Learning from the pros

As an outdoor recreation intern at Camp John Mark, in Meridian, Texas, no one had to persuade me of the benefits of camp. After all, this understanding drove me from the medical profession into what I believe is my place in this world.

This internship was a challenge for me. I did not have the therapeutic recreational background of previous interns, and, to be quite honest, I did not know if I could adjust to this new area of working with individuals with disabilities. I took the position knowing that a great learning experience lay ahead, but I had no idea who the real teachers would be.

I had already spent the first two sessions of camp working with campers. However, with the coming of Camp TLC (a spina bifida camp from Dallas), I knew I would face my first true challenge.

Spina bifida and the camp experience

Spina bifida occurs during the first month of fetal development and is a result of one or more of the vertebrae failing to form around the spinal cord.

When people with spina bifida participate in recreational activities, leaders must carefully balance taking necessary precautions to watch for cuts, scrapes, bruises, burns, and freezing with giving them the freedom to enjoy the benefits of the camp experience.

Day one - Friday

The cars and minivans began trickling down the dirt driveway into camp around 5 p.m. Dinner marked the schedule at 8 p.m., at which time the participants were to help themselves to an assortment of meats, cheeses, and toppings to make sandwiches. Of course, the cars kept straggling in, and dinner dragged on along with the new arrivals.

After we finished moving everyone into their appropriate cabins and ate what sandwiches we could build from the remnants of meats and cheeses, the buddies (volunteers assigned to particular campers) met with medical staff. At this time, all Camp John Marc staff played games with the campers in the lodge.

I had the opportunity to talk to at least 15 to 20 campers at length. They asked most of the questions and picked the topics of discussion. I saw that they were the ones in charge, and that I had to follow their promptings. We went to bed tired but eager for the day ahead.

Day two - Saturday

Morning activities began with breakfast at 8 a.m., and rolled right along into the first activity. It helped that most of these campers had attended the camp before. They were in and out of the lodge before most of the staff finished eating.

For the majority of the morning, I served as a makeshift tour guide for a volunteer worker from Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas. After the tour, I walked down to the pier, where I was originally scheduled, to see how the Camp TLC volunteer staff and campers were making out with the fishing. Fishing proved to be under good control since Jim, a Camp TLC staff volunteer, knew his stuff. His knowledge of fishing did not compare to his love for the kids, shown in the attention he gave them. The confidence he gave through his own enthusiasm went right along with them into the lunch period (and I dare to say back home with them later).

Lunch progressed much like breakfast, though a rest period interrupted activities until two o'clock that afternoon. Then it was business as usual, and I raced the campers down to the pier to see if our luck might change. Jim had all the poles out and ready to go. As I talked with each camper, I realized that they were getting all they had come for. They just wanted to be outside, enjoying God's beautiful creation and the fellowship of loving friends.

After my time at the fishing pier, I wandered over to the challenge course, thinking that this finally could be the challenge I had anticipated. I worked the bottom of the zip line and was responsible for unclipping the campers and lowering them down into their wheelchairs, when applicable. I knew this would not be easy, but what I found was the joy of being able to help them with what I had been given. This time just reiterated my belief that everything that God has given us, whether it is health, wealth, or otherwise, needs to be shared with those who lack it.

Though I had already experienced the joys of the new friendships, I now saw the weekend from a totally different perspective. I understood that I needed these people as much as they needed me, and that we were all bound together by a God who loves all of us in the same way.

The activities left us all a little depleted physically, but after sitting down for a while to eat dinner, our strength returned in full force. We now left the lodge to prepare for the big event: the camp dance.

The staff took their places and participated with all the enthusiasm of our own college dances. For the next two hours, the music played, and for the next two hours, we danced...and danced...and danced. We said our "goodnights," but even the activities scheduled for the coming day could not take away an air of "good-bye." Even while the fun and laughs kept reverberating through my head, I knew I would miss each camper when the session ended.

Day three - Sunday

Sunday's activities had a more somber mood. The denouement had come closer into view, and we knew the end would soon come. After breakfast, we all made our way to the Morning Star Chapel for a time of fellowship and reflection. The campers all told what they were thankful for, and we sang a couple of songs, including "Amazing Grace." As we sang the words, I thought about just how amazing God's grace really is, and how He uses each of us to bless the lives of others.

Before lunch two more activity periods led me to fishing (again, no luck), and then to cooking, where another staff member and I made place mats and chef's hats for the campers as they demonstrated their gourmet talents with an aromatic brownie pie. Lunch provided our last scheduled time to sit and enjoy each other's company and friendship.

We had to enjoy these last couple of hours together, so we made the best of the time unloading cabins and loading sleeping bags, pillows, and bags of clothes into the awaiting vehicles. Many hugs, mixed with a few tears, marked the end of the weekend, and as I watched the last car load stir the dust as it rolled down the driveway, I sent my last thought of gratitude away with them for the many things they had taught me.

Looking back once again to this memorable experience, I recall that my biggest fear rested in my simple lack of understanding. I felt that in being myself around these campers, I might unconsciously offend them in some uncertain way. Through their brief visit, however, they convinced me that I was wrong. As they left, I realized that they had given of themselves to me. These campers had naturally become my teachers. Philip Sandifer wrote in a song:

Listen to the children and the dreams that they dream of learn of the innocence and the way that they love. Take a moment to share in their views; listen to the children and know that they're listening to you. They're so often forgotten by a world that says, "Silence, child, hear as I speak and know it's you who is weak." Oh, but lend them your ear, build a bridge to their island, seek of their wisdom as they teach you to speak; and imagine as children, feel all the needs that they feel, and the want of assurance, that their hopes and their dreams will be given the chance to be real...

We all need to listen more to the children, for they have so much to teach us. I learned this first hand through these campers. They are the pros. Let them teach you.

B. Shane Bouldien graduated from Baylor University in 1995 with a B.S. in education with an emphasis on outdoor recreation.

COPYRIGHT 1996 American Camping Association
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group