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This month we are pleased to share a piece of writing from a first time counselors named Jessica Cutler Goodell from Florida. She met Safe Haven through a friend of hers who has also been a counselor for our camps.
Also, we want to share a brief but very special piece of writing from one of our very own campers named "Shanye" When she recently visited her social worker at the clinic, she asked if she could visit our website to see what Safe Haven was up to. She read other Thinking Cap writings and asked her social worker to help her write something to submit. Below is her brief but wonderful message which I promised to post here for you to read, including a small note from Katie, her social worker. Thanks Shanaye and Katie, and Jess. !
FROM JESSICA
"I had never been to a sleep away camp as a little girl. So it was ironic that now as a nineteen year old in college I found myself sleeping in a cabin surrounded by the woods, insects, and giggling pre-pubescent girls. As I lay in bed listening to Kristen read the nightly bedtime story, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, I looked up at the ceiling and thought about the week that flew by. It seemed like just yesterday I was getting into Dave’s car, driving to the DC Children’s Hospital to meet the kids that I would unwittingly fall in love with. It wasn’t long after I introduced myself to Troy before he was cornrowing my hair and making me promise to sit next to him on the bus. He hardly knew me, but that didn’t matter. We were already friends. It was in that moment that I fully understood Safe Haven. No matter how in detail Kristen could describe it to me, I had to live it.
In a world that is often cruel and unrelentingly realistic, Safe Haven is a playground. It is a week to just be you and have an amazing time. The only rule is that you have fun, laugh and just spend time with each other whether you are playing basketball, drawing, dancing, swimming, corn rowing (and my oh my is there a lot of corn rowing), or playing four-square.
A million questions were flooding my mind as I looked up at the log cabin ceiling. What was I going to do in the coming months without the constant weight of a ten year old on my back or pulling at my hand? Who was going to give me the immense pleasure of play-drowning me in the pool? When was the next time I would see the harlem shake or crypt walk done properly? As these thoughts frantically passed in and out of my consciousness, Kristen’s voice brought me back to the present. Mrs. Piggle Wiggle had just lost a tooth in the story. I smiled and recalld the look of utter surprise and delight on Audra’s face when she lost her tooth at the baseball game. Lauren, Julianne, Kristen and I had to be so stealthy that night to be Audra’s tooth fairy. We thought we were so clever, but some people were not fooled. Ternell’s face flashes in my mind and I can still hear her cynical little voice saying, “ I saw you last night you know, I told you the tooth fairy wasn’t real.”
I am so thankful that Safe Haven was created to take little girls like her out of the real world and into a supportive, loving, encouraging and carefree environment, even if just for a week. I am so thankful that Safe Haven was created to take these girls and boys into their open arms and welcome them into a new kind of family. We are a family that loves and lives among each other with admiration and respect for a week, but we will remain together for a lifetime.
I went away for one week and fell in love not once, or twice, but forty times over. I didn’t know I had it in me to feel so much, to love so much, but months have gone by and I am still thinking about the kids, the counselors, and the family. I am simply thankful Safe Haven was created. No matter where you come from, you leave together."
From Shanaye
Hi Tony,
I saw "Shanaye" today, she said to tell you hello and she misses you.
She also wanted me to tell you, that she is coming back to camp next year.
In clinic today, we pulled up The Safe-Haven website to look at your
Thinking Cap page.
I asked her if she would like to submit something and she said yes.
Here is what she had to say about her experience at camp.
Katie
Dear Tony,
Hey, its Shanaye I'm writing to tell you what an incredible time I had at
camp last summer and this summer.
Thanks to the camp I am actually starting to like baseball. The counselors
are terrific and the activities are great.
I can finally swim. I hope to be at camp next year. The only thing that is
wrong with the camp is the spiders, but I don't really have a problem with
that, I kinda like spiders.
Like I said I had an excellent time, I'll see
you next year.
From
Shanaye
P.S. How old do you have to be to be a camp counselor?
This month(October 2004) we are so pleased to share with you a writing from one of our volunteers, JEFF LAFATA. As many will tell you, finding males who are willing to volunteer can be a challenge. And so, we are especially grateful for the commitment Jeff has made to our kids.
Jeff has volunteered at four camps with Safe Haven. He works full time at the Perkins School for the Blind teaching independent living skills and providing personal care to students at the facility who have multiple disabilities and challenges. In addition, Jeff is working towards his Bachelors Degree in Community Planning with a focus on community development. We met Jeff through volunteers from The City Year Program. Here is what he had to share.
