Personal Narrative: How Camp Barnabas Changed My Life

After making the difficult decision of moving out from a school I called home and attended since Kindergarten, my freshman year in a new environment made for a rocky start. I fell into the wrong crowd, tried getting out, but kept making bad decisions, which eventually led to a deep depression. My dreams I had as a child were fading before my eyes, and negative thoughts consumed my mind. I started to believe that I had no purpose and could never amount to anything, but the four days at Camp Barnabas in Missouri changed the course of my entire life. This experience was important to me and helped sculpt me into the person I am today.

Camp Barnabas is a program that enables children with mental disabilities to enjoy camping activities that they would not have the chance to

experience otherwise. Volunteers are divided into groups and assigned a child to take care of for four days and three nights. Their duties are to help the children complete activities, assist with hygienic or medical needs, and primarily be a friend. Through this amazing experience, I rediscovered who I was and was ignited with a passion to help these children.

Camp Barnabas had a tremendous effect on my life, but, ironically, I was hesitant on going at first. My youth group had sign-up sheets and asked if I would participate, but as a fourteen year old wrestling against inner demons I was hesitant. However, the opportunity of being able to volunteer rekindled a passion that was buried by my depression but had since I was a child. I always loved helping people and doing what I could to make their lives easier. Without being asked, I would often rush over and offer my help, like setting up or cleaning parties or filing homework papers for my teachers. So even though I was told that I would not interact with the children but help clean and wash dishes because I was under fifteen, I was not bothered. I wanted to take care of a child, but if I could be a part of making the program go smoothly, I was happy. But to our surprise, the younger volunteers were able to join groups with the older volunteers. We, ourselves, were not assigned a child, but we were able to work with them. In my group, we had three main volunteers, two younger volunteers, including myself, and five boys- each with varying mental disabilities.

Taking care of five kids with a lack of volunteers was a handful, but I would not trade it for any other experience in the world. Although I was not assigned a child, I became my own leader and took up the duties of helping my group when they needed me, watched all the children, and took care of at least one at all times since we were short on main volunteers. The experience, at first, was intimidating because I never took care of a child with a disability, but each child grew on me as I got to know them. Throughout our time together, I remember laughing with them at silly jokes we shared during lunch, watching their bright smiles glow as we strapped them up in life vests for kayaking, and cheered and high-fived in victory as we were declared the best boy group.

I also remember meeting them for the first time.

Both the volunteers and children were timid, but because of my natural imagination and easy-going nature with the children, I started telling silly stories they spent minutes laughing over and then watched them stretch their faces in front of my camera. I learned that I had a natural ability to start a movement, connect two different groups of people, and create bonds between them. Again, I was also shown with this ability when a fight emerged from my other group of younger volunteers. Many of them were angry at our group leader, all declaring to act out in some form of rebellion as revenge. Although I was angry at her myself, I respected my leader and refused to take a part of it. Instead of arguing, I talked to them and explained our leader’s possible situation. I have always had the ability to understand another person’s point of view, so I explained to them that taking care of twenty young teenagers is challenging and knowing each of our individual situations was difficult. Instead, I proposed we talk about our problems with our leader peacefully, which was what we ended up doing and created a tighter, stronger bond in our

group.

I learned many things from this experience, but what I valued most was learning about their culture. Many people do not think it, but there is a whole mental handicapped culture, which I was blessed to be immersed in. They are nothing but nice, and if you smile and wave their faces light up with the brightest, innocent smiles, and they will run up and hug you, even though you are a stranger. Nothing makes them happier but for someone to talk to them normally, hold their hand, or teach them how to play basketball. They are kind, loving people, and my heart ached when our culture, of those who had the privilege of being born with a fully functioning mind, ridicule, mock, and ostracize them. I learned from this culture how lucky and blessed we are and how to be a good person from watching their endless amounts of care and love. This experience gave me a drive to make a place in our world where they can feel accepted more than the four days a summer. Camp Barnabas taught me many things, but it also helped me conquer my depression, reveal my strengths in uniting groups and promoting peace and positivity, and develop a passion to create a movement that will help make the daily lives of these wonderful children with disabilities better.