Miami Herald - June 24, 2004
Cristina Silva, csilva@herald.com

"I got all these pills and some new liquid medicine, so I don't know what they are called," said Alexis, describing the five pills she takes every day. "I got these other pills, they are so skinny, you don't have to drink any water with them. I take that once a day."

Alexis refuses to tell even her closest friends about the virus for fear they will make fun of her. But later this summer, she will be in good company at a camp in Texas for children -- like her -- with HIV.

During the weeklong program in July at Camp Hope in Burton, Texas, children who have tested positive for HIV -- and some who have the full-blown disease, AIDS -- will participate in normal camp activities like fishing, horseback riding, swimming and dance.

But they also can talk about the virus openly, a quality that makes Camp Hope unique, said Ana M. Puga, medical director of the family AIDS program at the Children's Diagnostic & Treatments Center in Fort Lauderdale. The center, the only Florida program participating, is sending 53 local children to the camp.

Camp Hope was created in 1996 in Dallas as a weekend retreat for children with HIV and AIDS.

HIV, or Human Immunodeficiency Virus, infects key cells that are part of the body's immune system, which fights infections and various cancers.

AIDS, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, is an advanced stage of HIV infection, when the immune system has sustained substantial damage. Not everyone who has HIV infection develops AIDS.

The HIV camp, sponsored by the AIDS Foundation Houston Inc., the Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine, helps more than 176 HIV-positive kids annually. The children range in age from 7 to 15, and hail from Texas, Louisiana, Mexico and Florida.

The camp's goal is to provide a "safe nurturing environment that is 100 percent recreational," said Mark Cohen, the camp's associate director.

"What's most important is that the children see other children who are going through what they have gone through, who take the same medicines as they do, and who have the same experiences. It helps the children feel less isolated," Puga said.

Alexis agrees. She says she is much freer to be herself around other kids from the camp.

"I tell them about my medicine because they have medicine," Alexis said. "But my friends at school don't have medicine. So I don't tell them."

MORE THAN 150 KIDS

The children's center at 1401 S. Federal Hwy. in Fort Lauderdale has sent more than 150 kids to Camp Hope for the past six years. The camp is a reward for overcoming all the challenges that the children face all year long, said Marie Hayes, the center's family AIDS program director.

"It's one of the few times that having this disease is normal," Hayes said.

Last week, the center kicked off a month-long fundraising effort to send kids to the camp, which begins July 18. The total cost per child is $1,300, including airfare and camp tuition.

The center is also sponsoring an "Adopt a Camper" program where patrons can sponsor a child by providing him with the clothing and supplies he needs for a week of camp.

The expense is minimal compared with what the children get in return, Hayes said.

Many children from the center are from low-income families, Hayes said.

'At camp, there is never a problem with 'well, we don't have enough food', or 'today, we don't have meat to eat.' You would be surprised how many kids don't have access to that," Hayes said.

Vicky Ward knows just how much the camp can be a vacation from reality.

At 16, Vicky is HIV-positive, is still one of the smallest kids on her block, at 4-feet-8, and weighs just 60 pounds.

Vicky is home-schooled, partially to shield her from being teased about her size, and to avoid disdain from her classmates, who make fun of her illness.

"Here, they just make fun of me because I am small," said Vicky, who next year will train to become a counselor at Camp Hope.

But, she said, "Kids at camp, they talk to me, they are my friends. Every time I come to camp they run to me and give me a hug."

COME TO TERMS

Through Camp Hope and the help of the children's center, Sarah Martin, 15, said she has been able to come to terms with what she calls her "unfair life."

Sarah has bounced from foster home to foster home since she was a toddler. She takes 40 pills a day to stay healthy.

Although she has been taking the pills for as long as she can remember, it wasn't until she was 10 that she found out why.

That's when she read an article about herself in a newspaper that said she was HIV-positive.

'I told my foster mother at the time, 'Look. This says I have HIV.' And she said, 'Yeah, you got HIV.' And I just said, 'Oh.' "

Since then, Sarah has learned more about what HIV is, thanks to both the camp and the center. She said she now knows people will love her "for who you are and what you do" even with HIV.

"At camp you can talk to them about it and not feel uncomfortable," she said. "You learn it's not your fault."

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