Inspiration with Ray of Hope

By Breanne Bartok

Editor's Note: Ray of Hope is a camp run by Rebound of Whatcom County. During the month of July, they bring their campers on a field trip to Common Threads where we run gardening and cooking stations for each group. 

“Who can tell me if worms are garden friends or garden foes?”

“Friends!” shouted a few of the more confident campers. 

“And why do you think they’re garden friends?” I looked around excitedly. I was nearly elbow-deep in compost, trying to retain my own excitement. Soil science is my specialty. 

“Because they eat things like weeds, and when that goes through their gut it gets lots of good bacteria on it and when the worms poop it out, it turns into really healthy soil!” the boy standing beside me answered promptly, his blue eyes shining back at me with his own excitement. 

I quickly restrained the urge to hug another fellow human being who understood the beauty of earthworms. Here was a child who could explain one of their key roles in the soil ecosystem in more understandable terms than any textbook I’d read. So I held back the hug, instead offering a high five and a dose of excitement that may have been lost on some of the other children who hadn’t yet learned the beauty of healthy soil. 

“Why do you think we want yummy, healthy dirt?” I prompted, hoping to convey at least a little bit more of soil science before this batch of campers went into see the chickens. I was ready to provide the answers, but the same boy was ready again: “Because healthy dirt makes healthy plants!”

Couldn’t have said it better myself. Throughout the day, the Ray of Hope campers continued to amaze me. One of the older girls went into a long digression on weeds and nutrient loss in the garden, describing a depth of information I could scarcely have expected.

As counselors, we prepare ourselves to provide a safe space for the Ray of Hope campers, give them some delicious fresh food to eat, and teach them about gardening and nutrition. To be honest, I had not expected them to be such wells of knowledge, for many Ray of Hope campers come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds or are dealing with some form of trauma, and thus have many other things on their plates. Yet many of them were as enthusiastic – if not more so – than any other group of kids I’ve worked with. Each week, the Ray of Hope campers teach me as much as I think I teach them. And that’s as satisfying as any of the plump plums I’ve eaten this week.