ONCE a year, two groups of children — one from the inner-city and another from the deaf community — get to experience another side to Jamaica. Spending five glorious days in the cool hills of Irish Town, St Andrew, they engage in horseback riding, swimming in the river, and learning about the environment and teamwork.
The children, whose ages range from 11 to 16 years, are participants at a special camp that integrates deaf children with their peers with normal hearing.Jeanne Croskery, one of the organisers of the residential summer camp, volunteered her time to ensuring that the children have an experience they don’t easily forget.Through donations from Corporate Jamaica and friends, Croskery has been able to sponsor some 22 children to attend this year’s camp.An unassuming Croskery said the idea to have such a camp was borne out of the interaction she had over the years with her foster son, who is hearing impaired, while taking him horseback riding on the weekend at friend Meg Phillips’ Ena’s Haven camp site in Irish Town.“I wrote to every company I could think of and a couple of them responded,” she said.Among those that responded were Burger King, Arosa Limited, Discount Pharmacy, National Continental Corporation, McGann Farms, Lillan Limited, and Palace Amusement.Friends also stepped in to donate the US$100 required to feed each child for the week.“We even had to go and borrow linen, blankets and even plates and cups, because some of the children couldn’t afford to bring their own,” Croskery told the Jamaica Observer.She also sought the assistance of the Jamaica Association for the Deaf and was pleased at how enthused they were at the idea of a combined camp.“They said they would send a counsellor and an interpreter,” Croskery said, adding that they ended up sending three full-time staff members.“One person came all the way from the St Ann school and he took the bus and came in to be a part of the camp for a week,” she recalled.“We ended up having a total of 17 children, eight of whom were from the deaf community,” she said.That first camp, she said, was successful beyond measure.As part of the process, Croskery said the ‘hearing’ children were required to role-play, having some sort of a disability so they could live in the shoe of another person — if only for a week.“So, we would blindfold one or we would tie up a child’s foot or hand and they had to learn to operate as a team and to help each other,” she explained.Working with the horses was, in itself, a very therapeutic experience as Croskery said many had never been that close to a horse.The kids also learnt a sense of responsibility having to do chores that included bathroom, camp site or kitchen duties.The second staging of the camp, which was held last month, attracted better sponsorship as persons have come to see the impact the previous one ad on the children.“We made some DVDs of the camp and everybody who we gave one to, if they sponsored one child last year they sponsored two this year,” she said, explaining that there were 22 children at the camp this year.She also said there was a lot in terms of food donation.“National Continental donated a lot of stuff, so much so that the kids were able to get two snacks a day plus bun and cheese,” she said.Croskery explained that this year, two American families were so impressed with the camp that they sent their two teenaged sons to be a part of the experience.“Four of the deaf children cancelled on the morning of the camp as nerves got the better of them on realising that they were being taken out of their comfort zones. And, so what we want is for the deaf children to go back and make presentation to others,” Croskery explained.She said, like their parents, many of the inner-city participants had never been outside of their communities.“We gave one child a picture to take home and the mother asked ‘is what that she have on har head’ because she never knew it was a riding helmet,” Croskery saidMeanwhile, she said taking the deaf participants out of their comfort zones brought to the fore how underserved the group is.“Just seeing these kids interact with each other, it is a shame that more people don’t realise that they are just deaf but not different,” she said.Already, Croskery said she is strategising for next year’s camp and looking at ways to improve on the experience for the children.“I am hoping to increase the number of participants for next year if we get the kind of support that we had for this year, and also if we can get more counsellors to be a part of it,” she said.Participants at this year’s camp pose for a group photograph at the end of the programme.Children go horseback riding, one of the main features of the camp.This group enjoys a splash in the river at the special camp to integrate hearing impaired children with their normal hearing peers.View the original article here
A camp with a special purpose
