Camp With Amy

One thing in life I am really passionate about is helping people.  Over the summer, I volunteered at a camp for kids and adults with mental disabilities.  I worked one-on-one with a woman named Amy who was non-verbal.  At first, I was a little nervous to work with Amy because I didn’t know how I was going to communicate with her and I didn’t know how I could reach out to her.  However, after a couple hours I learned a lot about Amy.  Amy loved to play with one toy at a time.  She would often sit and jiggle or shake the toy.  I really wanted to make a connection with Amy and show her that I was there for her and I wanted to spend time with her.  For a while I sat and watched her because that was all I could do.  Then I went to get a puzzle so that I could keep myself busy while keeping an eye on her.  To my surprise, Amy liked watching me put the puzzle together.  She could really tell that I was creating the picture on the box and she was happy for me!  It was awesome to her to make the connections and smile when I put a new piece on the puzzle!  Amy began to recognize that I was there to help her over the next couple of days.  She would come up to me and grab my hand when we walked from the cabins to the kitchen.  Every morning she would greet me with a hug and a smile.  When it was time to go to bed Amy would look sad but I would tell her I’d see her in the morning.  I felt really proud that I made Amy feel so happy!  Helping her for that week at camp was really rewarding.  She made a big difference in my life and helped me understand how much of a difference I could make.  I was able to make a bond with Amy which was very special to her.  I feel proud knowing that I wasn’t judging her or thinking down on her, I was there to be her friend.  Even though Amy had a mental disability that made it hard for her to connect to people, I was still able to get her to smile!  I think in my future I would like to work with children and adults that have mental disabilities because it is so rewarding.