As many of you know, each summer Adam and I volunteer as camp counselors at Camp Dreamcatcher, a summer camp for kids infected or affected by HIV. It's definitely one of the most rewarding things that we do each year, even as it is one of the most challenging (and hilarious and exhausting and fun). Still, I wouldn't trade it for the world. Today we got our cabin assignments, and my anticipation for the first day of camp is overwhelming (i.e., I had already started buying gifts for my girls, coming up with cabin themes, and making my packing list a few weeks ago). Adam is going to be heading a cabin of 12-year-old boys, and I'll have my hands full with a new group of 14-year-old girls. Too much fun!

Camp Dreamcatcher is a special place, not least of which because it offers a safe space for children struggling with hard issues to just be kids. This year, Camp
Dreamcatcher is putting out a special call for donations for Bow, a 14-year-old girl from Thailand who suffers from HIV and debilitating facial deformities. She has the opportunity to return to camp this year and then have reconstructive facial surgery in Texas... provided that we can raise $40,000 to cover her medical bills. Please watch the video below and get to know Bow. If you can donate to help out Bow or support Camp Dreamcatcher, that would be amazing.



Bow came to Camp Dreamcatcher as a result of a serendipitous turn of events. Two summers ago, documentary filmmakers came to camp to paint a portrait of AIDS orphans in the United States. They had already been to orphanages in Uganda, Brazil, and Thailand, and then they chose to spend the week with us at Camp Dreamcatcher. The director, Robert Corna, and the videographer, Renzo Spirit Buffalo, made fast friends of campers as they filmed Tiny Tears. Then, last summer, one child from each orphanage was sponsored to come to the United States to attend Camp Dreamcatcher. Talk about a golden ticket!

Jethro, the boy from Uganda (in the orange shirt), was in Adam's cabin last year. Adam can tell you great stories of the cross-cultural exchange. With any luck, one of these days we'll be able to go visit him in Uganda!

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