Life Matters Newsletter - Fall 2021
Chameleon’s Journey is an overnight grief camp for children and teens (ages 7-17) who are coping with the death of a family member or other significant person in their life.
At Chameleon’s Journey, children and teens quickly learn that they are not alone in their grief. In a safe and caring environment, trained counselors guide campers along a path to the development of coping skills. Campers learn that feelings which surface during the grief process are normal - though difficult.
In the midst of learning about the grief process, campers have fun, too, as they ride the zip line, canoe on the peaceful waters of Lake Wylie, play field games and get to know others with like experiences.
At Chameleon’s Journey, parents and guardians can get the grief support they need, too. Although parents and guardians do not stay overnight, they are encouraged to attend a workshop each morning. The two workshops address adult grief and ways to help grieving children.
So why is it called Chameleon’s Journey?
EXCERPTS FROM “CHAMELEON’S JOURNEY, THE TALE OF ONE LITTLE CHAMELEON’S JOURNEY THROUGH GRIEF”
Chameleon loves changing colors and playing with his best friend! They have the best time together and go on many adventures, but one day, Chameleon receives news that his best friend has died. Suddenly, Chameleon cannot control his colors anymore... he used to have fun changing colors, but now he isn’t able to control them...why is this happening? It is very confusing and scary for Chameleon. He needs to know why this is happening, so he begins a journey to find answers...
Chameleon experiences feelings of anger, sadness, jealousy and happiness during his journey and he processes these feelings as he changes colors throughout the story.
Through his journey, Chameleon learns that when someone dies, we have lots of difficult and painful feelings. The feelings we have after someone dies are called “grief feelings.” Grief can make us feel unhappy and out of control.” He also comes to realize that there is absolutely nothing wrong with him, because it’s normal to have lots of different feelings when we lose someone we care about. And when he was ready, he was able to see that life is full of joy and sorrow and everything in between and soon he becomes a beautiful rainbow Chameleon; it just took time to heal... in his own way.
Visit https://www.hpccr.org/life-matters-fall-2021 to read more from our Fall 2021 Edition of the Life Matters Newsletter.