campers gone wild

I don't believe in God per se.

But I do believe that the universe has a way of keeping itself in balance. Just not by some omnipotent being.

Karma is something I believe in. And my summer vacation is prime time for refueling my good-karma tank.

So I volunteer my services at a couple different camps.

The first camp I usually do is called Camp care-a-lot. It's a camp for kids who come from low socio-economic backgrounds. AKA- poor kids.

These kids come to camp from lives I can't even begin to imagine. Sometimes the only time they eat is when they're at school or at Boys and Girls club during the summer. Sometimes they live 10 people in a one bedroom house that's falling down around them. Some of them have restraining orders against multiple people.

To say the least, these kids have many many issues. And though the founder of the camp will disagree, these kids are the kids at greatest risk of becoming future wellfare recipients and prison inmates.

And while our job at camp is to take them out of their everyday reality, if even for a week, it's also a week of learning lifeskills.

Every year, we have to teach them how to make a bed. How to pick up and care for their things. Teach them to brush their teeth. How to shower. How to tie their shoes.

And most of the week is a constant struggle to keep them entertained. These kids usually have VERY short attention spans. We can't give them enough to do. And we ask them to work as a team with the other boys in the cabin.

And every year, I get worn out and get sick.

I've been lucky these last two years. This year we had 8 boys and three counselors. One of my co-counselors is a teacher. The other is a retired gentleman. The teacher and I are the peacekeepers since both of us have had training at school on how to work with kids from that kind of background. Our third counselor is there to catch any straglers and keep the group together.

But this year since I'm in constant training for triathlons, I thought it would be a good idea to wake up pre-dawn everyday and go for a run.

Not a good idea.

By Thursday I was sick as a dog. I slept in the nurses cabin most of that day. By Friday I was back on my feet.

But the camp is just exhausting. Fun? Sometimes. But mostly exhausting.

I think most of my good karhma comes from that one week.

Run. Counsel. Get sick. Pack up. Head back to St. Louis.