Email   Print   Share By Michael Heckman, Sentinel Staff

Facebook Digg Delicious July 29, 2010 | Living

David Ortega prepares to ride a 400-foot long zip line from the top of a 70-foot tower which he climbed hand-over-hand from giant staple to giant staple while attached to a belay device. Michael Heckman, Sentinel Staff

Jordan Taylor swings from a rope attached to a telephone post after being hoisted into the air by Peaceable Kingdom staff members.

After enjoying art and crafts and lunch Friday afternoon, children joined Peaceable Kingdom staff members for a swim that included water basketball.

The climbing wall was one route special needs children used to ascend a 70-foot tower from which they descended attached to a safety harness and rope dangling from a 400-foot long zip line.

A rope net was designated a pirate’s ship from which children escaped while fellow campers shouted warnings about lurking sea monsters and other imagined calamities.

Smiles and laughter, yes. But fearful first steps and frightened screams also were evidence that the three-day camp was helping special needs children overcome their fears, build self-confidence and have fun.

Camp Care A Lot, held July 15-17 at the Peaceable Kingdom Retreat for Children, south of Killeen, challenged children with disabilities ranging from deafness to attention deficit disorders and Down syndrome. Challenges included climbing a wall, sliding down a 70-foot tall tower along a 400-foot zip line and crossing a rope net designated a pirate ship by special needs camp participants ranging from five years old to 21.

“When you see the smiles on their faces it tells you everything. When you look at a face and you see a look that says I conquered walking over a log or going over a piece of rope ... activities that most people take for granted; these kids aren’t taking it for granted,” said camp founder Stephania Williams, who also is director of Fort Hood’s Exceptional Family Member Program, which joined the Children’s Special Needs Network to sponsor the camp.

“The kids are scared to get on the zip line or the climbing wall, but they talk about the fear and get on and do it anyway. That builds self-esteem and we need to build their self-esteem,” she added.

About 70 special needs children joined nearly 100 volunteers who helped with everything from spotting a child walking a rope line to administering medications and serving meals.

Near the climbing tower, a triangular configuration of three 80-foot telephone poles joined on one side to form a climbing wall, PKRC staffer Tyler Duenas and Jessica Mosby, a paramedic student attending Central Texas College, helped children ascend the tower either by scaling the climbing wall or by climbing first up a ladder and then from one giant staple to another to the platform from which the zip line descended.

“We get a bit of hands-on experience with pediatrics, so it gives us a little more of a comfort level when it comes time to being in the field with the younger ones,” Mosby said as she helped Duenas secure climbing children to ropes.

Even with the heat, she added, “It’s (the camp) one of my favorite events, being out here in nature. It’s still really fun out here.”

After lunch, during games and an art and crafts session Friday afternoon, children pressed multi-colored handprints onto a white wall. Then they joined staff members for a swim that included water basketball, snorkeling and just plain splashing around in the swimming pool.

Shantelle Busby, a criminal justice student at Sam Houston State University, was working with the children at Camp Care A Lot for the fourth consecutive year.

“I love these kids,” Busby said. “They’re amazing. I just love how, even though they have disabilities, they still live their lives and do everything to the fullest despite their disabilities. This is just for them to enjoy life and to overcome their challenges and to have fun.”

Williams said the EFMP program hosts three camps each year and provides education, support and advocacy programs for children with special needs and their parents.