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Gąski 2002

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Category: Disabled

Created on Thursday, 29 August 2002 00:12

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From August 16th to the 29th, 2002 in Gąski, near Koszalin, we held a rehabilitation camp. There were 30 participants and 11 of them were mentally handicapped.

I have to admit that I was afraid that the camp would not take place at all. The preparations met with a lot of difficulties. Choosing the date was the most difficult problem, and even that was changed at the last moment, because of this three of the families couldn't attend, but I knew God had everything in His hands.

Changing the date gave us much nicer weather. There was sunshine for the whole the two weeks of camp. God had truly created wonderful weather conditions of our stay. The participants of the camp were accommodated in a picturesque place called the "Sea Castle", which was located just 800 meters away from the Baltic Sea. The Castle was surrounded by an old park, which in addition created an atmosphere of peace and quiet. A small playground and a football field were also located nearby. This location made it possible for us to have open-air activities for which we are very thankful. Agnieszka Górecka, who was responsible for organizing all the games, led these activities.

This year's daily schedule was not much different from the one we had last year. After breakfast, camp participants met for a short time of fellowship. There was always some singing and a Bible story, prepared by Anna Zamkowska and Ula Popławska. Afterwards, the children went to their therapy workshop lead by Maria Kufeld. During that time, parents took part in meetings specifically prepared for them. Ania Zamkowska had prepared two lectures on the development of mentally handicapped people. Marlena Konieczna also shared with us some of her experience in logopedics. She also gave some important advice concerning speech problems. The rest of the meeting time was dedicated to leading a Christian life every day.

As I mentioned before, this year's rehabilitation camp was full of sunny weather. That is why we spent almost every afternoon at the sea. Due to the low temperature of the water in the Baltic Sea, only the most courageous ones spent some time swimming in the sea. The rest of us used the time to sunbathe and play on the beach. There is no doubt, that our trips to the beach were the greatest attraction of all at camp this year.

Unfortunately, our British friends, who used to support our camps for years, couldn't come this time. We all hope that next year they will be able to find some time in their holiday plans for coming to Poland. Time we spent together left us with a lot of great memories and enabled us to make some new friends. We all felt God's presence and care throughout the entire camp session.