On 7-8 September the Karuna Sanctuary hosted an overnight visit by 13 senior students accompanied by 6 teachers and carers from Halinda Special School for Children with Disabilities.

 

The Halinda students were from a very wide range of cultural backgrounds. All came from the Mt Druitt area and had economic hardship as part of their history. All of the children have an intellectual disability. The Halinda School caters for over 100 such students in classes of about 6-7 pupils. A teacher and an aide is assigned to each class.

 

Opportunities to experience anything like the Karuna camp are exceedingly rare for these children, and many of those who came to the camp had barely ever spent a night away from home. 

 

A highlight for the students was the unusual experience (for them) of sitting around a campfire. Even more unusual was the opportunity to toast marshmallows. Some found the challenge of that a bit too daunting and the toasting was done for them by their carers.

 

All of the students seemed very happy to be sharing in a great adventure together. They displayed a great community spirit and eagerly joined in all the activities including washing-up and tidying up the dining room. The school funded excursion from Karuna to Katoomba Scenic World gave them an exciting Scenic Skyway experience.  

 

The costs of the excursion, food and accommodation were met by the Karuna Foundation Children’s Fund, thanks to the generous support that many of you gave to our ‘Exotic Dancers from the Magical East’ fund raising event held a few weeks earlier.