RUTLEDGE — The girls — some lying on their stomachs, some sitting with their legs tucked beneath them — formed a circle on the floor.

It was midday, and another group therapy session had begun at Camp CADI, a retreat designed to foster confidence in sexually abused girls and help them find their voice through music, dance, drama and storytelling.

RENEÉ HANNANS HENRY / Staff (ENLARGE)

Two girls console a third after she told her story at Camp CADI, which is put on by the nonprofit Safe Girls Strong Girls Inc.

RENEE' HANNANS HENRY (ENLARGE)

Christian sucks her thumb as she watches the improv session.

RENEÉ HANNANS HENRY / Staff (ENLARGE)

Jordan (left) gives Ana a hug after Ana read her monologue.

RENEÉ HANNANS HENRY / Staff (ENLARGE)

The girls sat in a circle to read a monologue of what happened to them.

RENEÉ HANNANS HENRY / Staff (ENLARGE)

Susan Kess, a counselor and survivor of sexual abuse, shares her story with the girls.

The moment had come again for them to tell their stories, for them to bear witness to the horror they've endured.

Under the trees and bright sun and powder-blue skies, there was none of the shame or guilt they had known for so long.

"When I was 6, I was raped by a woman who was like an aunt," a girl read from a sheet of notebook paper during last week's getaway. "Then the mailman ... raped me."

This was not her story. It belonged to the girl who sat next to her. At Camp CADI, it doesn't matter. The names change, even some of the facts, but the stories are the same: sad and desolate.

When she finishes another girl begins:

"I was 3 years old the first time it happened. He was a deacon at my church, and he tried to make me sodomize him. I told my mom. She told my dad. He said not to worry about it."

Tears rolled, and a box of tissue began its journey around the circle.

They called these monologues, a way for "thrivers," as camp director Amy Barth likes to call the girls, to reclaim their voices.

"We all have stories," Barth said. "The shame and the guilt keep us from telling them."

'Silent epidemic'

As far as Barth knows, CADI, held annually on the property of Camp Twin Lakes about 45 minutes east of Atlanta, is the only camp of its kind in the state, maybe in the nation.

Barth, a Dallas, Ga., resident who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in child and community, conceived the idea for Camp CADI in 2005, giving it a Gaelic name that means "simple happiness."

That year, she'd started work on a doctorate and was beginning to deal with her own sexual abuse.

She was 43 and just starting to make the connection between issues she was facing as an adult and the trauma from her childhood.

"Adult survivors of sexual abuse face a myriad of problems from eating disorders to cutting to drug and alcohol abuse," Barth said. "I decided I didn't want other girls who'd been sexually abused to have to wait until they were 43 years old to heal."

She also wanted them to know with a certainty that the abuse wasn't their fault, that being abused didn't define them. She wanted them to learn to trust again.

"You don't have to be stuck in pain," Barth said. "You can grow up and do productive things."

In 2006, Barth formed Safe Girls Strong Girls, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that promotes education about sexual abuse and prevention. Last year, Safe Girls Strong Girls held the first Camp CADI. Because of the demand, the organization is now planning its first camp for sexually abused women.

This kind of abuse is "a silent epidemic all over the world," Barth said. "Everybody knows someone who has been sexually abused. It crosses all socio-economic backgrounds, all colors and cultures. It's an equal opportunity public health problem."

Scars are 'empowering'

Camp CADI combines camp activities such as horseback riding with creative arts such as storytelling and photography.

"Last year, we had to scrounge around for the 11 girls who came," Barth said.

But word spread.

"This year, we had 98 applications for 25 spots," Barth said.

The free camp is open to girls ages 9 to 19 who are in therapy and have been recommended for the program by a psychologist. Most of the girls are from Georgia, but some come from places such as California and Michigan. Barth said the camp is paid for through donations and fund-raisers. Expenses run about $500 per girl.

Camp CADI allows them to choose the activities in which they participate. The only sessions they are not allowed to miss, Barth said, are daily therapy sessions with specialists in art, photography, music and storytelling.

Shoshanna Bacquie-Walden, program manager for Creative Community Services, a Norcross foster care program aimed at abused children, was on site last week to observe the program for the first time.

"I thought it was awesome," she said. "This gives them an opportunity to feel safe and to talk about the abuse. That's crucial."

Several girls are repeat campers.

"Amy has created a haven for us," said one 17-year-old who identified herself as Marcie. (The AJC is not identifying her, or the other girls, because they are sexual abuse victims.) "It's like a second home. There's no place in the world like this."

The girl — sexually abused by her father from age

8 to 15 — said that, until she attended Camp CADI, she never allowed herself to cry.

Crying was a sign of weakness. Now, she said, it's a symbol of her strength.

As one counselor put it, sexual abuse always leaves a scar. But scars, she said, can be beautiful.

"They show us what we overcame and how empowering it is to know that taking a stand," said the counselor, who was abused herself. "Letting my voice be heard has not only saved my life, but has also saved my spirit."

Donations may be sent to 2870 Peachtree Road N.E., Suite 144, Atlanta, GA, 30305. Or go to safegirlsstronggirls.org