Camp Koinonia

Camp Koinonia (Coin-o-nia) is a residential camping program that strives to enhance the lives of children ages 7-22 with multiple disabilities. The word Koinonia is a Greek word that means fellowship and caring community. The mission of Camp exists to provide outdoor education/recreation programs for children with disabling conditions who might not otherwise have the opportunity to enjoy. It is to provide, for all who participate, a fellow caring community between the kids, counselors, and staff. Camp Koinonia is a class provided at the University of Tennessee for students who are interested in helping children with special needs. During the semester before camp. the counselors are given a folder with a camper. I was given a folder with a camper who had severe cerebral palsy. She was blind, non verbal, could not eat, and wheelchair bound. She also had seizures when she got excited. My role as her counselor was to take care of her just as her parents and nurses did and make sure she was actively involved in the activities. I was in charge of this camper for seven days. I would begin my day by getting my camper ready for the day at 6:30am when the lights were turned on in my cabin. My morning routine consisted of changing her brief, feeding her through a feeding tube, and getting her ready for the day. Next, with help, we would transfer her to her chair. Throughout the day, my camper would stay involved in all of the activities. In cooking, since she could not eat nor could she see, instead of making a food structure with the vegetables and peanut butter, we made a claw. I rubbed the peanut butter all over her hands. Next I stuck the raisins on her fingernails to represent claws. Then I put the cut celery on her fingers. This allowed her to feel the textures of the food. When we went to canoeing, we would transfer her to the boat. During the concerts, I would dance with her by moving her arms and hands and sometimes her wheelchair. The activity staff at Ropes would help me transfer my camper to the hammock where I would rock it back and forth. At Mad science, we would do the hand over hand technique to let her pour and stir ingredients. All in all, my camper was involved in some way at each activity during the week. During the week, my camper rode a horse, shot a bow and arrow and a riffle, climbed a wall, sat in a ball pin,sat in a swing, and much more. Although this might be a cliche remark, this experience “changed my life forever.”