This past week, there were at least three such moments: walking from the Kalundborg train station to Synscenter Refsnæs, sleeping bag in hand, knowing only that I'd be working with blind kids for a week in a place where I knew 0 people and two or three words of the local language; walking through Kalundborg again a few days later, this time with my arm gripped by two completely blind teenage boys singing commercial tunes in Danish; and, exactly a week after that first moment, overlooking foggy fields and horses from a house in Jyderup before sitting down to tea and cake with a fellow camp worker and his mother. As those three moments suggest, there's plenty I could say about this past week - and though it was most definitely a "how did I get here" kind of thing, it was an experience I wouldn't trade for anything.Being that I was, of course, at camp for the entire week, Saturday afternoon to Saturday afternoon - and busy for the vast majority of that time, often up until 1 or 2am then waking early enough to work on breakfast at 8am - the details of the week, honestly, either aren't significant or aren't relevant enough to require a listing of them here. In brief, the camp workers/counselors set up and partied on Saturday, the kids arrived Sunday afternoon and enjoyed a week of activities, swimming, walking into town, putting on a mini festival, and really just being together, before all departed the following Saturday. I and 4 others worked with the older of the two groups of blind children, the rest being partially sighted- 27 blind, and over 100 total. The kids in my group, aged between 12 and 16, were fantastic- incredibly polite, intelligent, friendly, and some with great English (which I greatly appreciated). As I said, though, the details of the week are not the aim of this post, so you'll have to trust that I kept myself busy with helping prepare and serve meals, organizing activities and helping the kids with pretty much anything they needed, etc etc, or comment/email if you're terribly interested, which is always welcomed.
It seems as though working with the blind can be very much about the details- watch for potential obstacles, uneven sidewalks, general accessibility- but getting to know the kids themselves is often more about pulling you into the larger picture. It's mind boggling to realize how much we take for granted the ability to see and its effect on our lives - where we can go, what and how we do basic things like eating and moving around, who we befriend, how we learn and communicate, conversation (a great landscape view I couldn't share with them, painting, etc), even the words we choose ("let's see if..." "it looks like..."). And it's even more awe inspiring to see young teenagers living with such a challenge, and doing it brilliantly. Try listening to a blind teenage girl singing "I Dreamed a Dream" as she helps prepare dinner, or a pair of them (Cathrine and Nina) singing solos and a duet from various Broadway musicals, like Les Mis's "A Little Fall of Rain." I've got goosebumps just thinking about it. But most of all, they were there just to be together, in the company of people who understood what they faced but could not see on a daily basis- kids who had little in common beyond their visual impairment, but because of it then had so much in common. As the last sentence of the "Sommerskolesangen" chorus wisely proclaimed, "Stedet hvor det gør en forskel, ja om netop du er der eller ej" - roughly translated, "the place that makes a difference, whether you're there or not."Then, as much as I loved seeing the kids having a good time and getting to know them and see the world through their eyes (see what I mean? ...and there it is again.), what I likely enjoyed even more was heading out each evening to join other camp counselors at a bonfire once our charges were safely in their tents. Blankets, junk food, coffee, and alcohol all made their way to the fire as we sat around as late as 1 or 2am chatting, regardless of the weather. Having the opportunity to truly talk with and connect to people outside of my coworkers in Hillerød was a very large breath of fresh air, especially after eating dinners with my fellow group leaders, who, though very friendly, were older and less than inclined to speak English unless necessary. Having pulled me into conversation on our first night there, one or two in particular won me over immediately, and any free time was spent circling the school grounds and joining them when possible. Stumbling across a kindred spirit is always an uplifting sort of recharge, and often sustained me through the week when my brain was ready to burst under the weary nature of going through much of the day as though a deaf mute, unable to understand or reply to the vast majority of what I heard. ...so thank goodness for the much-needed revitalization, and may Tiny Tim's blessings rain down upon the kindred spirit(s) in question. Again, an experience I wouldn't trade for anything.
Martin made the mistake of admitting to me that he didn't really know the macarena... so I pushed him into it when the song was replayed (thus the blur factor here). Note that the instructor, then, is the one on the right. :) Setting: dance party post-festival on Thursday night. Quite the scene, to say the least.
Casper leads Rune, one of the boys from my group, in a pack of tandem bicycles heading up the annual parade into Kalundborg. Both Casper and Martin inadvertently won points in my book for superhuman levels of patience, knowing their bike partners as I did. Further evidence of the sheer awesomeness of my coworkers for the week.
*and an update to the Facebook album, publicly available here.
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