For the first few weeks of July, I had the amazing opportunity to experience the Between Friends Summer Camp! project through Youth Central’s Youth Volunteer Corps. I first encountered this project on Youth Central’s website as I was scrolling through the list of summer projects with the goal of finding the usual summer camp volunteer project. Not going to lie, I was initially slightly turned off by the description of having to work with children with disabilities and the potential burdens that it could carry, but nonetheless I signed myself up in hopes of gaining a unique experience this summer.
Well, let’s just say the camp delivered! In fact, the camp far exceeded my initial goal of simply gaining a unique experience and actually changed my outlook towards others as well as my personal beliefs in general. The first two days were truly brutal days of intense fatigue as I found myself cursing at the end of each day for ever signing up for the project. Basically, my pains originated mainly from difficulties in maintaining control in the camp. Campers often behave in ways that are simply out of my common experience/expectations, hence difficulties inevitably arises when I attempt to communicate with them. However, changes started to occur as the rest of the week passed by, and miraculously, I found myself slowly starting to look forward to each day of camp. As I grew closer with each of the campers, I began to understand them better and as these relationships developed, I gradually grew accustomed to their different behaviors. One of the most important aspects about them that I’ve taken notice of is their openness. They are truly candid in their expressions towards others as they are not afraid to express every last thing that is on their mind, and will never hide anything from you. This kind of direct honesty grew on me as I knew that everytime they told me something, they are expressing exactly what is on their minds, which makes me want to communicate with them that much more. Apart from their openness, there was much more that I learned about these unique children in this summer camp that completely changed my outlook towards the “disabled.”
Unfortunately, my summer schedule only permitted for me to volunteer for one week at this camp, but without a doubt, I would’ve surely volunteered for the entire duration of this camp throughout the summer had I the time. Lucky for you guys who have time to spare for the rest of summer, this camp is in place until Aug 24. I gurantee you that it will be a life-changing experience and highly encourage each of you to jump on Youth Central’s website and sign up for this golden opportunity right now!