From Monday through Thursday, Namine and her cousin attended an accessible camp called Team Up Camp. It’s put together by an organization called Team Up With Families whose focus is allowing children of all abilities to participate in group activities. They also work together with a lending library, Katy’s Kloset, which accepts equipment donations and lends that equipment out to families in need.
Fun fact: Namine’s first wheelchair was from Katy’s Kloset. To be completely accurate, her first wheelchair was built using parts from Katy’s Kloset. The size of the frame and wheels were as near to perfect as we could find for Namine, but the seat was wooden. So my aunt took a different seat and replaced the wooden one, attached two canes as a makeshift push bar, and voilà! Namine’s first wheelchair was made. It was in this chair that she attended her first school.
Every year, Team Up Camp has a different theme. Last year’s theme was Wild Wild West; this year’s was Pirates! Namine has always loved pirates, even going so far as asking for a pirate-themed birthday party one year, so you can imagine her excitement. One of Namine’s cousins has been spending more time with us, so as a last-minute addition, we arranged it with the camp coordinator that she could join Namine at camp.
Because Namine’s cousin is a few years younger than she is, the two girls were not allowed to be in the same group. They did, however, participate in a lot of the same activities, albeit at different times. There are activities not normally accessible that the camp offers its participants, like rock climbing and horseback riding. Namine has tried them in the past, but opted not to this year.
There was of course still a lot for Namine to participate in. A small sample includes: kite flying, pickleball, crafts, and even a petting zoo — including holding baby chicks! Both Namine and her cousin had a lot of fun this week. It just flew by, as these things tend to do.
Leave a Reply