Magic for Jim ....

Jim (pseudonym) first came to Peacemakers in 1999, the first year of sleep-away camp. He was proud of his belligerent attitude. Nobody was going to push him around or get anything over on him. His social skills, from the ability to make civil greetings such as "Good Morning!" to having awareness of table manners, were severely lacking. Jim's mother is only thirteen years older than he, and he has spent most of his life in the care of a great-grandmother. In unguarded moments, he has spoken of his absent mother with longing concern. Playing was difficult for Jim as well: oversized for his age, he was easily "injured" in playful activity, always on the alert for someone's wrong against him. In addition, he was afraid of playing in water. Water splashed on his face terrified him. Several change occurred during that first camping experience: Annie Pal, our aqua therapist volunteer, gently led Jim into the pool and gradually helped him acclimate. That year, he actually learned to enjoy being in the pool. Since that initial Peacemakers experience, Jim has not missed the summer, week-long camp. He has been part of several weekend tent-camping excursions to state parks as well, and has been a faithful participant in all Peacemakers' activities throughout the year. the changes in this young man are phenomenal! He now speaks of "when I used to be a bully". He is savvy about greeting peers and adults with courtesy; he is attentive to manners at mealtime. Jim still gets his feelings hurt more often than many other children, but he now makes a conscious effort to settle differences through the seven steps to peaceful conflict resolution that we teach and model at Peacemakers. He is also much more willing to find a trusted adult and talk out his problems than he was when we first met. In 2001, Jim's third year of camp, Peacemakers offered canoeing and kayaking for the first time. Jim was one of the first campers to jump into a kayak and take off across the lake, solo. In short, Jim is now [i]conscious[/i] of his actions and [i]willing to work [/i]on his fears and his relationships with others. While Peacemakers may not be responsible for ALL these changes in Jim's life, we know that our influence is involved because we hear the vocabulary of Peacemakers in his words. We also notice Jim's patter of heavy sadness on the last day of camp and at the end of an outing as he realizes it's almost time to go home.