Background When Elizabeth had finished her grammar school years at St. Mary’s, she wanted something larger with better sports. We agreed and enrolled her in the local, public middle school. Although there were some positive aspects, both Catherine and I were generally dissatisfied with the quality of education offered. Elizabeth was a really good student, and we felt the school simply did not have enough for her in their curriculum. Some of her teachers recommended we send her to a sleep away boarding school for high school that provided excellent opportunities for gifted students. This option did not appeal to us at all. We loved living together as a family with all the joys and learnings. In addition, we could not afford it. Catherine, Elizabeth and I visited a number of private schools in our area but none of them felt right. Most were too expensive and oozed an entitled attitude, others did not have an adequate sports program. We also considered the local public high school but Catherine had substitute taught there and the atmosphere of the school did not appeal to her at all. When we visited Bishop Fenwick High School for their open house, something was immediately different for all of us. There was a sense of mission. Service to others and appropriate decent values were baked into both their sports program and their scholastic offerings. The presentations by their teachers, students and current parents felt genuine. In particular, the head of the math department agreed to test Elizabeth and see if she could she skip geometry because she had taken an intensive three-week geometry summer program sponsored by John Hopkins University. They were not “selling” the school – just showing how they do it. As a bonus, the female student who showed us around was a good athlete on several teams. This finalized the decision for Elizabeth. Elizabeth thrived at Fenwick and so did we. She made life-long friends, ran track, played field hockey, participated in the school plays, and became president of the national honor society. All this led to a full scholastic scholarship to college (amazing!). Her teachers got to know her quite well and had discovered that she had been riding horses since she was little, which is crucial to this story. The Camp Fatima EC Week adventure begins A few of the staff at Bishop Fenwick were very involved in Camp Fatima EC (Exceptional Citizens) week. One day before camp was to start in August,1995, (Elizabeth had already completed her senior year at Fenwick), the person scheduled to run the horse program at Camp Fatima EC week landed in the hospital. The Camp needed a very quick solution and they thought of Elizabeth. They called us and as luck or co-incidence would have it, she was returning from her summer job as an outdoor adventure counselor the very next day. Liz arrived home and agreed to do it. A few hours later, two of the teachers from Fenwick, whom we knew well, picked her up and off they went to camp. Catherine and I were invited to come three days later, on visiting day. We knew almost nothing about the camp except that it was for special needs children and adults (called exceptional citizens). We discovered that EC week had been running since the 1950s. There were 150 campers and 300 counselors and staff, all volunteers. The camp is 100% free to the campers, and is wheelchair accessible with an on-site health care team available 24/7. Camp Fatima is a Catholic camp sponsored by the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire; all religious denominations are welcome. Each camper has a one-to-one relationship with a counselor for the entire week. The counselor is with and/or responsible for the camper day and night. The rest of the 150 staff help in all the activities including food preparation, maintenance and everything else that goes into a community of almost 500 people for one week. Catherine and I drove the two hours to Gilmanton Iron Works, New Hampshire. As we turned onto the “camp road”, a pine tree lined quarter mile, our first vision was a very large grassy horse paddock with six horses. We were then greeted by the human “welcoming” crew who told us where to park, gave us a schedule of the day and invited us to walk around. We introduced ourselves as “Elizabeth’s parents” and large smiles appeared on the faces of the greeters. “She’s here somewhere.” We slowly breathed in the surroundings. Camp Fatima is a beautiful New England camp used as a boy’s camp for the rest of the summer. It has all the amenities – the beautiful lake for swimming, the horse paddock, an area for arts and crafts, and a very large grassy commons for all sorts of activities. There is a paved road running around the commons making everything wheelchair accessible. There is a large dining hall, gym and recreation center and many cabins for the campers and counselors to sleep in. That it happened to be a beautiful sunny day made it all the more pleasant. We found Liz with the horses. Our first “activity” on visitor’s day was a large outdoor Mass officiated by the Bishop of Manchester. At that time, Masses were still quite foreign to me. The campers were mostly on blankets with their counselors and cabinmates and it looked like a large, relaxed picnic. Lots of campers were in wheelchairs, some were just running around, others had settled in. The Mass was geared to the campers and it was truly lovely. What touched us deeply was the sense of love that was evident between all the volunteers and the campers. Camp Fatima’s motto was “Love in Action” and it was palpable. Right on the spot, Catherine and I Iooked at each other and said “We can do this. We can volunteer next year.” We are not necessarily impulsive, so this decision was quite spontaneous for both of us. When we later checked with the person running the camp about this possibility, he said that they usually require references. “Do you think your daughter would give you a positive reference?!! We really appreciate that she pitched in when we needed help”. We smiled. See www.ecweek.org for more info and lots of photos Next blog – 10 years at Camp Fatima
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David FeldmanDog walker, Dog Mediator, Father, Husband, Categories |