For the kids and volunteers that make up the Safe Haven family vacation means camp. We wait all year to get the chance to reunite again on the Vineyard and in Maryland for another amazing week, that will go all too quick. For the campers this is a camp like no other! They have a full week of activities, which for most will only happen at camp. Whether it is an intense game of dodge ball at the Boys and Girls Club and Harley rides on the Vineyard or riding the zip line and going to the Fredrick Keys game in Maryland the activities are filled with smiles, fun and friends. Safe Haven has great activities that fill the week, but what makes Safe Haven special is what lies beneath all of this. Camp Safe Haven is just that, a safe haven. When kids arrive at camp they are able to leave everything behind and walk into open arms that they know is filled with nothing but unconditional love. They enter into a family where their secret is no longer a secret, were judgments and stigmas are left behind, and into a safe space where, as one camper said, “I can finally talk to someone else using the letters H-I-V.”
When I think of the Safe Haven family and the amazing atmosphere it produces I can’t help but think of my fellow staff members and volunteers. For us vacation days at work are saved. Our college classes are missed for a week. We leave our ordinary lives to become part of something larger then ourselves. This week of volunteering our time and hearts leaves us forever changed. Our amazing staff is made up of more then just these committed counselors. I have never met a nicer group of nurses! Like the counselors they leave behind their jobs and families to be apart of this family. The nurses are such a loving group that does everything they can to make med time fun and the nurse station a place of comfort and joy. Of course you can’t forget the two men that brought this family together. Tony and Dave’s hard work and love has brought us all together and given us all an experience that we could have never imagined. When I look at the Safe Haven staff and the countless community volunteers I realize that Margret Mead was right when she said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
We all began coming to camp because of our experience with or passion for the issues that surround HIV and AIDS. But we all return for the family. Safe Haven is not about HIV, it is about love, family and respect, which for many comes so rarely in life, even though these can be given so easily and naturally. We return year after year for the Harley rides, mini-golf, late night talks, dancing at the Atlantic Connection, and the endless qualities that make camp so great.
So for most people vacation means Disney and ski trips but for the Safe Haven family it means a week of fun, love, endless activities, dancing, long days, great talks, fieldtrips, friendship and most of all respect. Once this vacation comes to an end it is time to begin the countdown to camp once again.
A POEM
This untitled poem was written by one of our new campers at the recent April camp on Martha's Vineyard.
Sometimes I feel in hiding
But here I feel so free
I'm happy that I have a place
Where I can just be me
The world is often cruel to us
Relations seem so few
The one thing they don't understand
Is that we need love too
This camp is an inspiration
The best opportunity
I can finally talk to someone else
Using the letters H-I-V
So thanks to everyone here
For making the experience so great
I'm throwing this one in for Meghan
I love you like a fat kid loves cake
Many people volunteer at a Safe Haven event. You may wonder what motivates a person to become involved. We have been so fortunate that many of those who choose to volunteer once, return again year after year. This section is devoted to their experiences. If you would like to share yours, please email it to us. We will periodically update this page with your writing.
This month (September) we have a short writing from one of our new Junior Counselors Annie Kohanek. This was Annie's first experience with Safe Haven and she was a wonderful addition to our camp staff. Here is what she wrote upon returning from the recent August camp experience in Maryland (August 2004)
You can read past writing in our Thinking cap Archives in the menu to the left
"Since I can remember, I have always known that my future would be in the social services. Whether it would be politics, counseling, or teaching, I know that my calling is to improve the lives of others. Coming to Safe Haven was a cementing of that belief. For one week, my job was to care for these campers and make sure that they had the best time imaginable.
What separates Camp Safe Haven from other sleep-away camps is that the camp is for kids who are infected or affected by HIV. However, this is only the surface of what makes this camp so special. These were the most loving, non-judgmental, talented people I have ever had the honor to befriend. In my cabin alone, I had a girl who I know is going to be the next American Idol, and another girl who can dance and had the freestyle abilities to knock any rapper off their feet. They had so much love to give. In less than an hour when the kids arrived, I had two campers in my lap teaching me how to make a bracelet, and two more in my hair giving me braids. The campers loved to play with the counselors’ hair. I believe I went through six or seven different styles before the week was over. I have also never met kids who were so non-judgmental. They accepted you for who you are, not what you look like. One of the boys there was in a wheelchair and had cerebral palsy. Instead of ignoring him or making fun of his disabilities the campers immediately included him in their games and even created new ones to include him. He was one of the guys. Turns out, he was also one of the funniest and most talkative campers there.
