Working, playing, and doing everything alongside handicapped children at the two summer camps in Alfedena was transformative for me. First, because it's rare to experience genuine community with them. Second, because I believe that building a constructive relationship with children—staying present together while respecting their growth and needs—is extraordinarily difficult to pull off.
The first thing I noticed, even in the youngest ones, was an openness and joy I didn't expect. They threw themselves into making and doing things, each within their own limits.
Every moment of the day, however carefully planned the evening before, became richer because of their enormous participation and interest. The early struggles—strange faces, missing their mothers, unfamiliar routines, the noise—always faded by the second or third day.
There were certainly moments that tested us. Mealtimes, when we sat crammed around tables, became hard to manage. All those people, all that noise: Babba would sing standing on the bench, Pablo blew kisses and sighed someone's name, Nandona rocked back and forth in her chair...
The creativity and joy I mentioned at the start seemed inexhaustible when it came to games, skits, singing, running, shouting. But those of us new to this work discovered something else: keeping their attention during more demanding activities—crafts, projects—was a real challenge.
Most of the time we couldn't hold their focus, likely because concentration doesn't come easily to them. We would need to frame everything as a game. That's what would keep them truly engaged.
I often think I should understand their possibilities and limits so much better if I'm going to help them well. This is why I believe the winter meetings in town are so important—where parents share their experience with us. The growing together, the participation, the discoveries and new ideas that come from those gatherings are invaluable preparation for the next camps.
Francesca Donati, 1979