Of Course You Can!
The following is a blog that was submitted to us by Amit, a parent of one of our program youth. He and his family attended our Camp Hornby Summer Camp in July for the first, and he shared this with us.
Last month we’ve attended Blind Beginning’s Hornby Camp for the first time. Hornby Island is a small Island fondly nicknamed 'Little Hawaii' and the camp is situated in Tribune Bay Provincial Park, which is one of the warmest (and most beautiful) saltwater swimming areas in the province, but to reach Tribune Bay, you’ll need to take three ferries (two of which are un-reservable) so the entire trip one-way took myself, my wife and our 3 kids more than six hours.I now realize that maybe Hornby is nicknamed ‘Little Hawaii’ because it takes you the same time to get to Hawaii.
But the long journey was totally worth it. The camp was the first in-person event where we could meet others who are living with a visual impairment. Our son Tom was diagnosed with a serious eye condition last year, during a global pandemic mind you, and although we had a lot of opportunities to talk with others about it, it was always online, so finally meeting people in-person was very exciting.
First thing on the agenda was a camp-wide dinner at the dining hall. I know how dining halls can get, noisy, hectic, with a lot of hungry people, but I’ve never been to a dining hall where half of the people are hungry AND can’t see!
Let’s just say that normally, I’m very focused on getting food, this time I was more focused on stopping myself from shouting “watch out!” every time I notice people that are walking in the exact same direction.It was so stressful that I took a second dessert but by the end of the evening, after realizing that not one plate was dropped and no one bumped into another even without my shouting, my stress level returned to normal, and I could enjoy the singing around the campfire.
Each day was filled with activities, and it took me a while but eventually even that nagging “but how can you do that without seeing?” voice in my head completely stopped -
Climbing a telephone pole and jumping from it?
Of course you can!
Climbing a rope ladder and walking on a tree log?
Of course you can!
Wall climbing?
Of course you can!
Playing soccer?
Of course you can (unless you’re fully sighted and not used to being blindfolded)!
And that was the greatest impact of this camp, witnessing firsthand the true meaning of Blind Beginning’s famous motto – The only thing we see is limitless potential!
by Amit