This is the week for the Maryland Deaf-Blind Camp. I have volunteered at camp 3 years and was the most involved last summer. Once we moved into adoption mode though, I started adjusting some of my activities. I love my volunteer time with Deaf-Blind Camp and also through the year with Deaf Shalom Zone (working mostly with deaf-blind clients), but with Alice here, carving out time to travel to Baltimore for meetings and activities was difficult. It was a good decision to not attend camp this year as it coincides with the last week of school. It is just too soon for me to be away for an entire week.
But I miss camp. What a wonderful time. I learned to ride a tandem bike at camp - with a deafblind camper riding behind me and probably out-weighing me by 50 pounds. Moving was no problem, but stopping was another story!! We discovered we needed a "catcher" ready to steady the bike when I stopped. Since the other rider is deaf, I can't warn him that we're stopping. Makes life interesting.
And who knew deaf-blind campers can do archery? And ride horses, and go canoeing, and climb walls, and all of the other typical camp activities. The catch is that it takes an lot of extra support for the campers to be free to do anything they want. Deaf-Blind Camp of Maryland pays for an average of 2 support service providers per camper. A lot of fund raising happens by a small group of faithful supporters. It is an incredible experience. If you live in the area and would like to help, as a volunteer or a donor, please consider contacting Deaf-Blind Camp of Maryland. Great people doing great ministry. Check out pictures from past camps here. (I'm in the 4th one down from the top, interpreting a wild west tall tale.)
I never heard of a camp like that! What a great thing! The pictures are very touching. Thanks for sharing.
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