* (CROSSING SIGNAL BLEEPS) (GENTLE MUSIC) (MUSIC INTENSIFIES) (MUSIC SOFTENS, PIANO PLAYS) Copyright Able 2018 (UPBEAT MUSIC, WHISTLING) Lean it towards it. I don't know what cabin I'm in. Just go straight ahead. It says the name on the Braille part too. Natalie. I'm Natalie, I'm 10 years old, and I'm going to Summer Camp! This is my third time at Summer Camp. (KIDS' VOICES OVERLAP) What kind of things do you like about camp? Eating dinner, meeting new people, sleeping, talking in bed. (CHUCKLES) (LAUGHTER) My name's Stella. I'm 8. And when I first heard of this camp, I was like, 'I have to go.' Because I've never been on a camp before. (GASPS) Sometimes it's the first time that they've been away from home. And if they're from out of the main centres, they often don't have a lot of contact with other children who have a vision impairment. Who likes the swimming pool? ALL: Yes! I'm gonna be doing, like, rock climbing, kayaking, swimming, sports day, discoing. All sorts of fun activities. I'm gonna be so busy. (LAID-BACK MUSIC) We are in Paekakariki ` my house. Now, over here ` turn the camera ` is the bookshelf. We got Harry Potters. It's one of my favourites, but I really like How To Train Your Dragon. Now, anyways, let's enter messy land. Where is that Cooper? Cooper! So, I've got my brother, Cooper. He loves LOL dolls, and he does not like cats that much because they try and scratch him. Look, got a jiggly tummy. Jiggle, jiggle, jiggle. When I hold one, he gets scared. And I sometimes am a bit cheeky and I sneak up on him. (CHUCKLES) (CHATTER, LAUGHTER) And I've got my little sister, Harper. She's kind of annoying but I really like her. Harper, you say hello. Hello. Harper and Cooper are just very young and cute little bubbas. Boo! (KIDS WHINE) This is Sarah McMaster - Mum. (CHUCKLES) (KISSES) Dad loves, um, what dads like ` drinking beer... He loves us kids so much he has a tattoo saying 'Stella, Cooper and Harper'. This is Brian. Whoopsie! Ow! Ouch. Cat, you're gonna regret that. (HARPER GIGGLES) Could you please hold it, though? I'll hold it for you. I don't wanna ruin the beautiful` You won't see the pattern. I've got optic nerve atrophy. And people out there, I'm guessing you're confused why I don't have any glasses on. But the reason why I don't have glasses on is because glasses do not help me at all. Optic atrophy pretty much is the degeneration of the optic nerves. That's what carries the information from the eye to the brain. The peripheral vision goes to about 30 degrees each way from central vision. So she's got quite a blurry tunnel going on. I think her vision, functionally, is about 636. So what it means is what I can see from 36m away, she would have to be 6m away. But that's just something to keep an eye on cos it's a genetic condition. It can degenerate up to the age of 10. I think that they look wonderful. Oh wow! Beautiful, Stella. (ACOUSTIC GUITAR MUSIC) Go, Stella! Hardest things for her is when it comes to sport and things at school, cos having that sort of tunnel of vision, things can startle her quite quickly, and she doesn't have that same vision to see a ball coming or other children coming towards her. No, just paddling. Cos look at them, they get to go super deep! And also it's affected the way she moves, because she has to move her whole body more than other people to be able to see the same things. Harper! Anything new, for Stella, she's very hesitant, I guess. She wants to make sure everything's safe. Harper! So definitely those physical challenges, like riding a bike, climbing, she gets quite anxious about those things. Here it is. Do you want to come and help me read it? OK, Mum, if you really want me to. I'm going to Camp Blind Foundation. I think that's what it's called. But I'm gonna call it Camp... River Star. Something like that. This is my first time. Ooh! Mum only told me about camp this year really early, and I was like, 'I have to go, Mum, I have to go.' Because I've never been on a camp before with people I don't know, and it's really exciting for me. It's just because I don't normally do stuff like that. 