limbs in which actually helped add to the entertainment factor (part of me wonders if she did it on purposeJ). I actually lead them – unbelievable to me!!! You know at the end of each section where you do the Ohhhh, the hokey pokey x3? Well, at the end of that the girls would go silent and then I would have to pop up and say Put left arm in and then the girls would join in. I am normally too self conscious of my voice for it to hear on stage but nah, I didn’t notice till hours laterJ. I actually didn’t sit and watch much of the concert. I was with another girl called Lisa a lot of the time encouraging her to get up on stage and be part of the choir (doing dancing on the stage) or doing her solo of Abba Dancing Queen that she really wanted to do but just took a while to get up on stage. She did so well and I was so proud of her. She sang Dancing Queen with no music and was in her own key but she did it and believe me she had more guts than me. I also was moral support for Sophie when she was part of a play. So, yeah, so much for not being on stage at all. J One item I did see was Nick and Alex (Yolanda's brothers) do a rap. It was very good and the quote at the beginning of this blog is from their rap. :)
And then they were gone. The camp was quieter and had lost something. It was strange to go to my cabin and not be wondering where my girls were and what we had to do to get ready for the next activity. It was strange just being with the abled campers. I knew which ones were great people with big hearts but I didn’t know if they studied or worked or what. It was kinda strange making friends like that because it is normally the other way around: do the superficial stuff first and then discover if they are a person you can call upon in time of trouble. J. We made a bonfire and watched a few people do fire twirling which was so cool – Philip, Yolanda and Peta. Poor Yolanda lit her top on fire for a second or two which got us all concerned but her second reaction (after putting it out) was oh, man, I just brought this top too. J Poor thing J we just sat around the fire and chatted about the campers and enjoyed getting to know each other.
Friday: breakfast, debrief (how can we do it better next year and what we liked etc.), cleaned, and came home.
And that was camp. Sorry it was so long. I really loved it and I am going back next year. And if you are interested please let me know. J I think I really enjoy camps. I think they bring out the best in people.
Catch ya next time.
Sharona
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