Presented at the ICCCPO Conference in Vancouver, Sept 2005

Charlie Chaplin once said, “A day without laughter is a lost day.” Children with cancer have little reason to laugh – their days are troubled with fear and isolation. Not hard to imagine how lonesome such a sick child might feel. This is why we, the German Childhood Cancer Foundation, established a camp for children with cancer where they can regain self-esteem and courage and learn to be part of a group. Unique is that this camp not only offers programs for patients and survivors, but also for their siblings and for the entire families.

The camp

The Waldpiraten Camp is a project of the German Childhood Cancer Foundation, which could be established with the help of many sponsors – first of all the German parent initiatives for children with cancer which joined forces and finances to get this camp off the ground. After two years of renovation, reorganization and construction, it opened its doors in September 2003. It is the first and only holiday camp for children with cancer in Germany and is open to groups from other German speaking countries as well as to all interested (for example, two groups from Italy joined these past sessions).

The location of the camp is a wooded area close to the city of Heidelberg. Thus, in case urgent medical care is needed, the pediatric cancer unit of the University Children’s Hospital can be of help. The Waldpiraten Camp can accommodate up to 65 people (campers and staff), is accessible for the physically handicapped, and has all necessary facilities for a variety of different programs: a large main building with a dining hall and several seminar rooms as well as an infirmary, offices and a number of bedrooms for chaperones. The multi purpose building offers rooms for arts and crafts activities, drama and music. On the camp grounds, there is an open air theatre, a beach volleyball field as well as a climbing wall with high ropes.

Programs offered at the Waldpiraten Camp

Every year during the school vacation (spring, summer and fall), cancer patients aged 8-16 can take part in  ten-day-camp sessions. The recreational program is – much like in other camps – designed to bring back the laughter, the big smile into a child’s face – for no longer should a day be lost. Every day is a new challenge for the child – filled with activities, games and fun.

Integrated into the camp sessions are many outdoor recreational activities like hiking, climbing, canoeing, swimming, riding, bicycling, camp-out in the forest, nature discovery etc. and creative activities such as woodcraft, pottery, photography, music, creative writing, drama and last but not least - pure leisure time. Our main focus is on therapeutic recreation and group education.

The campers stay in log cabins. They get plenty of opportunities to meet children like themselves and get involved in team building competency to help improve their self-confidence, decision making and coping skills. As one camper said, “Here nobody stares at me, they all know why I have no hair and nobody asks stupid questions”.

We are able to offer seven camp sessions throughout the school vacation time including programs for siblings (alone or together with their sick brothers or sisters). As siblings of cancer patients very often experience similar hardships and problems, they profit a lot from the exchange with others in their situation and thus feel less isolated, less special. In camp they are given the opportunity to talk freely about their fears and wishes without having to consider their parents, nor take heed of their sick brother or sister. Here they are met with the same sincerity as their sick siblings and take part in the very same activities, learn the same skills and come back home with the same experiences.

A special addition to these programs are the weekend seminars we offer to bereaved siblings. These are very intense meetings with lots of time for talks and reflection aside from recreational activities.

Survivors Meetings

Details about the weekend seminars for survivors (age 18 through 30) will be presented in another contribution by the survivors themselves. These are offered twice a year to a group of  approximately 50 young people.

Family-weekends

As the Waldpiraten Camp was established by parent initiatives it is only logical to provide weekend seminars for families with children with cancer. These programs are offered throughout the year – whenever there is no school vacation. All families throughout the whole country are invited – usually through the parent initiatives or the psycho-social staff of the pediatric oncology units. The programs are designed for families during and after intensive treatment. One seminar per year addresses bereaved families (with their own program) and we also started special sessions specifically designed for single parent families with their very unique needs.

The program usually includes medical information, such as the latest developments in pediatric oncology, or all about “alternative” or “complementary” therapies, information on long term effects or any topic that is of special interest. There are group discussions with psychologists or family therapists. We provide information on legal and social rights and offer many creative and recreational activities. These weekend seminars are excellent opportunities for families to meet others in the same situation, to exchange experiences and very often they are able to comfort each other. Not seldom, these weekends are the start for long lasting friendships between families from all parts of Germany.

And - last but not least – all parent initiatives which are part of our organization have the opportunity to plan and conduct their own week- or weekend activities at the Waldpiraten Camp. The only problem is: there are not many weekends left to cover the demand.

It seems that we are on the right track.

Gerlind Bode.        German Childhood Cancer Foundation        bode@kinderkrebsstiftung.de

Gabriele Geib        Waldpiraten-Camp     geib@kidnerkrebsstiftugn.de     www.waldpiraten.de