VIEWPOINT: Camp Imua a magical place for children facing struggles in life

There are some kids for whom most of the year is something less than fun and often outright miserable. These are kids with special needs and include those with Down’s syndrome, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, spina bifida, autism and a myriad of other afflictions.

they try to get along in the "normal" world and often the challenges, obstacles and lack of understanding by "normal" kids and many adults, makes life not so much fun. But, for one week out of the year, 50 of these kids go to a magical place called Camp Imua.

It takes nearly 150 volunteers at camp and an amazing community to offer all the special activities, excitement and adventures. Camp Imua is held at the Boy Scout Camp on Maui, an aging facility at the 1,000-foot elevation in the middle of a pine forest. The tiny cabins have bunks for eight or more, thin moldy mattresses, a single light bulb and rusty tin roofs that leak. And, it is spectacularly wonderful.

We had swimming daily in the pool and in the ocean and kayaking and crafts and a circus and horse riding and jugglers and lots of music and tie-dying of T-shirts and a dance and a luau and helicopter rides and a petting zoo and clowns and movies and a visit to the Maui Ocean Center and all kinds of sports and a talent show and a camp fire with s’mores. It just never stopped.

There are challenges, of course. Some of the kids are "runners," and given the chance they head for some other activity or interest with their camping buddy/caregiver in hot pursuit. Some of the kids simply don’t comprehend safety so we are 100 percent vigilant all the time. A few of the kids, of all sizes, might have an accident in their pants. You just deal with it. Our parents did it for us when we were babies and our children or others may have to do it for us some day. It is a fact of life and no big deal.

The food is wonderful and plentiful. The love and hugs never end. Often it seems more like organized pandemonium but the laughter and excitement erupts continuously.

However, the very, very best part are those tiny moments that are just so incredibly rare and special. We have a young fellow, about 12, severe multiple sclerosis, strapped upright in a motorized wheelchair. He doesn’t have enough muscular control to be able to operate the toggle for the wheelchair or to even hold his head up. He can’t speak. Most people would write him off as a vegetable. But not us.

We put "John" in a talent show skit. His camping buddy would "listen" to what John "said" and would then speak it loudly for him. It was a funny skit and, for the first time in years, at the end of the skit we saw John lift his head up straight, by himself, and he had a 1,000-watt smile on his face and the applause was thunderous. It is these incredibly precious moments that make volunteering such a fantastic experience.

Mahalo from the bottom of our hearts for all those who contributed generously to create such a magical experience. I am amazingly lucky to be one of the volunteers and hope to continue for years to come. For many of these kids, Camp Imua is more important than Christmas. It is for me too!

Buck Joiner is a Camp Imua volunteer, a longtime volunteer with many organizations and community activist on a variety of issues. He lives in Kihei.