The counselors too were incredible people. They were what made this camp run so smoothly. Their personalities created the positive atmosphere. Right away we got along really well. I miss all of them terribly. Saying goodbye to those kids was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I love every single one and hold all of them in my heart. I cannot wait to reunite with returning campers and meet new kids in the April and August camps for the next ten years.
Because Camp Safe Haven does not ask for money from the campers and provides everything from food to toothpaste, they rely on donations. Please, to keep this incredible program which I am so honored to be a part of going, make a donation or visit their store and show your support by buying a shirt. Thank you."
Summer is here and we are so fortunate to have held another successful April camp experience.
A newcomer to the ranks of counselor was a wonderful young woman from the Vineyard named Brie Sylvia. Tony met Brie at the school he works at. Brie had decided to hold a World AIDS Day event at the school and asked him to speak. From there, Brie became involved with Camp Safe Haven.
Here are her thoughts.
Choosing a Luxury Vacation
Choosing what to do on Spring Break seems like the easiest thing ever. It's all about working on that glowing tan and not having a care about anything in the world. Who wouldn't want to have a dream vacation? Amazingly, my decision was way different. Instead, this past spring, I decided to spend my vacation at a camp with little kids and not get paid. That doesn't sound like the best vacation, but somehow I learned more at that camp than anywhere else in my life.
This wasn't just an ordinary camp. Camp Safe Haven is a camp that brings together children from around the world, who are HIV positive. Almost every kid, from the ages of 8-18 was affected in some way with AIDS. Their lives back home were turned up side down because of discrimination. They where pushed away from their communities and the little kids had to learn many harsh life lessons before they were a teenager. Never have I gone to a camp and come back a different person. Except this once.
During one of my conversations with a camper we exchanged powerful words. I mentioned to her I was nervous about coming to camp and I thought I wouldn't fit it. She rudely said I didn't fit in and I never would. Once I realized the depth of that thought, it was true. No one fits in outside this camp, that is why we are all brought here. Everyone comes from a place where we are judged not for who we are inside, but the facts that are around us.
Being a counselor at this camp gave me many responsibilities that I had to follow. Not only was I a role model for the kids but I was also somewhat a mother for the little kids and a sister to the big kids. Every time we would go someplace, I would have a girl/boy clinging to my back for a piggy-back ride.
The were 24 campers and 26 counselors and we were such a family. There was a wide range of ages but nothing could of came between us. Amazingly we formed this family within a week of meeting each other. Having a full week with this group of people and not being pulled into the drama at my home, makes it the best experience ever.
I have learned so many life lessons by being around these smiling children. Every day a kid learns something new but that week the kids were teaching me. I would never want to give up that Spring Break, EVER! I even got a glowing tan by staying outside everyday and playing with the kids.
Brie Sylvia
Many people volunteer at a Safe Haven event. You may wonder what motivates a person to become involved. We have been so fortunate that many of those who choose to volunteer once, return again year after year. This section is devoted to their experiences. If you would like to share yours, please email it to us. We will periodically update this page with your writing.
This month we are so happy to share a writing from long time volunteer Sarah Deneen. Safe Haven met Sarah when Tony met a group of teens in Boston through CITY YEAR. Sarah has been a bright and shining light to many young people and is truly a committed volunteer in the Safe Haven family. We are lucky to have her with us. Here is what she wrote:
When I first when to Safe Haven the only reason I had for going was because it
had something to do with AIDS, and since that was the field I was working in
it sounded great. Little did I know that I would find a home in Safe Haven and
that AIDS would be the furthest thing from my mind. Because Safe Haven isn?t
about having HIV or AIDS it?s about having fun, being a family and most
importantly it?s about respect.
We just have fun together, that?s it. That?s what this exhausting expensive
week is all for. The children get to step outside their worlds and come to the
vineyard where everyone loves them and waits all year to see them. And as a
counselor I get to step outside my world and come to the vineyard where I get
to see the children I love, that I wait all year to see.
We are all so accepted at Safe Haven which is rare in this world. The Martha?s
Vineyard Harley riders have us over every year, restaurant owners donate their
food and services year after year, and most importantly Dave, Tony, and Mary
who pull off nothing short of a miracle year after year to make sure we are
all well fed, healthy and happy.
