Sophomores Volunteer at Camp for the Disabled

Written by Katherine Stiegemeyer

The living room in sophomores Sally and Abby Sweeney’s house is wild. Serengeti wild. Pictures of elephants, giraffes, and lions taken in the National Reserve adorn the walls along with weavings and tapestries made by African tribes.

For the twin sisters, their home décor is much more than just design. It reminds them of the nearly eight years that they and their family spent living in Tanzania as Christian missionaries. It reminds them all the time of their commitment to God and to being His “servants.”

This commitment is what inspired Sally and Abby to volunteer as CIAs (Christians In Action) at Camp Barnabas this past summer. There, they helped people with Down syndrome and autism enjoy a summer camp experience similar to that of a person without disabilities.

The sisters became involved with the camp through their church. A girl with Down syndrome- who had been attending Camp Barnabas for several years- and her mother, members of the same church as the Sweeneys, wanted to get a group of volunteers together from their church to work at Barnabas.

“I thought it would be a really cool thing to do,” Abby said. “I thought it would be a good chance to practice being a servant and put other peoples’ needs before my own.”

Having never worked with people with disabilities before, Abby and Sally were understandably nervous about the week they would spend at Camp Barnabas. They would each be paired up with one camper, for whom they were responsible during the week-long duration of the camp.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” Abby said, “I guess you could say I was kind of scared. I didn’t know what my camper would need from me and I was just scared I wouldn’t be able to do what she needed.”

As the CIAs lined up on the first day of camp to cheer as the campers started arriving in their cars, driving up the tree-lined dirt road to the large open area surrounded by cabins, the sisters quickly realized there was no room for nervousness at Camp Barnabas. The volunteers had to always be ready to help their campers.

Abby’s camper, Kasey Kittel, who had Down syndrome, required Abby’s help doing daily tasks such as taking her bath, getting dressed and keeping her balance walking. Even after they had gotten the hang of assisting the disabled campers, the round-the-clock attention it required was still strenuous and challenging.

“[Kasey] woke me up every night to go to the bathroom,” Abby said, “She didn’t actually really need me, but she would just wake me up just so that I would be there.”

From crafts such as making tissue paper butterflies to softball games, the days at Camp Barnabas were filled with activities. Sally’s autistic camper, Brooke Wiegers, particularly enjoyed horseback riding and renamed every horse that she rode “Cole.”

Every night, the camp held a “ball” for which all of the campers and CIAs would get dressed up in crazy outfits. One night, Kasey dressed up as a tiger and was covered head-to-toe with tiger print ears, a dress, pants, shoes, bracelets and even orange and brown face paint.

While working with people with autism and Down syndrome, there were never any dull moments. Sally’s camper, Brooke, was convinced that she was celebrating a birthday while at camp.

“When I first met [Brooke], she told me her birthday was that Sunday,” Sally said, “And when someone had a birthday at camp, they got ice-cream at lunch. But one of my counselors told me that she had looked it up and found out that it wasn’t [Brooke’s] birthday. So, on Sunday, she was really mad when they didn’t give her any and she kept on asking me, ‘Where’s my ice-cream?’ and I just kept having to say, ‘Oh, I don’t know, maybe they’ll bring it later,’ and then distracting her.”

The campers even made the morning prayer gatherings just a little bit more interesting.

“[Kasey] likes to fart a lot,” Abby said. “And she would just kind of let it rip during those times while we were singing or praying at the gatherings. She just made everyone laugh.”

The morning gatherings were just one of the many times in the day at Camp Barnabas set aside to worship. CIAs would pray with and for their campers often. The camp exists as an opportunity for Christians to serve God through helping others.

“I feel like I gained a lot of perspective,” Sally said. “Through Barnabas, I felt like God kind of showed me this whole new way that He has for me to be his servant. It wasn’t some huge life changing thing; it was only a week. But, it’s not something I’m ever going to forget.”

At the end of the week-long camp session, Sally and Abby had to say good-bye to Kasey and to Brooke.

“Kasey wasn’t super emotional about it,” Abby said, “I said bye to her and she said bye back and hugged me, but I don’t think she knew what was going on really.”

Sally and Abby have kept in touch with their campers; Abby is Facebook friends with Kasey and Sally has seen Brooke at several B-Life meetings. The B-Life meetings are monthly get-togethers that the church puts on for Camp Barnabas attendees and volunteers. Brooke has also invited Sally to her birthday party. Her real birthday party.