From Camper to Nurse Volunteer

Maram  Muktar always knew she wanted to give back to the place that brought her so much happiness when she was going through cancer treatment.

Maram was five years old when she was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare, aggressive type of cancer that grows in soft tissues around bone. In 2010, Maram went to Campfire Circle Muskoka for the first time.

“Honestly, it was the most magical place,” says Maram. “I made some of the friendships that I still have today. It helped me build my confidence and become who I am.” 

She attended Campfire Circle’s programs every summer for the next seven years. When she graduated from camp, she returned the following summer as a volunteer. Her Campfire Circle experience was what prompted her career choice. “I really wanted to become a nurse because of the nurses at camp. They were always so kind and comforting in such hard times.”

Maram continued to volunteer as a camp counsellor while she was in nursing school. “As soon as I became a nurse in 2021, I came back to Campfire Circle. I’ve been a nurse every year since.” Maram volunteers for a week every summer, and also volunteers during Weekends at Camp, which take place all year round to foster connections for kids with cancer or serious illness.

Each summer, Maram works shoulder to shoulder with doctors and nurses from major healthcare centres across the province, all drawn to camp because they know healing happens there, too.

Maram is currently a nurse in paediatrics and the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital. She previously worked at SickKids in oncology and BC Children’s in Vancouver, where she met many children going through a similar cancer experience to hers.

She wants to give other kids that same happy experience she had when she was sick.

“As a nurse at camp, we get to provide care during their hardest times but in an environment that helps them thrive. This past summer, we had a couple pretty sick teenagers at 7Scape [a teen program] where they came and spent a lot of time in the Med Shed [Campfire Circle’s onsite medical centre] doing transfusions, chemotherapy, and getting antibiotics. These are tough moments that would normally happen alone in a hospital room. Instead, they were at camp, playing cards during transfusions, making bracelets, and even having a dance party with a team who was working hard to make it the best experience possible. There’s something profoundly different about being able to nurse and deliver hospital-equivalent care in a place built for healing and happiness.”

What’s it like being a nurse at camp?

Nurses dispense medications, administer chemotherapy, and blood transfusions, give injections, perform first aid, and are ready to respond to any medical emergencies, explains Maram. They also help campers to participate fully by waterproofing a camper’s central line so campers can get out on the lake to try waterskiing, tubing, or swimming. “Lots of these kids require daily nursing at home and we can take over those duties so campers can have a break from their normal routine,” says Maram.

Nurses also get to go alongside campers to provide support throughout the day. “It’s a bonus for us nurses because we get to do those activities with them and we get to help them try a new opportunity, which they’d otherwise miss out on.”

To learn about volunteering at Campfire Circle as either a nurse or general volunteer, check out our volunteer page for more information.