Safe Haven just starts; there is no easing into it. A couple of hours after
the kids get off the boat you have one in your lap, one braiding your hair,
and one having a conversation with you. We play and we laugh and we always
manage to cry. We take amazing field trips to the movies, to the Atlantic
connection, to the chocolate factory and to so many other wonderful places,
and of course the most bitter sweet trip of them all, our trip to gay head.
Where we have our memorial celebration for those whom we have lost, where Safe Haven proves once again after all these years that Safe Haven never forgets. This is where we hold each other and cry, and this is where shortly after we celebrate the life that we have and play on the beach.
Days go by and even though time fly?s it still feels like we have been with
each other for a lifetime. How else could you explain the bonds that we form
in a few short days? There is no way to explain how we form a family in one
week, but it happens, every time. Whether it?s hanging out in the common room,
to making masks in the kitchen to baking cookies, to reading Harry potter at
bedtime, these children become your entire life, if only for a week. No
thoughts of the outside world even manage to sneak in. No news, no sports
scores, not hate, no bills, no worries, just pure love.
Safe Haven has changed my life immensely. No matter where I am in life, I
think about my small camp on Martha?s Vineyard that has become my second home.
When I feel like the world is mean and cold, and that life is hard, and
worthless, I just think of Safe Haven, I think of one child?s smile, one
talent show, one hug and I get through it. When I want to give up on someone,
or act coldly, I think of Safe Haven, What would safe haven do, what would
Tony and Dave do? And I always find the answer. I never thought that a camp
could change my life this much or at all for that matter. Then I think of the
dire needs some of the children that we serve are in and how much Safe Haven
must do for them as well, and that fills my heart with immeasurable joy.
Disney world has some competition, because I think that Safe Haven is the
happiest place on earth.
We are pleased to share here the writing of Calra Rosinski. Carla has been a counselor with Safe Haven for five years. We met through the wonderful CITY YEAR program in Boston. Carla lives and works in Cambridge Mass at a school - based health center doing sexuality counseling and education. In addition, Carla is in Graduate school at Lesley University working toward a license in Clincal Psychology. Carla has volunteered and worked with people living with HIV and AIDS for ten years, in addition to her on-going volunteer work with Safe Haven. We are so fortunate to have Carla as part of our Safe Haven family. Here is what she wrote:
The Safe Haven Family
I remember my first Safe Haven on Martha’s Vineyard. It could not have come at a better time in my life. Feeling burnt out and unsure of the direction my life was going, I was in need of some serious rejuvenation. I did not expect to get recharged at a weeklong camp full of kids! But that’s exactly what happened. Don’t get me wrong—it is a jam packed week of fun and at the end I was ready to sleep for a few days straight, but when I finally awoke, I had a new perspective. Life can get overwhelming, especially with working full time and being in graduate school. Over the past 4 years taking precious vacation time to be at Safe Haven is something I would never give up, even when everything is piling up on me. Safe Haven reminds me about what’s important and worthy; it keeps me going in a complicated world. I wait all year to go to camp, just like the campers do.
The theme of Safe Haven is not HIV. The theme is Respect.
And the respect I have for the campers is tremendous. I thrive off of their inspiration and determination in a world that doesn’t always give them what they need. I am overwhelmed by the respect I have for my fellow counselors, staff and friends, who like me, have busy lives outside of this perfect week, yet leave it all behind and many times would give it all up to stay here for just a little while longer…
And words can’t describe Tony and Dave, the way that they handle tough situations with care and grace, and send us back into the world as better people from just knowing them. I’ve never seen so many amazing people in one place at the same time.
For the campers, Safe Haven is about seeing old friends and making new ones, playing games, making tie dyes, riding on Harley’s, going to the beach, playing basket ball at the boys and girls club or beating the counselors at a game of dodge ball. Or it could be about the talent show, laughing at the counselors, learning African dance, tai chi, or maybe a few new hip hop moves, making friendship bracelets or playing Frisbee. For me it’s about all of these things, and so much more. Safe Haven is just like any other camp for kids, only it’s completely different.
This year, for the first time during my experience with Safe Haven a camper asked me to accompany her to the hospital because she fell ill. While sitting with her and another counselor, I looked around at the normally dreary room, which was now unrecognizable to the nurses, covered in drawings, pictures, art projects and cards from fellow campers and counselors. You would never know she had only been there for a few hours. Between playing board games and laughing, the camper leaned back and said, “There should be a law that kids aren’t allowed to get sick.” She is so right.
