Camp Addis is a WWO camp for children and youth living with serious illness. Activities are designed to teach children life-skills, interpersonal-skills, healthcare knowledge, and to renew their resilience and sense of hope in the most exciting and creative ways. Many campers choose to keep their illnesses confidential; we are aligned with our youth and maintain their wishes.

Z.H attended Camp Addis this summer for the first time. She lives with her grandfather and her aunt and was enrolled in WWO’s Camp Addis by the clinicians in the government hospital where she has her medical appointments. They took this step because Z.H. has struggled with taking her medicine on schedule and because of her feelings of hopelessness. Unfortunately, like manychildren with her illness, she contracted this disease from her parents, but she was not aware of her diagnosis until years after her parents had died, when she discovered her diagnosis by accident. She was extremely confused, angry, and stopped taking her medication without her family’s knowledge.

In the safe and accepting community of Camp Addis, she bravely shared her story as she talked about the importance of adherence. She also shared that she has paid dearly for her lack of compliance and now lives with damaged vision as a result. She added that her Camp Addis experience has empowered her and has helped her to accept the day-to-day reality of her illness. She went on to say that camp helped her gain confidence, made her see the best in herself, helped her socialize and make friends, and has made her feel valuable in life.