Inés is a girl like any other 11 year old, who looks forward to a summer camp. I had already been in another the previous two years, but now I preferred it to be in English, because "I wanted to learn more."
Joy became a nightmare for the little girl when her mother, Carolina Gómez, picked her up the day after the start of her vacation, without any monitor telling her that they didn't want her there.
And, unfortunately, that is the harsh reality. Only a few hours after their arrival in Aldeaduero (Salamanca), on Friday, June 28, they phoned the family: "They didn't get the girl because she had strange behavior".
As explained by his mother, Ines is diagnosed with 'maturational delay', which translates into that "He needs a few extra seconds to understand what they say and it costs him if they speak to him very quickly. But she acts like one more."
"It would be better if I wasn't at the camp"
After 30 minutes talking on the phone with the camp coordinator "between awkward silences and a multitude of excuses and lies", says the mother, confessed the real problem: "One of the girls had told her mother that she had a needs girl in her room."
Carolina continues to explain the facts:
"Contradicting our indications and suggestions, the camp coordinator decided on her own to inform the girls in the room that our daughter was late and needed her help ... Something that, with minimal experience, would never have occurred to anyone with just a few hours of living with a girl. "
This unfortunate error, it seems, caused the call of one of the indignant mothers because her daughter had to "take care of a disabled woman" ... What motivated them to call us and tell us "I find myself between a rock and a hard place because a mother has called to complain and doesn't want Inés to sleep with her daughter. "
According to the mother, they tried to get Agnes out of the room to sleep with a monitor from the camp, which the girl refused (normal, has gone to live and sleep with other children, not apart). What followed the hint that it would be better than "A girl like Agnes was not in the camp."
From Babies and more we have contacted the mother who tells us that they had no choice but to pick up Inés by car from Madrid, where they live, and that when they arrived the girl was surprised because nobody had told her that she was leaving the camp, even though her mother requested it :
"I was calmly attentive to a movie in English so, when he saw my husband and me, he asked me what I had done wrong so that we were there and that I was so angry."
In Babies and more Summer camps: how to choose the best one for my childThe company's response
For its part, the Diverbo company organizing the camp has issued a statement in which it says that the girl was not discriminated against or expelled:
Diverbo has not discriminated against or expelled the girl who has left our camp. pic.twitter.com/lr633a3K5d
- Diverbo (@diverbo) July 1, 2019
But the reason for the language does not hold because, according to his mother, when he enrolled her the camp explained it and they replied that "I would not have difficulties, because in the group I was in, I learned with games."
In fact, "His native teacher has offered to write a report on Inés' ability with a language with which he is super excited, and ensures that he learns at a good pace and without problems", adds Carolina.
In Babies and more Summer camps: how to know if our child is ready to sleep outside the homeGreat support and solidarity in the networks
But it is not the only message of support and solidarity for Inés. The girl's aunt published the complaint yesterday on Twitter, and has received an answer a wave of support and solidarity, including camps that are offered to welcome the girl so she can enjoy the summer as she deserves. But the girl "is hurt" And he doesn't want to.
I have an extraordinary history of what @diverbo has done this weekend to my niece Inés. What lack of humanity and what few values for integration. My niece does not stop crying because she thinks it is her fault for not being the same as the other children //t.co/VGHdgaAHI8
- Bea Gómez (@Beitagomezg) July 1, 2019
Hi Bea, we are the organizers of a super Multi-Adventure Camp that we do in the Sierra de Enguera, Valencia. If Agnes wants, we invite her a week to have a great time with us. A kiss and much encouragement Inés! Call us //t.co/6iSf1iGfNU
- Eduardo Puchol (@EdPuchol) July 1, 2019
... "It is dusty, it has morale on the floors, she thinks that it is her fault that she does not manage to be normal. I have already told her that I am not joking" ... I ask how can you make this happen to a girl? My soul breaks.
- Rice with bad milk (@Y_canela) July 1, 2019
Inés darling it will be good for you not to be in that camp surrounded by people with more needs than you are pretty, they lack heart and for that there is no help. But come on, shame on camp, before throwing this girl they should have thrown the others and their moms.
- Rocio Salguero💙🏰 (@ Rociosalguero99) July 1, 2019
But her parents have dedicated her to sending her to Barcelona, to her grandparents and her cousins' house, because she thinks that is what she needs: to feel surrounded by her family. And, although he spent the whole trip crying and repeating that it is his fault for "Not having been born normal", as soon as he reached his destination, with his love he calmed down.
"They have missed knowing her"
It is one of the multiple messages of the friends of the school of Inés that have arrived at his mother's whatsapp account. And is that according to Carolina, "She is a very affectionate and outgoing girl and has many friends" at the Sacred Heart school in Madrid, for the integration of children with special needs.
As his mother says, his daughter has never had bullying problems and has many friends, with zero integration problems.
In Babies and more Summer camps away from home: five keys for children and parents to enjoy the experienceAlso the camp to which Ines has gone for the last two years and in which her eight-year-old sister is now, has written to her mother offering herself for what she needs and reiterating the affection they have for the little girl the monitors. They are open to tell those who believe it necessary that the child has no problem living with the rest of the children of her age. It is one more.
But Carolina believes that now the best thing for the little girl is to feel wrapped up by her grandparents and cousins on the beach.
Lack of empathy and inclusion
At a time when we fight every day for greater inclusion and educate our children in empathy and sensitivity towards people with special needs, it is shameful that events of this kind happen. And it is precisely mothers, fathers and organizations who have to lead by example.
Ines's parents still do not know if they will take legal measures, although her ex-husband and father of the girl do bet in this way, but Carolina assures that she has not yet had time to sit down to think about all this, since things are happening very Quick: "What I wanted is to know what they had done to Inés so that it does not happen again to other children and that has been achieved."
That's why Carolina prefers to keep the positive.
“Luckily there are many good people, who are showing us with messages of love and support that we thank very much. We feel very lucky. ”Photos | Assigned by Carolina Gómez
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