Hearing this reminds me of her reality.
The next afternoon the sun is shining and laughter echoes through the yard at a BBQ hosted by the Harley Riders. I see her and other campers taking rides on the back of bikes. The laughing campers burst with excitement as they take off in packs of 15 for their third or fourth turn. These are the bikes of the same men and women who, with the rest of island community, come together to cook us fabulous meals, welcome us into their homes and take time out of their lives just to be part of this amazing experience.
Seeing this reminds me of the possibilities.
Later that day, (or was it a few days later? Time at Safe Haven is hard to explain.) sitting at dinner, I stopped and looked around. I made eye contact with another counselor who smiled as she listened intensely to the passionate stories of the 10-year-old sitting next to her. I saw campers happily go to the nurses’ station for their meds, with no hesitation because they knew they’ll be greeted with smiles and open arms. I saw everyone eating and laughing and talking, and though we’ve had countless days full of fascinating activities, we still had energy for whatever was next. I’m pulled out of my thoughts by a small hand tugging on me to go outside for a game of ping-pong. I nod, clear my plate and head outside, full of happiness and peace I feel no where else on earth.
Feeling this reminds of what it means to be part of the Safe Haven family.
CARLA ROSINSKI - JULY 2003
Thank you Carla !
As time goes on, we will add archival listings on this page of writings which have been featured in our thinking cap section.January 2003 we heard from Mary Shea, our Activities Coordinator. Mary is currently a student at the Mass. College of Art where she is studying photography. Mary has been devoted to the Safe Haven Mission since 1995, when she first attended a camp on Martha's Vineyard. Here is her story.
I have, in the last eight years, discovered that life is an endless series of challenging experiences, one after the other teaching us that there is no such phrase as, “I have done it all?” I have never met a person who I couldn’t learn something from, or give something back to. I wake up everyday with the excitement that today I possess the ability to change someone’s life. To me that’s what being alive is all about, and I cannot imagine living any other way than in a life focused service, giving back to someone we may have never met before, simply because we can. I began to think this way seven years ago, when I met a man who showed me a side of life that I had never seen before, full of strength, inspiration, and hope, and I knew that I wanted to be a part of it. That was where my journey began.
At fourteen years old, I was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer, called “Osteosarcoma”. With my doctor’s suggestion, I became a test subject for a new protocol of chemotherapy treatments, surgical procedures, and new medical combinations, all of which were created in the hopes of providing a better survival rate for my diagnosed disease. For eleven months I moved back and forth from the orthopedic floor of my hospital, to the childhood cancer floor, from isolation rooms to protect other patients from my infections, to a few days of rest here and there in my own bed at home every three weeks or so, ending with amputation of my leg.
It was in the tenth month of my treatments, that I went to the small coffeehouse near my town, and met its founder, a man by the name of Tony. He told me that he was helping to start a camp after he met Dave Butler the Founder of Safe Haven. It was for children from all over the United States, that were infected or affected by the HIV virus. He said he would be honored if I would come and be a part of this new family. I had never met, at that time, anyone who was HIV positive, since there were not many living in our small island community at the time I had been growing up there. I suppose that if I hadn’t been living in a hospital and seen my friends dying from cancer all around me, I might have been afraid to see what such an unmerciful disease like HIV can do to a child, All I could think of was that I had something in common with these children that I could give back to them, an understanding that I never thought I would have. I counted down the days until camp.
I remember my mother driving me up to the front of the camp building. I looked out the window of the car at the campers playing volleyball, running around playing frisbee, and hanging out at the picnic table making friendship bracelets, and I was shocked. How could these kids be living with a terminal illness? One by one the counselors told me their names and where they were from, and I found out that many of them were from my small community and I had never met them before. They explained that they were taking their spring break to come and volunteer at this camp, and that even for just the first day it was the most incredible, life changing experience that they had ever been given the opportunity to be a part of. After just a few short hours, I already understood what they were speaking about.
A few nights later, at the closing camp meeting, I sat down with my parents, grandfather, and the camp nurse and listened to David who founded Safe Haven, and Tony who was the Co-Director, thank everyone for such a wonderful camp experience. Looking around the room, I saw campers asleep in counselor laps, holding onto counselor arms, and counselors and campers crying, full of emotions after the week they had experienced. That was when I began to imagine what my life would be like without these people in it, without this physical manifestation of hope
and family, without these children that everyday are the true profiles in courage.
