Camp Boggy Creek Family

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Recommended: Experience Of A Camp

I volunteered as a family pal at Camp Boggy Creek over the weekend of January 20th through 22nd, 2017. Located in Eustis Florida and founded by Paul Newman, Camp Boggy Creek is a 232-acre camp with a large lake for fishing, paddle boating, and kayaking, with an arts and crafts room and an archery station (CBC, 2017).
Participant Population Camp Boggy Creek serves children with serious illnesses. It is a free camp in which seriously ill children can have a safe and fun experience “and embrace the promise of yes” (CBC, 2017). Camp is a place for children ages 7-16, who have chronic illnesses, and their families. The weekend I served was specifically dedicated to children with life-threatening or severe heart conditions. As a family pal, I experienced …show more content…

Although I agree that “summing up a person’s whole character in terms of their disability,” or in this case their religion, takes away persons unique identity, not acknowledging their differences leads to not advocating for their rights (Sutherland, 1981). On another note, Camp Boggy Creek did stress to us “to focus on [the child’s] ability, not their limitations,” to help the children and families feel normal, safe, and have fun (McPhillips, 2017). I had a hard time finding a balance between fully treating my camper with the heart condition as normal, all the while encouraging her to take breaks when she was exhausted or out of breath. The myth that “a person is their disability” gets completely torn down at Camp Boggy Creek and that is why I think so many people love it and find comfort and hope …show more content…

After working with the family at Camp Boggy Creek I truly witnessed the intersectionality of the cultural, social and biological elements that form a personal identity (Preistly, 2003). I worked with a child that faced an every day battle with a serious heart condition. Along with this, she encounters discrimination based on her race and fights to escape the generalization of childhood disease. Her identity is still developing, however it has begun as a struggle against her biological condition, a fight between identifying as a person of faith and hiding it, as well as cultural restrictions and

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