HIV CAMP EXPERIENCE

By Liz Davis

M2

            I must admit, I was a little hesitant to embark on a weekend with people that are terminally ill. And not only are they infected, my fear was amplified by the fact that their disease can also be contracted by other people through various means. In spite of these trepidations, I told myself that the world would never change if people constantly lived behind their own fears. Medical mission trips would never take place, discoveries would never be made, and the world would be very isolated and hopeless if fearless people didn't believe in improvement. So, I had pictured in my mind a camp that was fun, but held a certain degree of heaviness and sorrow with it. I imagined depressed individuals and more of a bereavement seminar rather than what I was to be introduced to.

            My weekend was the opposite of everything that I had expected. There was hope, thankfulness, and optimism from the youngest child to the oldest member of the camp. It was truly amazing. I met a 10 yr old cerebral palsy boy who was not afraid to take center stage and thank everyone for being there and for singing in church. I met teenagers for whatever reason were battling HIV and still found the strength to believe in themselves and to love life. The most touching story for me was when a grown man started to cry as he confessed that being HIV positive had given him a reason to live because before he contracted the disease he was so lost in his life he didn't have a reason for living. He later told me that he was amazed by the medical students and the teenagers. He was amazed at how put together we are and that we should not stray in our life goals. He said that he had done the messing up for us that there wasn't a reason in the world that we couldn't do whatever we put our minds to. This type of great humanness cannot be found in the classroom. And I was moved to tears.

            The heart and effort that Cathy and Steve have put into this camp is extremely inspirational for everyone that it touches. At one point one of the teens confessed that without the camp their family would not have had a Christmas. The Friends Forever camp is a place of hope and a place that I believe has saved a lot of people's lives. As unfortunate as it is, it's easy to loose sight of the human spirit while you are caught up in medical school, not seeing many patients and reading books all the time. This is an experience that I will forever carry with me. And in the future when I meet HIV patients I'll remember the genuine stories I heard and the support that these people need. Of course, I'll take the necessary medical precautions with my HIV patients, but I will not be so afraid to truly reach out to these patients and let them know that HIV no longer means sudden death, but hope and love above all.