When most people go to camp, they go to the ones for the rich kids. Where they all arrive in limousines with bags of designer clothing.  My camp was different.   The children arrived in vans with bags of medication.  Most of them had sad pasts and bleak futures.  Camp Niobe in Dryden, Michigan was a camp for children with behavioral problems.

"Each child was different, with their own unique problem." There was a boy whose bags had to be checked everyday when something went missing.  One boy who couldn't tell the truth and made up the most bizarre stories.  Another boy had been kicked out of juvenile jail because they couldn't handle him.  An 8yr. old boy who looked like an angel and was almost perfect until he lost his temper & threw a table across the room.

All of which, powered an unusual mixture of energy that I will never forget.  This camp also had a handful of "normal" kids who made it easier, but there isn't much to tell about them, except that they sometimes asked to be punished, just to fit in.

At camp, it didn't seem like much fun.  However, looking back, I have a lot of fond memories & this is what the photo is all about.   We took some children on a camping trip to Lake Michigan where we watched the sunset every evening from the top of the Sleeping Bear sand dunes.  The sunsets were simply brilliant and the highlight for the kids was running back down the dunes.  It gave them a few minutes to forget everything & the opportunity to a regular kid, again.

I'm glad I went to a camp with unpredictable children who appreciated all that we did for them.  

The PHOTOhype Project, Est. 1997 Written By: Louise Schnetler Team South Africa E-mail: LouiseYSch@hotmail.com