Escaping Worries Camp Provides HIV-Aids Families a Weekend of Good Memories
The Arizona Republic
By J.R. Clairborne, August 14, 1995
Show Low—Little elephants, giraffes, lions, monkeys and zebra dart about the pines, while their elders lounge, talk or just smile at their young at play.
Every so often, a little one scampers over, just for a hug.
It wasn’t the wildlife of northern Arizona. It was Camp Hakuna Matata, a place for families who live with AIDS and HIV, the virus that causes it. And the kids were scampering about in groups named for different animals.
Named for a phrase in the movie The Lion King, that means “No worries,” the camp gave Valley families a four-day escape from their daily grind during the weekend and a chance to learn from others affected or infected by human immunodeficiency virus.
“This beats working for a living and running back and forth to the doctor’s office,” said Chris Card, 34. “Most of the time, I worry about the kids. But when I saw the kids up here, I knew they were OK.”
Nearly two years ago, an illness related to AIDS claimed Card’s wife. Although he and his 11-year-old son are not infected, his 5-year-old son tests positive for HIV.
“This is the one time in our life that is normal,” Card said. “Since I lost my wife, and living with him day to day, I’ve lived knowing that life is special, and I think all these people know it, too. You don’t get that in town.”
Stephanie Ray has lived with AIDS and the controversy it generates since she was born nine years ago in Phoenix.
When neighbors found out about her condition, Stephanie and her father were forced from their apartment, so they moved to New York. Prejudice surfaced there, too, so they moved to Florida. Now, they are moving back to the Valley, where Stephanie’s aunt lives.
Although she’s been to similar camps, Stephanie said she likes Hakuna Matata because “there’s more people to play with and more people who care about me.”
Marcy Gorman, director of the Arizona Aids Project in Phoenix, said the camp is different from many others for the terminally ill because it deals with the entire family.
“AIDS affects the whole family,” she said. “If one person has AIDS, the whole family is affected.”
The camp is the fifth of its kind in the nation; the gathering near Show Low was the first in the West.
Organizer Dan Leboffe said the idea came from a seminar he attended; in January sponsored by Landmark Education, which conducts personal development courses.
Participants were divided into groups of five, and challenged to develop a community service project that could be run by local organizations without the group’s help. Two group members suggested a camp for AIDS families similar to one in New York that had been featured on “60 Minutes.”
They turned to Gorman and the Arizona AIDs Project for help.
Brenda Ried, one of the five in Leboffe’s group, said that even though no one in their group knew anyone with AIDS, they were excited to help.
“The main thing we wanted to put forward is to make the kids realize that somebody loves them,” she said.
From Thursday to Sunday, kids ripped and ran, chasing each other with water balloons and squirt guns. They made name tags and puppets at arts and crafts workshops, took nature hikes, and played softball, along with several other activities.
At night, some told jokes at gatherings or wrestled at bedtime. Others quietly cuddled big teddy bears, donated by a Phoenix toy store.
A medical team was on hand to keep up with medications. Volunteers tried to keep up with the children.
Parents didn’t have to worry about sick children, and children didn’t have to worry about sick parents.
“I’m getting recharged,” said Terry Underhill, 38, who has had AIDS for more than a year. “This is great! I’m getting rest and food for my soul.”
The camp allowed Underhill and his four children to get away from the pressures and jeers of neighborhood kids. Although he may have been infected 15 years ago, his wife and children are free of HIV.
No one wants to accept the strain of living with AIDS, Underhill said, but there’s no changing reality.
“That’s what this is for,” he said of the camp. “This gives us an opportunity to change it, even if it’s only for a little while.”
Excerpted from The Arizona Republic, August 14, 1995.