Between July 26 – August 6 2010, we spent 2 wonderful weeks with our 5 young ladies who overcame leukemia thanks to the second invitation that we received from International Summer Camp “Camp Good Days & Special Times”, which is near Keuka Lake in New York state.

Our ladies, who traveled to the United States for the first time ever, shared unforgettable moments with their camper friends who also came from various countries such as the United States, Germany, the Dominic Republic, Mexico, Bahamas etc. Our survivor teenagers enjoyed activities such as swimming, climbing, go-cart, dance, and handcrafts under the with amazing energies of the camp officers.

The trip that Camp Good Days & Special Times arranged to the Niagara Falls, the only fall of the world that flows backwards, was full of surprises. Our children ate delicious meals at Niagara Hard Rock Café for lunch, just before the boat trip. Our girls, who could not believe that they were at the Canada border, had their photos taken at the entrance of Rainbow Bridge and got the chance to see the falls very closely with the ancient boat Maid of Mist. Our girls found themselves in an activity program, full of many different events involving baking traditional American peanut butter cookies to performing handcrafts.

When they saw that they have foreign friends, who share the same fate with themselves, they realized how courageously they are approaching life and from then on they grew even stronger. They cheered their friends with cancer, whose situation were worse and they supported them from the bottom of their hearts. The most proud moment for our teenagers at the camp was when they sang the Turkish National Anthem in their strongest voices during the traditional flag raising ceremony.

We want to present our gratitude to the officers and volunteers of Camp Good Days & Special Times, to Air France Airlines, which was our flight sponsor, to WOW Hotels, which hosted us as a guest during our stay at Istanbul, to Mezun.com, which helped our children with leukemia to communicate with their families in Turkey, to Kutup Ayısı firm, which provided our camping materials complimentarily, to Anadolu Sigorta, which made our travel insurances and to the officers of the US Embassy and US Istanbul General Consulate for helping us make the dreams of our teenagers who overcame leukemia come true.

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