I in a few weeks would be finishing my last round of chemotherapy, cancer free,
labeled a cancer survivor. I finally knew how they felt, to live life to its fullest, and never
doubt that you would be able to achieve whatever it was you wanted, as long as you lived in the moment. These children do not know what it means to be anything but who they are, and there is no way that I cannot marvel in their magnificent amounts of courage.
I am writing because I am a cancer survivor, now an amputee, who loves photography, the look of surprise and pure elation when you practice a random act of kindness for someone you have never met. I believe in the power of one persons voice to change the world of the person hearing your words. If I hadn’t gone into that coffeehouse that night, and met Tony, I might never have found my purpose in service. Now like a train pushing full steam ahead, I cannot stop, and everyone I have met along the way knows about my personal mission, which is to make everyone aware that they can
be a part of something that is greater than they ever imagined. I believe that at this time we need to speak up louder than ever, and show those that have forgotten, and those that have never seen, the faces of this epidemic, and show them that there are children, teenagers, and adults, that will never forget what it is like to be touched by this disease. I plan to live the rest of my life giving back the compassion that I received when I was battling my own illness, and to continue to spread the word of service to anyone who will listen, in the hopes that I can in my own small way open up peoples lives the way The Safe Haven Project opened mine.
FROM JUNE 2003
This month we will hear from Cassandra Okechukwu, A registered Nurse who is one of our Medical Coordinators. Cassandra has been in graduate school at John's Hopkins University and has volunteered with Safe Haven for three plus years. Cassandra is by far a committed and compassionate asset to the Safe Haven family. In this writing, Cassandra shares one woman's perspective on a week at camp. Enjoy.
Not just for the kids
School takes itself seriously. The idea of taking five days away from school was not exactly reasonable considering that I was behind in my studies. Anyway, I enjoyed Safe Haven camp in Maryland, and Martha’s Vineyard was a particularly alluring setting. Safe Haven has the ambitious mission of improving the lives of children with HIV/AIDS by providing camp experiences in three United States settings. All my worries about school were banished as I listened to the campers' avid discourse on issues of world importance; from Osama Bin Ladin, to whether lil Bow-Wow is cuter than lil Romeo. I was headed to a safe haven away from the worries of school. I knew I was in for a life defining experience when we were escorted into town in a school bus flanked by more than twenty Harley Davidson riders from Martha’s Vineyard.
Life takes itself too seriously but thank God children don’t. The children scattered excitedly when we got to our idyllic camp setting. Old friends proclaimed loudly as they were united for another camp experience. New campers at first stayed with the staff but were soon drawn into the hustle and bustle of the first camp day. Willing staff members were also drawn into campers’ activities. Generosity abounded. The children were particularly generous with their affections. Nature generously gave us a great weather ignoring its usual rainy mood for the time of year. The locals opened their establishments and time to the campers. Hearts and homes were opened to campers as they enjoyed rides on merry-go-rounds, fishing and even a night out at the local dance club with local teens. Teenage angst and childish homesickness dispersed as all were seduced by fun filled activities. There were Zen masters, drummers, cooks in leather, puppeteers and of course, riding with the Harley riders. Counselors spent nighttime trying to quiet the campers’ excited chatter with faces glowing from the days’ activities.
AIDS takes itself way too seriously. Occasionally, the campers had to take a break from celebrating their vigor to gather around the nurses’ station to take their medication. This was an eerie reminder of the deadly virus that inhabits their bodies. They sit around the nurses’ station chiding and supporting each other, trading stories of horse pills and hospital visits with an occasional exaggeration as all children do. One camper swore he once had to take a pill as big as a small cushion. The others exclaimed in amazement until horse pill stories got stretched to house pill stories. These are kids just being kids. The burden of the disease hits me as talks of play, school, work and life is interspersed with talk of hospitals and disease. The reality of their situation hits even harder when one camper comments that she will not grow to have children. The innocence and joy of their being melts down the anger and the questions of why. Such thoughts are hard to hold onto in such a pristine environment. The mind drifts off to the days’ events and the impact of the generosity of a community and the fruits of the visions of mere men. Yeah, camp safe haven is a safe haven where the children can forget their illness for a week and a nurse can leave the worries of graduate school behind.
Cassandra Okechukwu
Camp nurse
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