GRAND BAHAMA, The Bahamas — The Department of Social Services and Ministry for Grand Bahama have partnered with Bahamas Coalition of Advocates of Disability Awareness and Services to bring Camp Inclusion to Grand Bahama this Summer.

Forty students were enrolled in the camp which opened on Monday, July 29, 2024 at the Seventh Day Adventist Church on Gambier Drive and runs through Sunday, August 4, from 9:00am – 1:00pm.

During the week-long Programme, the children will take part in a blind-fold day, learn the basics of sign language, from forming the alphabet to counting, learn what it feels like to live without the use of an arm or a leg, and how to use a wheelchair and crutches.

The campers will also visit the Obadiah H. Wilchcombe Complex to learn about accessibility. 

The camp was initially launched in New Providence in 2022 with the goal to integrate children with disabilities with children without disabilities, teaching them about disability, advocacy, inclusion and fostering new friendships.

Kendrick Rolle, Chairman and Executive Director of Bahamas Coalition of Advocates of Disability Awareness and Services revealed that some 20 youngsters from Grand Bahama participated in the camp back in 2022.

“After hosting Camp Inclusion this year in New Providence, we found it necessary to host a Camp Inclusion here in Grand Bahama so that more children from that island would be exposed to the whole idea of what it is we were offering at Camp Inclusion,” Rolle said.

He noted that one of the highlights for the campers this week is a sport called Beep Baseball which allows the kids to play blindfolded with the use of beeping balls and buzzing bases.

A Beep Ball Bonanza Family Day will be held on Sunday, August 4 at Independence Park and is open to the public. All of the participants will be presented with a certificate during a pinning ceremony on Saturday on the church grounds.

Brenamae Cooper, Chief Social Worker at the Department of Social Services Supervisor for the Senior Citizens and Disability Affairs Division, thanked the Ministry for Grand Bahama for providing the breakfast and lunch daily for the campers, the Seventh Day Adventist for hosting the camp and the other partners, the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities and Aliv for their support, relaying to all of the partners that the youngsters will leave the camp more empowered.

“Those with disabilities will feel more included and those who are not will be more empowered to know how to include those children in their schools, their communities in the churches and they will be more sensitive towards their needs and their special needs.

In attendance: Peter Watson, Youth Director of the North Bahamas Council for Seventh Day Adventists; Permanent Secretary Joel Lewis; and Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry for Grand Bahama Kingsley Smith.