Some inner city kids from New York are getting a chance to enjoy summer in the country. For 10 days they're trading bright lights and big buildings for some peace and quiet surrounded by nature. It's a part of a program called the Fresh Air Fund.
Abdullah Ibn is visiting from Brooklyn, New York, where nature isn't so abundant.
"It doesn't have trees. It doesn't have houses. It's just buildings," Ibn said.
Ibn is getting out of the big city for the next 10 days, staying in the Charlottesville area with the Bailey family. The Fresh Air Fund brings thousands of kids each year from inner city New York to smaller towns, like Charlottesville, to see what the country has to offer. Ibn's new roommate is pretty happy about it.
"I thought this is awesome because I'm going to have a new friend around the house," Anthony Bailey said.
After only an hour into his stay, the Baileys had already taken Ibn to the pool. Now for the next seven days, they're headed to a cabin in a wooded area north of Madison County.
"Yes. I'm really excited," Ibn said, referencing the cabin stay.
"I just think there's something restorative and wonderful about being out in nature," Tish Bailey said.
Bailey hopes Ibn gets to experience nature like he never has before.
"There's a lot of exciting things to discover, so it seemed like, for a child from the city who hasn't had an opportunity, it could be a life changing experience," Bailey said.
It's a possibly life-changing experience for a kid who knows a lot more about the concrete jungle than actual wildlife.
Besides seven days of camping, the Baileys are taking Ibn somewhere else he's never been. They'll visit Washington, D.C. next week.
