Camp brings happiness and belonging

The Vietnamese Families with Special Needs Group camp was ably led by group President Thi Doung and supported by a grant from the Tobin Brothers Foundation.

Here is one mother’s feedback that gives insight into the value of these events:

“Our family enjoyed camping immensely and we have to thank you and the team for organising it so well.

Special thanks to all the sponsors because without them many of us won’t have the opportunity to meet new friends, share stories on their success in helping their special needs children to thrive to their full capacity.

For us as parents with a special needs son, most of the time we feel lonely and many times we ask why us? We cannot share our problems or burden with “normal” families because we don’t want them to feel sorry for us or make them feel uncomfortable.

Attending this camp we came home very happy as our son can be the special person he is, we can say anything and everything to the people at camp without the fear of being judged. Lots of ideas were being thrown around by real experienced families in similar situations, we feel a sense of belonging to a support group, we can call upon someone and they will listen to you.

Most importantly, we all had fun together; the children learned to share and be patient at game time which is a big effort for our autistic son”.

Anna - parent.

Thanks to the Tobin Brothers Foundation and all the parents who made the camp possible.