In the lead-up to National Youth Week, 1-10 April, The Record presents a feature by Vinnies National Youth representative Sarah Crute about how Vinnies camps provide a bright light for disadvantaged kids
EVERY school holiday period around Australia, hundreds of children experiencing disadvantage look forward to that bright light at the end of the tunnel: the upcoming Vinnies Camp.
The Vinnies Camps programme is a residential care and respite programme run primarily by youth and young adult members and volunteers of the St Vincent de Paul Society aiming to add a little happiness, laughter and joy to the lives of children from their local communities. The camps also give respite to parents and carers in hardship.
Two camps have already been run this year, with a Kids Camp in Rockingham from 7-11 January and a 21-24 January Teen Camp in Lancelin. The next one is a 27-30 April Kids Camp scheduled in Harvey.
Referred by conferences of the St Vincent de Paul Society (community-based groups of Vinnies members) and by external welfare agencies, the children come from a wide range of backgrounds and have experienced varying forms of disadvantage, including poverty, severe financial hardship, domestic violence, foster care, grief and loss, abuse, family breakdown, or social exclusion.
For many of these children, opportunities to be carefree kids – to leave the burdens of their day-to-day lives at home for a few days – are few and far between. For many of the new volunteers, the hardships these kids are experiencing are difficult to imagine, let alone comprehend.
In 2010, more than 800 children and teens attended Vinnies Camps in locations across Australia, assisted by 597 volunteers contributing nearly 45,000 volunteer hours.
The programme is the passionate and enthusiastic response to a desperate need.
The children are able to laugh, play, sing, dance, run amok and have fun – things that most Australians view as essential ingredients of growing up. In many parts of Australia, teen camps are also run, providing person-to-person support for a range of issues facing disadvantaged teenagers.
The volunteers are constantly in awe of the kids’ tremendous resilience and hunger to find joy in all things.
The children are not afraid to try new activities and challenge themselves, even if it means moving outside their comfort zones. Camps also allow the volunteers to serve their community, to grow, develop skills, and have fun.
For the children who attend, the camps also promote personal growth, helping them develop life skills and enhancing their sense of value and worth. Often, many of the benefits stem simply from the kids being able to spend time with compassionate, caring and enthusiastic people who can act as positive role models in their lives – something they may not have experienced before.
Volunteers quickly learn that their perspective on life changes as well. It is impossible to leave camp unchanged and, over time, volunteers learn as much about the world around them, the way they relate to others and the impact of disadvantage, as they do about themselves.
The volunteers also learn the value of justice and compassion. There is insight into the lives and struggles of others, into the human condition, and into our own insecurities and fears.
This leads not only to greater understanding of ourselves; it helps us understand and better respond to the needs of the poor.
As the kids experience personal and emotional growth, volunteers see first-hand the true value of their efforts to make a difference, even if it may seem only small. Camp volunteers experience what it means to serve the poor, in the way that only someone who loves the people they serve truly can. Camps typically run for three to five days. The daily programme includes rock climbing, abseiling, swimming, high rope and low rope courses, raft-building, target-shooting, ball sports, mini-Olympics, arts and crafts and team-building games.
Activities provide powerful opportunities to instil confidence, develop trust, foster teamwork, build self-esteem, and develop skills for social interaction with peers and young adults in a safe and encouraging environment.
The kids are immersed in a variety of outdoor activities designed to challenge each child and push their personal boundaries, while allowing them to reach attainable goals.
The children experience healthy lifestyle choices and a chance to kick back, have fun, build confidence and try new things, while being encouraged to realise their potential to achieve anything.
Many of these experiences come through the example of volunteers who model positive and healthy lifestyles and test their own personal boundaries in many of the activities.
Sometimes it’s an achievement to get to the top of the ladder – rather than the end of the course – and that’s the message we try to convey to the kids. It’s important to set small goals and give it a go.
Reflecting on their most recent camp experience, one camp volunteer observed that: “At any time during the three-day camp it was quite rare to find a face without a smile, or to be able to get words in sideways as the kids exchanged stories of the fun days they’d had.
“From descending a 10m vertical wall to building and navigating a raft, the kids were willing to get stuck into it and often surprised themselves, as well as everyone else, when showing their skills and enthusiasm.”
For most members and volunteers, camps are integral to their Vincentian journey. Another member described his most recent camp as “one of the more Vincentian experiences I’ve had – one of those times when you suddenly wake up and realise why you’re doing this, why you’re with Vinnies; where the Vincentian spirit feels almost tangible.”
I view the programme as an extension of home visitation, that concept which the Society’s XIV President, General José Ramón Díaz-Torremocha, has called “the classic expression of what is most intimate in our commitment.”
Fore more information on the camps, email info@svdpwa.org.au or phone 9475 5400.