'Personal toiletries, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap and hair brush, 'sleeping bedding, pillow, drink bottle, torch, 'musical instrument, cane or...' stuff that I don't need, 'plastic bag or`' Wait. Musical instruments? There'll be things that will be challenging for her. I think she'll be out of her comfort zone for sure, especially for that long a period. Mum. Yeah? What if I have nightmares at camp? Um, well, you've got your nice toys to cuddle with. Maybe you could take your little dream catcher that you made at school. Good idea. It'll be really good for her to spend time with children that have similar challenges. I think the outdoor activities definitely, like the rafting and the climbing, that's something I think she'll be quite nervous about. Mummy, how many dolls am I allowed to take? You can take three dolls, but you need to put them in the bag, OK, Stella? I'm really gonna have so much fun. I'm gonna be glad to have some more friends, because if I ever get lonely at school, I can try and send letters to them or something. Well, I can't wait to go meet Natalie. I know that she's blind and I know that she's going to be a really nice person. I think she's older than me. She's been to camp longer than me. It would be nice if she took me under her wing, even though she's not a bird. 'CAMP GRANADA' BY ALLAN SHERMAN) No, that's good, that's... Wait. Hang on. Are you all right? Yeah. Can you sit by me at dinner time? Sure thing. I reckon at camp we should all... Welcome to Summer Camp, guys! Who's happy to be here? (KIDS YELL) Yeah! Awesome to have you all here! So, we've got 20 kids aged 8 to 14, and it's just a full-on jam-packed week of camp activities Monday to Friday. On your marks... (BALLOON POPS, KIDS SQUEAL, LAUGH) Go! Passing it under. Under, under, under. This kids' camp has been going for nearly 25 years. And it's just a really popular part of our programme. It's something that the kids look forward to every year. (CHATTER, LAUGHTER) Stella Hermes. Is that you? Is that you? Stella Hermes? So, this is your cabin. You could put your stuff on one of the beds, and you could come and met the other people who are in your cabin, and then you can come back and decide later. Mm. The social side of it's really important. For a lot of the kids that come here, if they're from areas out of the main centres, they often don't have a lot of contact with other children who have a vision impairment, so for them to come here, it puts them in an environment where they're not the ones who stand out. They're sharing experience with other kids who have the same challenges that they do. Want to come and sit at this table here, where some of the other are? Stella. Hi, Stella. Stella, I'm Lilia. (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) Oh, Lilia! Yeah, well, um, do you wanna hang out after? Yes! Where do I put this? Put the spoon in one of these. Natalie. Yeah? Would you like to introduce yourself to Stella? OK. Hi. Tell Stella a bit about camp and what happens. I'm Natalie, I'm 10 years old, and my date of birth is May the 21st. I'm 8 years old. I'm turning 9 this year. And... I'm glad to be your buddy too. Thank you. (CHUCKLES) Oh, somebody's coming. Is this it? Yeah. OK, step up, Stella. Hi, Natalie! Hi, Amy! I am sleeping... here. Where's your`? Wait, is this mine? 'Natalie's had a big weekend. She's been very excited about coming to camp.' It's always been in Taupo in the three years that she's been coming here. Are you low vision or are you fully blind, Stella? I'm just low vision. Not that bad. How about you? I'm fully blind, but I'm very good at climbing up on stuff. She loves being with the other children on camp. I think it's a great opportunity for the kids to have that social interaction with other children that have visual impairment. Can I come on your bed, Stella? Yeah, my bed's... Don't fall. At school it's difficult because the sighted kids run off to play. Whereas here, all the children are very much together, and they all have similar needs and issues, I suppose. This is Super Kitty that you're feeling. Oh! She's an LOL doll. She tinkles. Natalie was born very low vision, so she was blind in one eye and had very limited vision in the other. So, when she was 6 she had some surgery for glaucoma on her good eye which didn't go too well, and she ended up losing her vision after that. So she's been blind four years this December just gone. I've got