Where a kid can be a kid

Isn't it incredible what can happen around a fire? I recently had the chance to spend some time with our friends from the visiting Canadian Diabetes Association camp. A group of girls needed an extra counselor on their out trip. I very gladly went with them to help prepare their fire and meal and s'mores. But I actually ended up staying the whole night because of one of the best fireside conversations I've ever had with a group of campers or anyone. What started as talking about boys ended up being about living with diabetes. As someone who hasn't had a lot of direct experience with the disease I didn't really think much of it. I just saw these kids run around camp with a lot of extra snacks, including peanut butter, which always made other campers quite jealous. They also had to leave games and events frequently to go get tested. But I didn't realize how much people with diabetes have to alter their lifestyle. The girls made it clear that they were looking for friends (and of course boyfriends) who could realte to their disease and not look at it like a disability.

I heard story after story about how family, friends and teachers would treat these girls differently after their diagnosis and assume that they were these weak frail creatures that might fall apart at any minute. But these girls play volleyball, rugby and a variety of other sports. I had to ask them if they felt this way at camp. Their responses were eye opening. They all felt camp was the one place they felt understood and had real friends who could relate to them and they didn't have to worry about explaining things. There were counselors who were overprotective who thought they would have a seizure at any minute and their were counselors that they loved who just treated them like any other camper.

The more I look at camp here and camp in the United States I fee like there is a critical lesson to be learned here. Yes, safety is our main priority as camp staff. But not at the expense of a life changing meaningful experience for the camper. Those kids with special needs that challenge us everyday? This is the one place that they can feel normal. Let them. Don't worry so much about incident and accident reports and focus on the overall experience instead. Because that is what will keep them coming back.