The intensity of the "people in care" and the love and commitment that Alex shows and gives is just amazing! The camphills allow the special needs people live a life of love, respect, kindness and are all treated the same as any of us should be.
Things are quite intense but not completely non-stop for Alex - yet you can see how exhausting it is, both physically and emotionally, on a daily basis. He has to help them with their most basic needs - teeth brushing, bathing, bathroom, and then there is the cooking, cleaning and non-stop laundry!
Yet, as I sit here typing this he is singing and laughing and continually interacting with the young men that he is helping. Two of them have downs syndrome and another has cerebral palsy (sp?) with gran mal seizures. They are all around 17 or 18 years of age and sweet, loving and intense as can be!
The young man with cerebral palsy has made improvement since Alex came almost 10 months ago. Apparently he couldn't sit at a concert for even 5 minutes without making loud noises and creating distractions (which, with the majority of these concerts are classical in nature). Yet, after Alex started working with him he can now sit through a whole performance and not upset the rest of the audience!
I am so glad that Shannon and I get to see Alex do this work as it helps us understand why he is going to commit himself to a second year. It will be hard to be away from him for so long, but the impact on these peoples lives are worth the sacrifice.
Very proud momma here!
Things are quite intense but not completely non-stop for Alex - yet you can see how exhausting it is, both physically and emotionally, on a daily basis. He has to help them with their most basic needs - teeth brushing, bathing, bathroom, and then there is the cooking, cleaning and non-stop laundry!
Yet, as I sit here typing this he is singing and laughing and continually interacting with the young men that he is helping. Two of them have downs syndrome and another has cerebral palsy (sp?) with gran mal seizures. They are all around 17 or 18 years of age and sweet, loving and intense as can be!
The young man with cerebral palsy has made improvement since Alex came almost 10 months ago. Apparently he couldn't sit at a concert for even 5 minutes without making loud noises and creating distractions (which, with the majority of these concerts are classical in nature). Yet, after Alex started working with him he can now sit through a whole performance and not upset the rest of the audience!
I am so glad that Shannon and I get to see Alex do this work as it helps us understand why he is going to commit himself to a second year. It will be hard to be away from him for so long, but the impact on these peoples lives are worth the sacrifice.
Very proud momma here!
