14
VIDBE-Q Volume 62 Issue 3
be givers, too, and not just takers. We have service projects, random acts of kindness, and
other ways to help our campers incorporate giving to others into their daily lives.
Additionally, we have one of
the few facilities in the country
where real cooking skills can be
taught to children who are blind or
have low vision. Usually teachers
don't have kitchens available to
them or the time to teach cooking
skills, and parents don't know how
to teach their child who is blind or
has low vision how to use a sharp
knife safely or get something hot
out of the oven. Cooking for
yourself is one of the first steps to
independence, but it should go
beyond heating up frozen dinners
in the microwave. At OUB
Camps, we roast whole chickens,
bake French toast and pizza, make egg rolls, have nacho night, make a mean meatloaf, and of
course learn to make campfire desserts!
OUB's one-on-one instructional approach does amazing things; last year, one young
man was scared of getting too close to boiling water for pasta, but with help and a special
technique he got it into the pot without hurting himself. Others have learned to make coleslaw,
Campers practice chopping vegetables with a knife.