Kids with sickle cell disease shine at camp
Jumoke has staff trained for campers’ medical and emotional needs
Judy Grandison stood nervously on shore watching her son Kamau, not an expert swimmer, confidently pilot a kayak through the waves.
“If he hadn’t gone to camp there’s no way he would be doing this — because I wouldn’t let it happen!” Grandison said with a hearty laugh, recalling the scene at Canada’s only camp that’s specialized for children with sickle cell disease.
“That was his second year at Camp Jumoke. The first year, he came home like a different child. He was filthy dirty, happy, excited — it was an amazing experience.”
Sickle cell disease is a genetic blood disorder that produces misshapen red blood cells that can cluster, interrupting blood flow and triggering illness and potential tissue and organ damage. Symptoms can include severe abdomen and bone pain, fever, delayed growth and blindness, with episodes affecting people for hours or days, possibly requiring hospitalization. Kamau survived his first episode, at 21 months old, thanks to a blood transfusion.
Now 11 and looking forward to his third camp visit, he and others usually have to take care to avoid dehydration, fatigue and other triggers. Jumoke (which means “Everyone loves a child” in the West African language Yoruba) has staff trained for campers’ medical and emotional needs so that, as much as possible, the kids can forget the disease and just have fun.
If they start to experience severe pain or other symptoms, a nearby hospital is ready for them.
“Camp is especially important to children who are ill and have other challenges in life,” says Grandison, who has the sickle cell trait but not the disease. She started as a Jumoke volunteer before her son’s birth and now heads the camp’s board of directors.
Jumoke runs for two weeks, this year starting July 29, within the mainstream Camp Wenonah near Bracebridge. The number of Jumoke campers depends on funding and is often around 20. Some years there are wait lists. Donations, from individuals, the Fresh Air Fund and the Rexall Foundation cover the roughly $2,300 cost of sending a kid to Jumoke for two weeks. Campers are aged 10 to 15, with the youngest ones starting with one-week stays.
“It’s transformative,” Grandison says. “It’s growth and confidence — it will take them a long way in life.” How to donate: With your gift, the Fresh Air Fund can help send 25,000 disadvantaged and special needs children to camp. The experience gives these children much more than relief from summer heat — it gives them a break in life and memories to last a lifetime. Our target is $650,000.
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Mail to The Toronto Star Fresh Air Fund, One Yonge St., Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6
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