I first heard the word “interdependence” when I was 18. I’d been active in disability spaces for a few years before I was introduced to the idea that needing help is natural and that we all need other humans for our survival.
I hadn’t experienced interdependence until I became a mentor at EmpowHer Camp. I was skeptical at first to hear that disabled people would be supporting disabled people at camp, but that is what interdependence looks like in practice. Although some people have higher support needs than others, we all worked to ensure that a week in the Adirondacks went smoothly for everyone.
This doesn’t mean it was easy for me to accept help. On one of the first days of camp, I cried because I felt guilty for needing help from my fellow mentors. I thought needing help made me a bad leader. The mentor who assisted me reminded me why I came. She said that by accepting help, I was modeling interdependence.
Many of the Young Leaders will require support similar to this for the rest of their lives. They need to understand that needing help doesn’t make them broken or less than; it makes them human. I wish I’d learned this sooner, but I had a treacherous journey in learning to be comfortable with accepting help.