We chose the children’s tourism and entertainment sites for this camp with much care.  Every place the children were to go, advance preparations ensured that they would receive V.I.P. treatment and not have to wait in line, that there would be places to rest and proper food to eat.  A total of 112 children - all of them young Israeli cancer patients – were at this Adventure Camp. 

The first two days of camp were spent, of course, in Israel so the campers could get to know each other and the camp counselors, as well as the medical crew and organizational staff.

The camp’s program began at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City.  From there we went to the nearby Kotel Tunnels.  We partied the first evening at the Zichron Menachem Day Center in Jerusalem, at its special patio which, like the rest of the Day Center, is completely wheel-chair accessible.

Dinner was supplied by the “Daniels D” caterers who, as at previous Z.M. events, did a superb job.  Special lighting effects added to the unique atmosphere of our camp’s opening night program.  The Amosi Daikan orchestra entertained the camp entourage, while the entire event was lit up by fireworks by the Sharon Fireworks.  These fireworks – also a Z.M. camp “tradition” – did much to elevate everyone’s spirits.  Campers of all ages feasted, danced and had a great time.  After the party ended for the younger children, the teenage campers stayed on to enjoy a “Darbuka drumming circle” and to get to know each another.

After we did our “check-in” at EL AL airlines, the campers were hosted by a special anti-terror police unit.  This event is also a Z.M. “tradition” of over ten years.  The unit’s officers personally take part in this event with the Z. M. campers, showing them some of their unconventional devices and equipment.  The evening ended with all the campers being given presents from the unit’s officers:  backpacks filled with gifts and surprise “goodies”.  The evening closed with a musical performance by the popular Israeli band, “Tea-Packs”.

The camp’s third day of activity ushered in the touching moment of taking off from Ben Gurion airport.  Needless to say, the children were treated as royal V.I.P.s, first in taking off, and then at their landing at Heathrow Airport near London:  no waiting for passport control – the entire group of campers and camp staff went straight from the airplane to chartered buses awaiting them.  One could comment that “Londoners were immediately peeking at the group through their lace-curtained windows”!

Almost every evening during the London camp, a different Jewish congregation hosted the children for dinner and an entertaining program.  The campers and camp staff stayed at London’s elegant Holiday Inn.  The campers and their escorts visited many of London’s well-known parks and tourist sites. 

The main object of this Adventure Camp is for these young cancer patients to have as much non-stop fun as possible:  to forget their past or future fears and pains – to focus on the “now”, the present moment in time. 

The camp’s staff members, all of whom had undergone advance training in how to help the campers turn into a cohesive group, did their utmost to create an atmosphere in which children could share and exchange their emotional strengths with each other.   Everyone drew strength from each other, resulting in many smiles and much enjoyment.  One of the child campers was overheard saying, “At camp there’s no time for pain; here – we only have [time for] fun.”

One of the girl campers, a resident of Israel’s southern region, had gone off to camp with a low blood count.  Her parents asked her to do a new blood test immediately after she’d returned home from the London camp.  The young girl refused to do so; she didn’t want do the blood test because, as she told her parents, she felt absolutely wonderful – praise G-d - after going to the camp.  The girl’s parents respected her request, and delayed doing the blood test for several more days. 

When the blood test was done and one of the girl’s doctors got the girl’s results, he stood there quite stunned – wondering what had happened to the girl.  How could it be that, after a full year in which the girl’s blood count had been so low, all of a sudden the blood test’s results were that of a healthy person?  The explanation was simple, of course:  this was the positive result of the Zichron Menachem Adventure Camp for kids with cancer!

Another one of this young girl’s doctors, who in the past had participated in one of our Adventure Camps as an accompanying medical escort, replied to his hospital colleague, “If this child has just been at one of the Zichron Menachem Adventure Camps, then I have no questions what-so-ever, the answer to this “riddle” is very clear to me ....”