some midnight snacks. What? We better not eat them all now or there'll be no more left for midnight. (CHUCKLES) They have meetings, Stella, at night, so we can eat them then. (CHATTER, LAUGHTER) Hey, Natalie. Hi. It's Heather here. How you doing? Good. Do you remember me from last year? Yeah. Yeah? Nice to see you again. There's a whole bunch of people here you won't know. We've got nine Young Leaders that come along to support our kids. So, these are the 17- to 22-year-olds who have been campers themselves. And the campers really look up to our Young Leaders. And so I've already had quite a few campers ask me, 'How do I become a Young Leader?' 'When can I become a Young Leader?' I wanna be a leader. (CHUCKLES) You wanna be a leader? That's a good thing. CHUCKLES: I'll replace you. You'll replace me? (LAUGHTER) Let's go to the room, eh? OK. Do you wanna use your cane or do you wanna hold my arm? Hello. (WHISTLE BLOWS) Hello! If everyone can please get into their groups. Just take a seat next to your banner. OK, we've got the Visionaries. You are up with hiking first. Rotation one. And Da Gang, you guys are with Josh, challenge ropes. (KIDS CHEER) And the Toy Crusaders, you've got Initiatives. Got group four. We are the Red Pandas! The Red Pandas? You guys are doing pool games with Julia. (KIDS CHEER) STELLA: The Red Pandas are having a good time swimming! Can somebody get the (INDISTINCT). Cold in there, Natalie? I'm under! ...feel you can let go. You two, you go with Ryan. We'll see which team gets the most balls. We'll start throwing them in now, and they'll be all over the place. (KIDS SHOUT) It's me! It's Stella. Good job! Follow my voice, Natalie! Ready, set, go! (SHOUTING, CHEERING) This way! Yeah! Come on! (LAUGHS) OK, pass it over. You've gotta get the tyre off. Pass it to Ava. You've gotta give that to Ava. Give the ball to Ava when she's popped through. OK, she's got it. OK, go! I don't like it. Time to get out, then? Cos we need to go and get ready for morning tea. (CRIES) NATALIE: Who's crying? Can't hear you. Who's crying? (COUGHS) (STELLA CRIES) It's all right. Don't cry. Are you a bit tired as well? I wanna be alone. Yeah, but we can't. We've got such a busy day today. 'The pool activity went quite well at first for Stella.' Do you wanna come back over and hang out with the rest of us? SOBS: No, thank you. Don't get cold, eh. I think her biggest struggles was she was not in a really fast group. And she doesn't like the competition, but the other group was super-competitive. And she was trying to be supportive to her team-mate, but she also would like to have been able to go a little bit quicker. So that got a little bit frustrating for her. Did you not enjoy the swimming? No, just there was nothing to do. Nothing just to do anything. I'm just so upset. Yeah. That's OK to feel upset sometimes. Just want to have some alone time. 'Her biggest thing is probably learning that everyone has different abilities. 'People can be really good at one thing and not another, or vice versa.' And just everyone is totally different. All good? Bye-bye, Natalia. Bye, Frances. See ya, Julia! (GENTLE GUITAR MUSIC) We're running, this year, a buddy system. So each camper has a buddy. That's just someone for them to be able to check in with. It just allows us to have a good idea of where everyone's at, but also if anyone's struggling at all, if they've got any challenges, they've got someone that they've got a bit of a relationship with that they can go to. NATALIE: Who's our leader? Do you know? So, what we're going to do, so, over to my left, your right, there's a little bit of a dip and there's some bark and there's a big pole. So I just want you to go have a good feel of that, and I'm going to grab something and meet you over there. (OVERLAPPING CONVERSATIONS) Hello! It's starting to spit, I think. It's raining! I want you to think of five things that are gonna help us get the most out of not only these activities but also this whole week. Brian, what do you think? Have fun. Have fun. Oh, I like that one. Stella? Do things` Keep on trying, even if things seem hopeless. Nice! Shall we call that 'never give up'? I haven't done this before. Good job. Well done. Perfect. Plus I'm the youngest here. Do this little bit by yourself, OK? I'm