Their eyes beamed with happiness. Sweet smiles drew on their lips. Everyone exuded a ray of fondness and contentment. Some shakes hands. Some taps shoulders. Some exchanges sweet gestures. They might have disabilities, but now they felt complete and all of these were the positive outcomes of their memorable experiences during the recent Summer Camp 2016 held at the National Vocation Rehabilitation Center (NVRC), Quezon City.
“Sa food hunt at pagtatayo ng tent, natuto kaming magkaisa, na dapat walang iwanan, na bawat isa sa amin ay may mahalaga upang matapos ang binigay na challenge (In hunting of food and pitching of tent, we learned to be united, that no one shall be left out, that everyone in the team is important to finish the challenge given to us)”, Mr. Nerwil Pacao, an orthopedically impaired trainee shared.
He added, “Kailangan din ang sakripisyo upang maabot ang isang pangarap katulad sa ginawa namin sa Faith Walk, kung saan maraming ulit akong nadap. Nahirapan ako pero ang sarap sa pakiramdam nang nakita ko na ang Bibliya na pinapahanap sa amin (There is also a need to sacrifice to reach a dream just like in our activity called Faith Walk, wherein I had fallen many times. It was a struggle but eventualy became a relief when I found the Bible that we have to find,”
Another trainee, Mr. Fernito Dacutanan, a visually-impaired person also emphasized that importance of one’s ability and determination. He enthused, “Nasukat ang aming kakayanan at pagpupursige sa lahat ng challenges na kailangan naming lagpasan (It measures our abilities and perseverance to all challenges that we have to endure.”
Overall, the trainees learned the value of responsibility, cooperation, problem-solving and decision-making. They also accepted their weaknesses and realized that they need one another to achieve certain goals and vision.
Ms. Edna J. Sacedor, Center Head, said, “Summer camp is one of the important rehabilitation activities of PWD trainees every year where we provide them a controlled and safe environment to enable them to make their own decisions about things that affect their daily lives. It’s a great venue for them to interact with each other at the same time learn about themselves and others around a camp fire and other enabling activities.”
Through enabling activities, the PWD trainees are given opportunity to practice being the best they can be and a chance to create happy memories and self-expression. PWD trainees also learn from a full range of emotions and human experiences including sickness, friendship, disagreements, team work, frustrations, jubilant success and more. “As workers of NVRC, our hopes and jobs are to ready our trainees to be productive, independent and capable individuals even without us”, Sacedor explained.###