By Deron Hamel
Children attending Summerfest Camp this year had a myriad of experiences, but there is a common narrative emerging from families and the campers themselves: Summerfest is a self-confidence builder.
Philippa Howell says Summerfest Camp has had a positive impact on her 13-year-old daughter, Georgina, in the five years she has attended. Of note, Georgina, who lives with intractable myoclonic epilepsy as well as autism, has especially grown more confident in water, her mother says.
Swimming is one of the many activities children enjoy at Summerfest Camp, and Philippa says Georgina’s confidence in water has skyrocketed.
Philippa saw this first-hand recently when she and her family went to the cabin they’ve stayed at every August for the past nine years. Unlike previous years, Georgina was spending most of her time swimming in the nearby lake.
“Her confidence was, ‘I can swim, and I can do this in open water,’ which is what she does at (Summerfest Camp). She swam distances I could not believe,” Philippa says.
After returning from his first Summerfest Camp last year, nine-year-old Joaquin didn’t say much about his experience. His parents, Natalie and Rafael Alzate, wanted Joaquin to attend camp again this year, so they waited until shortly before he was scheduled to go before telling him.
They were pleasantly surprised with his response.
“The week before camp started we let him know and he was really excited about going – I had not seen a smile on his face that big in a very long time,” Natalie says. “He was excited about being there, and he didn’t even say bye to us, that’s how excited he was about being at camp with the other kids.”
As soon as he returned from Summerfest Camp in July, Joaquin was showing signs that a positive change had occurred. “He was a little more mature and showing more independence,” Natalie says.
For example, Joaquin has been showing leadership in helping to care for his 3-½-year-old brother and baby sister.
“He has really taken on this ‘little daddy’ role with them,” Natalie says. “If he sees his brother doing something that he shouldn’t be doing he is really a lot more in tune with letting us know.
“And he is now trying to face challenges on his own, rather than being hesitant to even try things.”
Fifteen-year-old Isabella has also found Summerfest Camp to be a self-confidence booster. Isabella has enjoyed the experience at Camp Couchiching so much that she plans to return – as a counsellor.
“(That) would be an amazing experience, and I would be able to stay at camp for an entire summer with all the great people there,” Isabella says, who plans to begin a counsellor training program next year.
The fact that Isabella wants to become a Summerfest Camp counsellor is a testament to its value, says her mother, Lisa.
“It’s a great experience – kids have to be responsible for a lot of their own things, and it’s good for their confidence and I think it builds independence,” Lisa says.
Summerfest Camp was founded in 1994 by Anita Allen, a neurology clinic nurse at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). The camp enables children aged six to 15, who are living with seizure disorders, to attend camp with other children. Camp Couchiching provides a setting where children can forget about their epilepsy.
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