We were deeply moved by this testimony from Attila, a young guest who attended the Romanian Relief Service’s Summer Camp for Disabled Youth this year:
“The most beautiful memories of my life all come from this camp.
If I’m being honest, the first time I was invited to attend I found it difficult to imagine leaving my comfort zone and moving beyond my safe and ordinary life, even for a short time.
Now I know that if I had not taken that step, I would still be stuck where I was before. I would never have known what it is like to have a pleasant conversation, to dance, to ride a motorbike, to try paintballing, to go on trips, to love and be loved.
I enjoyed every day of the camp. I never wanted to fall asleep – I wanted to experience every moment that I could. I always wish it didn’t have to end and hope to stay that extra minute, to get to know everybody there.
What makes this camp so beautiful is that it brings together healthy and disabled people in a way that breaks down the walls between them. They open up to each other like nowhere else, and they see those with disabilities perhaps as nobody has seen them before: as human beings. There are no taboos, no pity, only compassion and unconditional love. I think I can say on behalf of all the guests that this is an experience we could never enjoy before.
Without the Romanian Relief Service’s Camp for Disabled Youth I would simply not have been able to have this experience.”