Report from the Field: Camp Sizanani Goes On! December 2017

By Kabelo Malefane, Camp Sizanani Life Skills Program Director

In December Camp Sizanani had its 85th camp!  Campers and vochellis worked together to make this session of Camp Sizanani truly impactful.

A highlight for me was addressing the ongoing problem of school-aged children who struggle with academics in South Africa.  During the year, our youth club participants told us that it would be helpful to be supported at clubs with their academics.  We know the academic support will also improve attendance our local clubs, so a decision was then taken to see how we could have university students who are also tutors around Johannesburg come to camp and tutor our campers in Mathematics and Science.

We had 3 volunteers from Goodi Tutors come to camp and they joined us for vochelli training week.  In it they found useful tools to make them better prepared for when the campers arrived.  Tutoring classes were held at the end of the day.  Right away we found that one 14-year old camper wasn't able to read and didn't recognize numbers, reminding us once again of the importance of providing this support at camp.

The campers really enjoyed the tutoring sessions, and we're planning to include this in our youth club schedule so that camper needs can be taken care of in the form of offering homework supervision and school curricular assistance focusing on Mathematics, Science, and English.

Great minds were once again together at this camp and managed to develop the spark it usually brings out of each child and youth who gets to come to camp! Campers enjoyed learning about HIV and AIDS, stigma, healthy eating habits, sports, adventure, and practicing yoga and meditation.