My Cambria Experience ( Arthritis Society)

Well, I guess it only makes sense to begin with how I started with the Arthritis Society (Toronto). One day in may, I started researching new publications on Arthritis. I came across a posting that said that volunteers were needed for an annual charity/awareness walk. I decided to sign up to be a volunteer and from there....well, this happened. Firstly, I had a great time at the charity walk and I was able to connect to so many people who either had/have arthritis or work for the organization. I met a lovely lady named Marie John, who then connected me to other volunteer opportunities.

Mind you, I havent been to camp in years and I never really had the best experiences. I loved being outdoors but growing up with Arthritis was hard and not many people knew about it. As a child, all i wanted to do was play and do fun activities but unfortunately, I was limited. My Arthritis would come and go... meaning, some camp days I was able to jump on rocks while other days I couldnt move at all. However, my mother was kind enough to still send me anyway and when I did flare up, I was lucky to have such amazing friends who would stick by my side. As i grew older, i stopped going to camp and was more involved in sport and dance.

When I was presented with the opportunity to work at this camp, i knew that this experience would be a great one for me. I was so amazed that there was even a camp like this, especially a non profit camp. I really wished that I had something like this when I was growing up. After going through the process of paper work and back ground checks, I was assigned to the youngest group: 7-9 year old x 10. Although the road getting to camp was a bit rocky, I finally got there and I met my co-councillor Rosey. Rosey never had arthritis but i admired that she signed up to challenge herself and to be involved in new experiences. The children came the next day and ahhhh... they were so shy!

Rosey and I were lucky to have 2 vet campers, and although it was our first time being councillors, we tried to use them to make the other campers feel more at home. I was so amazed by some of their leadership skills and kind heartedness. We had a few shy campers while some were very outgoing, so "meshing" was one of our biggest key points in order to have a successful week. However, it really didn't take long. Rosey and I both told the campers that we were also first timers which made them open up more. I learned so much about how they deal with arthritis and what affects it has on school, family and play. What really amazed me was how knowledgable they were about their diagnosis and medications that they were take ( brand name and time to take it). Growing up i knew nothing about what i was taking and so this was something that really took me by surprise. I got to know these kids on a different level and they shared what works for them ( e.g hot pads, cold pads, meditation). As you can tell, they were also the ones that inspired me to create this blog and awareness page.

My time at camp went smooth, meaning... everything was very organized. The staff were amazing and I loved that every kid shared a similar story. To be able to connect with others is so important. Each cabin also had mini-vans so that the children didnt have to walk around the camp site. There were numerous activities to choose from, such as bedazzling, horse back riding, canoeing, stand up paddle boarding, music, arts and crafts ETC.

If you have gotten this far and you have read a bit about me then you know that music and dance is something that is therapeutic for me. I would have loved to organize more of a dance, fitness and relaxation period. However, my campers were so amazing that they wanted me to still do this! soooo... every day we chose a time to play music and dance. After the second day...more campers, older campers, staff and others joined in to our party. My girls felt so special, especially being the youngest group there. Everyday they were telling people " party in cabin 5" and it was so heart warming to see how much they enjoyed my "movement hour".

Below are some photos of my time at #campcambria #arthritissociety