Burn camp benefits victims, volunteers: East Valley Institute of Technology / Arizona.

The EVIT-Arizona Children's Burn Camp engages two groups of students, those who serve as volunteers in the program and who are in EVIT's fire science course and the burn victims who attend the camp.

The camp program, which resulted in East Valley Institute of Technology in Mesa, Ariz., being named the Arizona state winner in the 2008 National Civic Star Award competition, serves as a logical extension of coursework for the fire-science student volunteers. The volunteers serve as camp counselors, helping burn victims rebuild confidence and self-esteem. The student counselors help the victims recover from the emotional pain of disfigurement and trauma and sometimes the similar pain from being teased, missing school for long periods or being limited in their activities.

About 100 young bum survivors from throughout the country attend the weeklong camp, Camp Courage. They participate in recreational activities such as horseback riding, mountain biking, swimming, fishing, camping, performing skits and making crafts.

EVIT firefighting instructor Terry Baugher, who became involved as a camp leader 17 years ago, teaches team building and confidence training through a high-ropes course as part of the EVIT curriculum. Ten years ago he brought the high-ropes experience to the campers. Baugher and the student volunteers arrive early at the camp to construct the ropes course.

The course is physically and emotionally demanding for the camp participants and the counselors. It can be particularly demanding for children missing fingers or who have the use of only one arm, for example. The counselors and campers proceed by talking through the challenges the course poses, and the campers attempt to provide just the fight amount of encouragement and support to help the campers succeed. The campers are taught that their attitude and drive to do the best they can will help them be successful in all areas of their lives.

According to Baugher, "The kids arrive at camp all covered up, hiding their bums, but within a day or two, they gain confidence, lose their inhibitions and are just like any other kid in shorts and tank tops."

The program manager for the Foundation for Bums and Trauma, Nan Edens, said, "Some campers arrive with no confidence at all. But after they experience the intense challenge of the ropes course, they are swelling with pride and confidence."

Only the most qualified students are selected as camp counselors. They go through intense interviews, background checks and fingerprinting. Those selected must demonstrate character worthy of being a role model and must show that they can be physical caretakers for children who may have limited abilities. One measure of the program's success is the number of repeat volunteers. Baugher has a core group of 11 volunteers who continue to return annually to help with the camp. This often means using their work vacation time to do so. Demand for camper slots also remains strong.

For more information, contact Superintendent Sally Downey at East Valley Institute of Technology, 1601 W. Main St., Mesa, AZ 85201, or call [phone]. Downey's e-mail address is [e-mail].