still gonna be here, but you're gonna do it yourself. Perfect! What a legend! Think I can do it? I think you can do it easy. You're already halfway. Really? You're at the end. (ACOUSTIC GUITAR MUSIC) OK. OK? Yeah. Nice, OK. Can I jump down with somebody holding my hand? Yeah. So both my hands are in front of you. OK. Oh. Cool. And ready, and jump. Whoa, nice. That's not even high. We got you. Ready? ALL: Ready! ALL: All the way. Gonna start fallin'. Yeah. Go on. Yep, yep. (ALL EXCLAIM, CHATTER) And while my hand's there, I want you to stay there and not move. OK. One, two, three. No, I'm too scared. You can do it, Natalie. You can do it. CRIES: I'm not doing it. That's all right. Natalie, shall we jump down and try the practice one from the ground? No. All right. She's lost a bit of confidence. She would've tried anything when she still had a slight bit of vision, but now she struggles a little bit. 'Specially with anything that's high or where she can't get a good feel for what's around here.' It's about a half a metre. You are 10cm from the ground. There we go. 'I'm hoping that on this camp she'll overcome some of those fears.' I've had a lot more operations and I'm way scared. Oh, it's all right. I know. Are you ready? ALL: Stella, we are ready. All the way. You say, 'falling!' I'm falling! (LAUGHTER) Gotcha. Cool! Good job. Can I try the step again? You'd like to try the step? What do you guys think? Which one are you gonna do? Yeah. Come on, Natalie, you can do it. 'What I find really nice is when I see kids helping each other.' They might see, 'Oh, actually, that person just needs a little bit more support.' And you just see them, they'll just grab a hand and help them. We're ready for you. I'm actually really sc` We're gonna catch you. (ALL CHEER) Good job! That's Stella on you. Good job. Now it's all over and done with, and you don't have to do it again. (PIANO MUSIC) (BALL RATTLES) Whoo! (CLAPPING) (PEOPLE SHOUT, CHEER) We're having a sports day, and that's an opportunity for the young kids to just try out maybe something different. Make sure you're holding on to that real tight, and we're gonna run, OK? Right! (BALL RATTLES) They might not always be involved in sports that are happening at school. They may not have as much confidence as other kids their age because they just haven't had those opportunities. (BALL RATTLES, CLANGS) Oh! Oh. Excellent. (BALL RATTLES) Hit it, hit it. (CLANG!) Oh! That's all right. (PEOPLE CHATTER) Three, two, one! (SIREN WAILS) (CHATTERING) Ready for bed? STELLA: Yeah, but we don't wanna go to bed. Yeah, well, you guys had a couple of late nights recently, and it's a big day tomorrow. Oh, come on, just... Have you done your teeth, Natalie and Amy? BOTH: Yes. Cool. And all your hair's brushed and everything? Yeah. Just brushing it. Oh, perfect. We really encourage kids to be as independent as possible, finding their way around or just looking after themselves, daily care, if it's just brushing their teeth or organising their clothes so they can find the things they need to wear in the morning. Bye! See ya later. (STELLA HUMS TUNE, CHUCKLES) (DOOR CLOSES) OK, I'm gonna tell you the story of Hunter the Huntsman. (GIGGLES) GIRL: Nooo! Once upon a time there was a unicorn who... ...who took a big poop! (GIRLS LAUGH) Awesome! We get to stay up late and chitter-chat-chat, chitter-chat-chat. Chitter-chatter, chitter-chatter, chitter-chat-chat. (TINKLING PERCUSSION MUSIC) Cock-a-doodle doo! Stella, it's too early. (SIGHS) Wake up! OK! I'm up, I'm up! Stella's doing really well. She's finding herself a little friendship group, which is really cool. Wake up! No, it's like... My first time, I was really scared. I was about 10, I think. So in my cabin that year, I had all previous campers and they're like, 'We'll show you the ropes,' and I'm like, 'Oh my goodness!' I've made really good friends from it, carried that right through high school and uni and everything like that. I can't wait till high ropes. I love it so much. I know! Hi, guys! Are you excited for some kayaking? Yeah? All right, girls, can you bring your paddles over here? So what's gonna happen is you'll be sitting down, and you wanna put it in by your toes and drag it back to your hip, and then swivel it round; in by your