Blind Camp

In telling this story chronologically, there are a number of events I have overlooked, and remembered out of order.  I usually add them to a list that I may address later, if I ever do anything else with the story.  This one was too good to omit, and I only missed it by a few posts, so I am returning to it.  There was one other event at camp that previous summer worth retelling, the week we put on camp for a blind group.

As usual, we didn’t get much warning that something unusual was happening.  But Sunday afternoon, during an all girls week, when the male counselors were expecting a DA week at Wild Oak, we were reassigned to the Frontier Lodge.  There were eight of us assigned to run that group, and knowing that experience would be needed, they picked the right people.  We were sent to a meeting with a character named Sharet, who was supposed to orient us to working with the blind.  It was a strange meeting, and it became apparent that this whole thing wasn’t very well planned.  But it was a source of endless humor that week: “So, why do we need a sign to welcome the blind group?”

I always prefer to have the oldest cabin, but in this case, that was the 50-70 year old demographic.  I did have two other leaders from their group staying in my cabin, so they took care of a lot of the issues.  It turns out blind people have this thing about being unconcerned about nudity, which kind of makes sense, but still.  It’s like a toddler covering his eyes and hoping that you can’t see him.  I should be the one able to go naked, since they are the ones that can’t see.  But not all of them were totally blind, some did have limited vision.  And they were with a Seventh Day Adventist organization, so the meals were vegan, if you can call them meals.

The first event on the schedule was ropes course.  I had taken the lead in general, but that position was solidified at the ropes course.  I had the staff arrive an hour early for setup, and then made them each climb some of the elements blindfolded.  That way they would know what it was like, before they belayed blind climbers.  Things actually went quite well, and probably twenty of them climbed and completed elements.  It is interesting to see how different their struggles were, illustrating how much of the challenge is all in one’s head.  Looking at the height of an element can intimidate some climbers, but that is less of an issue for blind people.  And they can’t see how high they are.  I belayed the Leap myself, having done that blindfolded repeatedly in the past.  Five climbers attempted it, and the only one who caught the bar, was the one who was totally blind.

We did climbing wall the next day, in a similar fashion.  They spent an afternoon with the horses, but that was one area where I did not take the lead, we just helped out where we could.  Blind archery is actually a real sport, shooting at audible beepers in the target.  We didn’t have beepers, so it was more of a shot in the dark.  We had balloons to give them audible feedback if they hit something, but we didn’t have to replace the balloons much.  I once again made the staff try it blindfolded ahead of time, which was helpful for them to learn how to assist each other, and then the campers.  But they enjoyed it, so I guess that is the point, even though I wouldn’t have hesitated to let them shoot at me at 15 paces, it was that bad.  It was a unique experience, and gave me a better appreciation for the challenges other people face.  And the blind group jokes made the week.