Here in the
foothills of Virginia, in the shadow of Virginia Tech, a sound is
starting to rise from the valley. Instead of mourns of families,
laughter is heard and it echoes and reverberates as one gets closer.
Camp Holiday Trails has opened for the 2007 season.
Kids from 8-18 with
medical needs ranging from transplant, HIV, asthma, spina bifida to
peritoneal and hemodialysis are welcomed and embraced by both the
medical staff and the counselors at camp. For many of these children,
this is the first time they have seen a medical professional as a real
person: someone to sing and dance with, someone to share a secret with
at the evening campfire. For the medical staff, this is a time to
enjoy the ‘real’ child: the child who laughs, who knows how to
catch fireflies, who surprises us with their sensitivity and
helpfulness to others. For the families, this is a break from a 24/7
job, which is a labor of love, but can be exhausting, isolating and
back-breaking.
For those of you who
remember camp from your childhood, little has changed in 30 years.
Hikes, canoes and fishing, crafts (tie-dye T shirts are as popular in
this century as they were in the 60s), swimming, sleep outs with
midnight raids on the kitchen and giggles with new friends are still
the rage. If not for Med Korner and the slight adaptations offered to
allow for wheelchairs or dialysis schedules, you would never know that
these children are any different from any other children.
For the 4th year
in a row, kids from Kidney Camps across the US have received quilts
made by medical staffs, patients, friends and families of kidney
patients. For the 4th year in a row, these quilts have made a HUGE
difference as a memory of camp: a time of fun, friends and laughter.
Kids from 8-18 with
medical needs ranging from transplant, HIV, asthma, spina bifida to
peritoneal and hemodialysis are welcomed and embraced by both the
medical staff and the counselors at camp. For many of these children,
this is the first time they have seen a medical professional as a real
person: someone to sing and dance with, someone to share a secret with
at the evening campfire. For the medical staff, this is a time to
enjoy the ‘real’ child: the child who laughs, who knows how to
catch fireflies, who surprises us with their sensitivity and
helpfulness to others. For the families, this is a break from a 24/7
job, which is a labor of love, but can be exhausting, isolating and
back-breaking.
For those of you who
remember camp from your childhood, little has changed in 30 years.
Hikes, canoes and fishing, crafts (tie-dye T shirts are as popular in
this century as they were in the 60s), swimming, sleep outs with
midnight raids on the kitchen and giggles with new friends are still
the rage. If not for Med Korner and the slight adaptations offered to
allow for wheelchairs or dialysis schedules, you would never know that
these children are any different from any other children.
