My First Time Camping - SPLORE FA Rafting Trip 2014

©2014 Judith van Praag

The following may come as a surprise to some, I went on a white water rafting trip. That's right I traveled to Grand Junction Colorado and embarked on the trip of a lifetime with a company called SPLORE last September. 
Yes! I floated down the Colorado River, not for a few hours, not for a day, but for five days. And we camped out in the wilderness along the Colorado river. Imagine that!
No, I had never camped in my life. Everyone knew that, and helped throughout. Prior to the trip, I was worried that I was going to be too much of a problem. I quickly realized that everyone banded together to help. Not just river guides, volunteers, or providers, but even FA participants. I have never experienced such a high level of love and trust from a group of individuals. 

I had seventeen people helping me survive in the wilderness.

©2014 Judith van Praag

Living with a disability brings the need for a sense of independence. I know that I am not entirely independent. Yet, any time I can say to myself, "yes, I can do that," it makes me stronger. There are many things in life that I know I cannot do. Asking for, and accepting help can be difficult, and that can hold you back. I don't want to ask for help if it's going to be a problem for someone.

September 4^th was the day of the "put-in" on SPLORE's rafts near Grand Junction, CO. 
That happened to be the 22nd anniversary of my sister's death. Michelle died of leukemia at age fourteen. She was a year older than I, and a great example when it came down to doing new things. It seemed fitting I'd step outside my comfort zone on that day.

SPLORE river guides and volunteers have the ability to make you feel comfortable about asking for help, because they offer assistance without belittling you. I cannot stress enough how important this is.

Joe Kittel posted a poem on the FA Rafting trip Facebook page about floating down the river. The river is always moving forward, you can leave your past behind. I was doing just that.
The landscape was absolutely breathtaking. The sun was so bright it splashed everything in gold. The sky was crisp and clear. The sharp angles of the rocks and cliffs in the canyon were a brownish-red color with green foliage peppered throughout. The sound of streaming water was calming, peaceful. All that combined makes me think of U2's "In Gods Country".

Gabrielle Ford told me that the people she met on the river were like family. I now know exactly what she meant. We began this adventure mostly as strangers, and now this group, or family, will be part of me forever.

©2014 Judith van Praag

I'll never forget the night by the campfire, when Smiles sang her beautiful version of Bonnie Raitt's Angel from Montgomery. I swear the hair stood up on the back of my neck. Chris fed me a ton of information about wheelchair improvements. In addition, his calm demeanor set the tone for me during the trip. Brona's quick wit and sense of humor was inspiring. One evening Katie let me borrow her walker to stretch out my legs. She went to her tent without, simply so I could keep my feet up. That was sweet. I remember Gabe jumping into the water by her self with a gigantic smile. The obvious joy on her face showed that SPLORE is doing the right thing. Gordo's laid-back attitude and whimsical approach to life makes me not want to take things too seriously. Judith and Gary took care of me and everyone else with a perfect sense of enthusiasm and care. They were the reason I was able to go on this trip. Lindsay and her spunky attitude brought so much life to the camp. Will, Nancy, and Andrew are my heroes because they embody what I want to be in life. On the last day of the trip, Darrell put his arm around me on the shuttle ride back to the hotel, to keep me from falling into the aisle. I was very touched. Kate let me borrow her jacket so I wouldn't irritate my arms while resting on her suitcase. All of these people had such a huge impact on me in a short period of time. 

©2014 Judith van Praag

Thanks to SPLORE!

FYI: I was diagnosed with Friedreich's Ataxia (FA) at age fourteen. FA is a rare inherited disease that causes nervous system damage and movement problems, but does not affect cognitive functions, one in 50,000 people is affected in the US. 
In September 2014 I participated in Splore's 5-day white-water rafting trip.

In the Can - The Making of "Everything is Peachy" Documentary on Living with Friedreich's Ataxia

In the fall semester of 2001, I took an editing class. Danish and "Shameck" we're taking the class as well. Midway through the semester, they asked me if I wanted to be in their documentary. 

Over winter break, we started making plans for the production. Danish gave me ten basic interview questions. I added things I thought were important. We filmed the interview first. 
I spoke on camera for a little bit under 2 hours. 

Allan Howell

Papa Frank Howell

A few weeks later, they stayed the night at my house. We surprised my father and grandfather with an interview. I stayed in my bedroom, not wanting to make them nervous. 

Graveside Michelle Howell

Danish shot the video on a tripod and Shameck handled the boom microphone. 

Dad on Horseback

Cool Beans

The following 2 days, they followed me driving to the graveyard, an Indian restaurant, and Walmart. We then drove to my dad's horse stables and got about an hour of footage on him. 


The  last day of production, they filmed me in class and followed me to lunch at one of my favorite dive bars, Cool Beans. 



The actual production took about 3 weeks after that, we immediately began post-production with editing. I was primarily in there as an observer,  but did voice my opinion quite a bit. 

The documentary class was screening the 30-minute documentary projects at the end of the semester during the Spring of 2002. 

We had about 4 hours of footage that we needed to cut down to 30 minutes. That took a long time, about 2 weeks . We were in the editing room for about 4 hours each day. Overall, the documentary was completely finished from start to end in about 2 months. 

We screened ours with about 5 other documentaries. Ours was the final one. In my opinion, we blew the others out of the water. The majority of the audience consisted of family and friends. I had no one present, which was weird to a lot of people. I was and am used to that. 

The guys got an "A" for their work, I ended up getting a special problems 3 hour credit I needed to graduate. It was a huge success.