Camp teaches local students how to live with diabetes

Danika Kmetz
Special to the Eagle
Published: July 15, 2008

Two local students have more in common than just their school. Isabelle Owen and Chris Medley have attended Seale Harris Junior Camp for the past several years.

Seale Harris is hosted at Camp ASCCA each summer. ASCCA is Alabama’s Special Camp for Children and Adults. Located on Lake Martin in Jackson’s Gap, Camp ASCCA is the world’s largest camp for people with disabilities.

It provides campers with the opportunity to participate in traditional camp and high adventure activities. Each year, ASCCA serves more than 10,000 people, and it enjoys partnerships with other organizations that serve people with disabilities.

Camp Seale Harris has partnered with Camp ASCCA for more than a decade. Seale Harris is a camp for people with diabetes. Staff and counselors encourage and demonstrate to children how to live a full life despite diabetes.

The camp provides a network for families and children to connect with and learn from each other. Seale Harris has a variety of camps each summer: family camp; senior camp, a camp for teenagers ages 13-17; junior camp, a camp for children ages 6-12; and adventure camp, a camp for teenagers who want to experience high adventure activities.

Chris Medley, 12, has attended Seale Harris Junior Camp for the past six summers. First, his sister attended camp. Later, when he was diagnosed, Chris began coming. His father, Mike Medley, is heavily involved with Seale Harris as treasurer on the Seale Harris board of directors. Chris enjoys returning to camp for the counselors, campers, and activities.

“It’s just great how they put it all together,” Chris said. “It’s always fun the year you come, and the next year you can only expect it to get better.”

Chris, like other young boys, enjoys meeting girls at camp. He also likes to meet the new staff and counselors in training, as well as catch up with returning staff members. His favorite activity is the zipline because it is up in the trees. The zipline challenges campers to pull themselves up to a platform in a tree, and then they get to fly over the ground on a wire while attached to a harness. Most importantly, he returns to Seale Harris to learn about his diabetes.

Part of the programs at Seale Harris is a daily diabetes education session. During the session, campers learn to count carbohydrates, draw up insulin, what foods to eat and overall how to control diabetes.

Attending camp has helped Chris become more comfortable and independent with his diabetes. He gave himself his first insulin shot at camp.

“My parents used to do it all for me, but now I can do it by myself,” said Chris. “Now, I can go out to spend the night with my friends, and they’ll be sure that I’ll be able to take care of myself.”

Isabelle Owen, 11, also sees the value of diabetes education. Along with how to manage diabetes, the sessions taught her how to measure food, which allows her to easily control the levels of insulin she needs. Isabelle has attended Seale Harris Junior Camp for the past three summers. She has met other campers that she can relate to and has developed everlasting friendships.

Seeing her friends each year is what she looks forward to most. Isabelle’s favorite activities are the zipline and cargo net. The activities are challenging and fun at the same time, and she believes it is rewarding when she reaches the top. Isabelle gained more confidence from camp. “It’s easier for me to talk about it to people, and I’m not so afraid to show my pump site.“

Both Isabelle and Chris highly recommend Seale Harris to other children with diabetes. Isabelle was nervous to attend camp at first, but she thinks camp gets better year after year.

“Kids need to come,” said Isabelle.

“They need to learn how to manage it.“ “It will help them learn about diabetes, they meet new friends, and they learn how to be responsible about their diabetes,” said Chris.

To find out more about Seale Harris, visit http://www.southeastern diabetes.org. To find out more about Camp ASCCA, visit http://www.campascca.