SOWERRVing

Camp Barnabas, Aug. 12^th

Half way! Time is going way too fast. We have enjoyed our new friends that we are serving with here at Camp Barnabas - Jim and Feryl Laney. They have given us information that we will need when we drive westward week after next since they are from Oregon they are very familiar with that part of the country and all the projects on that side of the U.S. Jim is a retired Marine and his dear wife, Feryl, is a retired housewife! She has taught me many new cooking tips (with Western flair) and is currently teaching me to card stitch. Not sure my eyes will be able to do this for many more years but it is a beautiful way to personalize a card or letter to send to someone. As much time as it takes to make one I will pick and choose my recipients carefully and no one best throw it in the garbage for at least one year! Wayne has acquired another jig saw puzzle so needless to say he is spending all his spare time putting it together. This project was the recipient of an “Extreme Makeover” on its director’s house in 2006 and since they have moved on to another camp this building is used for the camp for offices, meetings and special events. Camp was officially over for the summer last Friday so we have been able to use the building for our own projects (sewing curtains) and for game nights as well as laundry facilities.

We are eagerly awaiting the details of the next grand baby – sex will be revealed first week of September. Boys, boys, boys! But we would love another little girl just like the other two. Someone has got to carry on that Carotenuto name.

Ok, so after 5 ½ months are we coping living with limited space in a 40 ft. motor home and on top of each other when we are together? Yes, and yes. Really we don’t spend much time in the RV. We try to sight see on the weekends (3 days) and other times we are gaming with other SOWERs, catching up on paperwork and determining our next plan of action, i.e. where to sign up for the next project. Planning 6 months in advance is not always easy but we can cancel at any time if need be and head in another direction if needed.

We were only able to watch this camp in action for one week of which Gail worked in the kitchen for about 2 hours per day then on to sewing privacy curtains for the bunks located downstairs in the dining facility. These bunks house relatives that come along with the campers and are available if their child should need them during the week. Sometimes it is just too far for the parent to go home and come back to pick them up at the end of the week so they stay. These types of camps (for disabled children) are few and far between so they are from all over the U.S. and in some instances they come from out of the U.S. The children have such a great time that it is hard to conceive what it must be like when they go home – one of the staff members here slept for 4 days just to get revived! Archery and riflery, canoeing (elevators for wheelchairs that deliver them to the platform to get in the canoe), ropes courses, pool with slides (zero entry for wheelchairs) and with all types of water fun, every night is a different themed party, pottery, zipline (yes, even for the most disabled), gardening, putt putt course, and a few animals. There are numerous doctors and nurses located in their own “Well House” and each camper dictates that 2-3 volunteers be available for their needs. It is an incredible run organization which is rapidly gaining popularity. At the end of each week they allow the campers to pre-enroll for next year and already there are weeks at full capacity. They have acquired another camp on Table Rock Lake about 1 hr. away that is quickly filling up as well and they run another camp for disabled adults to teach them to live on their own someday.

More than anything I am amazed and encouraged by the young adult volunteer staff here that works tirelessly with joy written all over their faces every minute of every day. They often do not sleep a night through for turning children over every 2 hrs or cleaning them from head to toe in the middle of the night as one may have had an “accident”. The hills alone that they are seen pushing wheelchairs up are grueling but never once have I heard one complaint. Sometimes they are writing parents details of their child’s day, sometimes they are sitting with them while they are being tube fed at the “Well House”, and sometimes they are just dancing with them at a party.