I met Iulia in 2015, at the first Yuppi camp dedicated to teenagers with cancer or autoimmune diseases. She had long blonde hair and big brown eyes. When I saw her in shorts, I realised that she must have lost a lot of weight, probably because of the treatment. Sha had a large, long scar on her right arm.
I remember the meeting of the volunteers, where I was told that during the archery activity, in the beginning Julia could not shoot with a bow because she could not hold it vertically, like the others. She could not twist her wrist because of the surgery. But together they discovered that she can shoot from the horizontal as well!
Julia was quiet and reserved, but she exuded a calmness that attracted the other girls. She was the oldest in the group, almost 18 years old, and she looked even more mature with her perfectly applied daily make-up.
I set a goal for myself: by the end of the camp, we wanted to see Julia, at least once, more relaxed, more open, with a huge smile on her face, or even laughing out loud.
Even years later, her smile in the pictures remains as evidence of those days. One day I sent her a message on Facebook about a job for which I considered her suitable, but someone else replied: ’Unfortunately, Julia is in heaven now. This is her mother.’
Three days later I met her mother at the cemetery. I brought a big white bouquet for Julia and a small envelope to her mother. She opened the envelope and immediately began to cry. There were photos in the envelope: Julia smiling in the middle of a large group of girls. Iulia very deep in pottery, dirty up to the elbow, with no make-up on. Julia during archery, face focused, holding the bow horizontally. Julia leaving the camp: next to a long line of young people and volunteers, clapping, she with a flushed face, with a huge smile.
The doctors could not save Julia's life, the Yuppi Camp did not even dream of such a thing. But we were by her side in the camp and we made sure that she was smiling and enjoying life. All children like Julia need to feel alive: to feel joy, to laugh, to run.
The Yuppi Camp offers similar experiences to 100 chronically ill children every year. Not all the children in the camp suffer, like Julia, from a terminal diagnosis - but they are all chronically ill and need a break from the everyday worry caused by their disease.
Yuppi Camp organises free therapeutic recreation camps and activities for children and teenagers with cancer, diabetes or other autoimmune diseases, and their families, where they participate in activities such as climbing, equestrianism, rowing, archery, handicraft, acting, and magic.
Illness steals childhood. At Yuppi Camp we want to give it back.
Suzana,
Camp Coordonator
