Winter Camp for Youth, an initiative led by Health Inc, provides fun, skill-building activities in remote villages when schools are closed due to the cold winter weather. These activities are both traditional (e.g., weaving) and modern (e.g., computer literacy). Ice hockey, however, is the main draw of Winter Camp. Through an intricate network of funders, supporters, and volunteers, both within India and in North America, Health Inc. has obtained hockey gear—most of which came from Canada—and assisted dozens of villages to build outdoor ice rinks. Since 2018, sledges have allowed campers with physical disabilities to play alongside everyone else.
Ability Camp, an arm of winter camps, focuses on young people who have a physical or cognitive disability. Campers develop confidence, learn life skills, and improve physical functioning while having a lot of fun. After Ability Camp, families often choose to access services at the Paediatric Unit at Sonam Norboo Memorial Hospital (SNMH) as a result of seeing their child being active, social, and challenged. One mother said, “I had no idea my daughter could have fun. I want her to enjoy life.” Ability Camp has also helped to raise awareness of the capacity of differently‐abled and different learners among the wider community in Ladakh. As Health Inc’s founder, Cynthia Hunt, said, “When we build self-confidence by letting kids have a place to laugh, play, and feel loved, things change.” Ability Camp relies on a unique web of partnerships: regional departments of health and education, state police, funders, and the People’s Action Group for Inclusion and Rights (PAGIR), a local NGO that aims to create a society that is inclusive of people with disabilities.
