"I was a more antisocial kid, but I also wanted to be part of a group." Paul's story.

"I was a more antisocial kid, but I also wanted to be part of a group." Paul's story.

"Until the age of six I was more mischievous, then the illness made me more introverted," Paul confesses. 

Paul has been living with juvenile arthritis since the age of six. His story began somewhere in a small village in Moldova. It continued through hospitals in various cities across the country — in search of the right treatment and the right doctor — then abroad, for work, and at 17, Paul arrived at the first camp of his life: Yuppi Camp. That is where we met him.

He was born into a large family, the second of 15 siblings. "I was a bit of a troublemaker, restless, and I used to ride my bike, do somersaults and fall on my knees. I was excited that I had learned to ride a bike, but at one point I noticed my knees were swelling up and I couldn't move them properly anymore. I didn't tell my mom because I was scared — I hoped the swelling would go down on its own, but it didn't."

He still remembers his first doctor's visit vividly: "He had me lie on a bed with my legs stretched out, gave me a little anaesthetic, and drew the fluid out of my knees with a syringe. After that, he put both my legs in a cast for a month. When the cast came off, I walked with stiff legs and went through rehabilitation for over a year."

Paul spent a great deal of time in hospital, which "didn't seem hard to me, as long as my parents were there with me. But when they started to leave — because they had my siblings at home — and left me with cousins, I felt an emptiness. I needed emotional affection, I needed my parents. I know I cried a lot, I called them, I talked to them constantly on the phone. In a way it was a trauma for me, not being with them and spending so much time in hospital. Over time I stopped crying, but I developed a trauma and a fear of talking to people, of socialising."

That fear stayed with him for a long time. "When I started high school I was a more antisocial kid — I hadn't had much contact with other children up until then, I had spent most of my time in hospital, I wasn't very used to them. But I saw children who were very open and I wanted that too, I felt the need to be part of a group or something. And I fell in with some boys and we started getting up to no good."

Because of that company, Paul dropped out of school in the 11th grade and went abroad to work. There he discovered how much he would love to have his own business, and began reading books, listening to podcasts and audiobooks, and watching videos about business and entrepreneurship. At 18, he wants to return to the country and open his own business.

Yuppi Camp was the first camp of his life, and he told us that he no longer experiences it the way a child would. "I tried more to be a leader — to see what the kids would enjoy, to look after them. I'm thinking that when I turn 20, in two years, I'll come back as a volunteer, or donate and help the camp financially. Because it's really wonderful, really something special."

At Yuppi camps, we are joined by wonderful children and young people whose life stories move us deeply. Stories with ups and downs, unexpected turns, different stories — but all sharing the strength of these children to fight: against illness, against loneliness, against the hardships of life.

Paul's story is one of them, and we are deeply grateful that he chose to share it with us. Paul, we can't wait for you to come back as a volunteer, to open your heart again and use your gentleness and strength to build communities around you.