Presenter: Nathan Bleecher, Biological Sciences, Global Public Health Scholars
I volunteered with Johns Hopkins’ Camp Sunrise for my practicum project. Camp Sunrise is a weeklong summer camp for pediatric oncology patients which takes place in Crownsville Maryland. The primary purpose of the camp is to give children affected by cancer the opportunity to, well, be kids. Children at camp are among peers with similar experiences and have access to professional medical support, so they are encouraged to have fun without the worry of medical limitations or being coddled. I served as a counselor for the middle aged boys. Everyday was basically like an elementary school field day---pretty much what you’d expect from a summer camp. Our cabin had around 12 campers which were split into two groups in terms of activity scheduling, so there was a lot of opportunity to get to know each camper. For my project, I want to explore the logistics of operating a camp like this, being that it is free to attend and 100% volunteer driven. From that, and based on my observations over the week, I want to discuss the possible outcomes of extending camps like these to other NCD populations.