Camp Jumoke helps kids face new challenges
Teen with sickle-cell disease ‘not as shy as I used to be’
Camp has helped Enoch Bempong Jr. step out of his comfort zone, overcome fears and take part in activities like a normal kid.
Bempong,16, has sickle-cell disease. This makes it difficult for him to participate in a number of activities. He is a Grade 10 student at Maxwell Heights Secondary School in Oshawa.
“Normally my parents restrict me as to what activities I can do but camp is a different atmosphere,” he said in an essay as part of an application for the Beverly Mascoll Scholarship. “We are encouraged to engage in many activities without too many restrictions, which gives me the feeling of being a normal child.”
He said he was able to learn new things like swimming, sailing, rock climbing, kayaking, tennis and playing guitar.
“Camp has provided an environment where I feel safe to try out new activities without thinking that someone might judge or ridicule me,” Bempong said.
“I also feel safe knowing that the nursing staff is present just in case anything happens.”
Camp Jumoke is a retreat for kids with sickle-cell disease. It’s a camp within the mainstream Camp Wenonah, and the only one in Canada that serves the emotional and medical needs of kids with sickle-cell disease.
The condition is caused by abnormal hemoglobin that changes the shape of red blood cells, causing them to carry less oxygen to tissues and can break up in small blood vessels, interrupting healthy blood flow.
Symptoms include fever, leg ulcers, fatigue, jaundice, breathlessness, abdominal and bone pain, delayed growth and puberty, rapid heart rate, blindness and stroke. Almost all pa- tients have painful episodes that can last from hours to days.
Bempong was first diagnosed with sickle-cell disease when he was 3months old. His older sister, Augus- tina, was also diagnosed with it. She is a second-year student at York University and a former Camp Jumoke child ambassador. Bempong said camp helped him improve as a person and develop self-confidence, independence and leadership skills.
“Because of my camp experience, I am more outgoing and find it easier to talk to other people,” he said. “I am not as shy as I used to be.”
According to the essay Bempong wrote, an interaction with a nurse at camp left him with something to think about.
He was asked by the nurse what he wanted to be when he grows up, and given his interest in science she told him to pursue a career in research so he can find the cure to sickle-cell disease. And there are moments of fun too. “The most fun incident was when my cabin had a canoeing race with another cabin,” he said. “The race was extremely competitive and that’s what made it fun. The other cabin won by a fraction of a second. The race was something we would laugh about for the rest of our time at camp.”