toes, pull it back to your hip. If you hear the whistle blow once, I need you to stop what you're doing and listen for the next instruction. If you hear the whistle blowing continuously, try and move towards the sound where you hear the whistle coming from. It's a bit scary. Like, if you were out on a kayak in the deep end and you couldn't swim,... Look, it'd be pretty scary. Ready? (KAYAK SCRAPES) Awesome. Hey there, Stella. Wanna have a paddle around? I want you to head up towards the bushes on your right. I don't wanna do it. You know I had a` You know I had a... terror attack last time! You're not going in the water. I want to swim and not do kayaking, you egg. (WOMAN SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) It's OK. SOBS: And you can't make me. You can feel the little waves coming in. And every time a wave comes in` (SPLASH!) Aah! ...we get a splash! Eugh! (SQUEALS) I'm wetter than you. (LAUGHS) Do you know what? My trousers have got wet. I don't care. Oh, ho, ho! Some of the kids who were a little bit scared it's really good for them to experience that and realise they do have that ability. Oh, look at you guys going. You're doing awesome! So, what we're gonna do is we're gonna raft our boats up. Hold on to your paddle, Cole. And you're gonna hold on to the boat next to you. You're gonna walk all the way to Cole's boat, across the front of the boats, and then you're gonna walk back. (GIRL SQUEALS) You're doing well. Good job! Give it a go. Good job! (TINKLING MUSIC) (WATER SPLASHES) So, I actually got in and swam, like, with my feet at that side of the kayak and my hands on that side and my tummy in the middle. But then I did kayak to the shore. Scary, cos you don't know, a trout could just come and bite your paddle off. Mum! Mum! Yay, Natalie! Yoo-hoo! To send someone away with that confidence in themselves is, like, the best thing for them to be able to go forward. Good work! (PLAYFUL MUSIC) Awesome, team. Welcome to our challenge ropes course. I couldn't wait for it. Yeah, it's gonna be awesome. So, we're gonna have two of these lanyards connected to the wires, and they're gonna make sure we stay safe. So if we fall off at any point and completely fail and fly off and do all sorts of crazy stuff` Like doing a flip. ...it's fine; you're gonna be connected. Yeah, so, when Natalie tries her gymnastics and all of her flips and stuff up there, she's still gonna be safe. Right, Natalie? (LAUGHS) I'm not gonna do that. You don't wanna be low-riding your harnesses, team. (CHATTER) I've got a helmet here in front of me that you can try, see if we get a good fit. Awesome. I've got a really big head. You have a really big head? You're wearing a hood, Stella. Can we pull that off a little bit? There we go. Try that. Better? That's good. Awesome work. All right, ladies. All kitted out. You are good to go. Have fun. Aah! You're going fast, Stella. This is so hard! Nice work, Ava. Well done. Aah! (WHIMPERS) Almost there! Got it. This way, darling. Good girl. That's awesome! Well done. Just move your feet up on the ropes. Yay! You got it. (RELAXED HARMONICA MUSIC) Put your foot up on the platform. And move forward. Like this? Yep. That's it. And you're just gonna hang down in your harness; it's fine. I'm nearly there. Can I go slow if I wanna? Yeah. Just keep shuffling, shuffling. Awesome, Natalie. OK, so I'm on the platform now. Yeah, if you can get a foot on. Good. And then one foot a little bit backwards towards me. Well done. Yay! I need a shower! (LAUGHTER) Good girl. High five! Yay! You feel like to have ice cream and a shower. Good. You finished, Cole! Oh my gosh! STELLA: Pretty impressive. Well done, my friend. Good job, Cole. I am so proud of myself. I'm proud of you too, buddy. Hey, guys, you think we should go play? ALL: Yeah! Let's go, guys. (OVERLAPPING CHATTER) I had fun with Stella. She was my star buddy. (LAUGHS) Stella the show buddy. Squish in, guys. More squishing, guys. We're all friends now. Never give up, be nice, cheer people on, be a bit brave. Bye. (HUMS) Three, two, one! (CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS) (PEOPLE CHEER) Kids out there, don't eat too much sugar, one; don't litter, two; and don't ride scooters or bikes without helmets; three. See ya! Copyright Able 2018