This year I experienced summer camp differently. Maybe it was because I was coming off something intense—the Little Walk—and the emotions I'd already lived through were overwhelming. The camp felt less like a revelation and more like a quiet confirmation of what I'd already felt. From September 3rd to 9th, I lived through this beautiful camp and found myself face to face with people who were once children alongside me, now grown into adults. I was stunned. I didn't think—knowing how today's teenagers see the world—that they would ever run a camp on their own. When I realized the whole thing was being managed by them, with only Costanza, Filippo, and Massimo as adult staff (and Michela was there too, though mainly because she had small children), it hit me hard. To see these people I knew as kids, now mature and carrying the weight of knowing that others need them.
We need to trust young people more. We need to let them lead, let them discover the world of disability. Our camp was called "Living in Color," and the whole point was to strip away the gray and black that surrounds us. Most of the time, we read headlines full of terrible things, things we don't want to see. So "Living in Color" was meant to offer something different—hope. And these teenagers are truly hope. I never would have imagined seeing them step into responsibility, stepping up to change the world we live in now. It really astonished me, watching them take on their first assignments, their first real responsibilities.
For instance, the camp director was Filippo Pescosolido—Pippo. I remember him as a child playing with Domenico, coming to the houses with his dad. But to see him running the whole camp? That's a long way to travel. I've always been used to adults leading. This gives me hope that everything can change someday.
What else is there to say? As I always tell people who don't know Faith and Light—come and see for yourself. Open your hearts! Actually, let me step aside and let Grace's video speak. She captured everything—all the emotions we lived through together, the ones we carried with us all the way to the last day, the ones I'll carry in my heart always. Until next time!