Lower Canada College offers incredible opportunities and experiences. Seven other students and I were very lucky to participate in an LCC community service outing at Camp Massawippi. We shared this experience with seven amazing kids who came from the Mackay Center, a school for children with disabilities, located on Decarie Boulevard. We spent three days at the camp on Lake Massawippi, which is in the Eastern Townships.
This was one of the most interesting experiences that I have participated in up until now. When I signed up for this opportunity I sort of new what I was in for, as I have worked with children in similar cases before. Just to get acquainted with the children and what they liked, we visited them twice at the Mackay Center before the trip.
The first day at Camp Massawippi was a time when one quickly forgot about one’s comfort zone with the children and figured out a way to deal with the situations. One learned very quickly how funny and easy going the children were. They did not need our constant surveillance but they did need our affection and reassurance. Although we had to take care of some of their physical needs like feeding, much of our time was spent playing, laughing, watching movies and going on walks.
Although most of the students needed help completing every day tasks such as eating, they all had very strong personalities that were very different from one to the other. One girl in particular would get very excited over the small things she loves in life. From what I observed, all the children have a “joie de vivre.” – Klara Goettke ’15