BVI Adult: Week 1, Day 3

True story from this weekend:
After months of using the washers at school, where a load of laundry costs $1.25 and you have to pour your detergent into the little pullout drawer, I was happy to be doing laundry for free at Lions Camp. I was so excited to get all the sweat and dirt-stained clothes fresh and clean. I got all my clothes separated and in washers, then paused, confused. Feeling around the machine, I looked at Chelsey and said, "Where does the detergent go?" She nearly passed out from laughing so hard. Good luck trying to domesticate me, dear :-)

It is a rainy day here at camp. This afternoon's tractor rides have become movies in the memorial building, and gecoaching has become crafts. Not only is it wet, but it is also cold. In spite of the miserable weather, time marches on. This mornig I helped lead some crafting chaos. Helping 30 BVI adults bead necklaces, paint cabin flags, and make clothespin animals was a trip. Organized chaos! The waterfront is still open for boating this afternoon--luckily I will be indoors, all snug and dry.

The week is becoming very long. There is a clashing of two mind frames going on. The first is that these are BVI adults who need help doing things they cannot do on their own because of their limited vision. The second is that these are adults who are asking or demanding something every two seconds and it seems as though some of these things they can do on their own. This may sound crass, but for anyone who has ever taken care of another person (patient, kin, child) I hope you can understand where I am coming from. I love what we are doing for these campers--I know they love coming to camp and they have a great time. But it can be frustrating to give someone so much attention, sometimes at the expense of your time. I am frequently late to activities because someone needs to be walked somewhere. The age group I am working comes with it's own set of obstacles. Because they are young, they want to go and be free and do their own thing. Again, this is why they come to camp. But in cabins with older campers, the campers with low visibility help out the totally blind campers when it comes to walking places or helping dish out dinner.

I'm not a bad person. Really. If it were a family member it would be different; partly because it would be 1 and not 8 people. I am looking forward to the youth weeks because it makes more sense to be serving them, keeping an eye on them, making sure they get their meds on time.

I still love camp. I love what we do here and why we do it. I'm still having fun. But a long day at camp can either be a good thing or a bad thing and you never know which until you are in the thick of it.

~SJ