Hey All,
I am leaving for camp and will be gone next week (so no updates)! I am the Volunteer Director of a week long grief camp for children who have lost a parent due to death. We have 100 kids so far (ages 6 to 17), 60 wonderful volunteers and 6 amazing Therapists. This is a truly magical place where kids can come together and share very difficult feelings and emotions about their grief. We try to normalize the grief for this kids. There are 99 other kids who have trouble sleeping, who can't concentrate at school or who fear the death of their surviving parent. We say camp is 90% fun and 10% grief work, but actually the entire process is therapeutic. They don't have to be the "Man of the House" like they do at home since Dad died. It is safe to laugh and have fun without being disrespectful to the person who died. It is safe here to say my Mother committed suicide or my Dad died of Aids. We want them to be kids first and grievers second. They ride horses, go fishing, do arts and crafts, do yoga, attend drama class, go swimming, go hiking, do archery or a variety of other activities. But for 1 hour a day, they attend "Group" where a therapist leads an age specific counseling session. Some kids get private counseling and can talk openly, but most struggle to share and many times just bury their heads and tears in their laps. The fact that we are a week long grief camp makes us unique. Most of the other grief camps are for a weekend, but we get an entire week to build trust and work on these emotions. The camp is in Texas and it is the first week of August....so well over 100 degrees each day. It is a rustic camp with no air-conditioning in the cabins....so pray for cooler weather. I could ramble for hours about this camp, but instead I have tried to attach a video that we had done on us. If it does not work, here is the YouTube address for the video (Kleenex Alert): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v632qGFWG58
