Protected: exitlude.
February 18, 2008
Y Camp Challenge
December 16, 2007
Y Camp Challenge changed my life. Seriously.
I’m so, so glad I volunteered for this camp. (thanks to Xiaoting who pulled me along (:)
Although I was simply the photographer for them (though it’s NO simple job AT ALL), I got to interact with the beneficiaries. And I guess that’s what makes all the difference.
Peeking through my lens, asking them to smile and seeing them smile so widely for the camera… when you experienced that, you know it is all worth it no matter how shagged or tired you are from running around the place finding good moments to shoot + lack of sleep. And when you just make a small effort to smile at them, their smiles in return are worth a million times more than your tiny effort. Really. I don’t know what more to say about this camp – but it’s definitely worth going to again and again. You will have an entirely different experience each time you go.
The laughters, jokes, smiles, helping hands; the hardcore activities like dragon-boating in the super duper crazy rain, overcoming the obstacles and rope courses, dancing away at the disco night … mean so much to these beneficiaries, and even us as volunteers. Even normal everyday people like us don’t dare to climb up these poles and walk along the tightrope – what more these intellectually disabled people? However they have proven me, or rather us all, wrong.
They are even more determined, even more courageous, even more strong-minded and even more bolder than us. Even though they are weaker than us physically – I feel that they are much more stronger than us mentally. And that is something worthy of respect.
Also, when you do simple things for them, they remember (unlike some normal people heh). Like for the striped blue shirt guy in the first photo, I simply helped him charge his hand phone on the 2nd day, and he actually remembered on the last day of camp and gave me a handmade bracelet like the 2nd photo guy is wearing. Super duper sweet. (:
The friends made, the experience earned, the challenges overcome, the lessons learnt.. All these are priceless.
I’m so glad to have had the Y Camp experience. And I definitely will go back again next year. (:
(all the other pictures are in Yew Chong’s laptop. hope to get the compilation soon (;)
…and you know what? suddenly results and school and everything else seems so, so trivial.
