National HIV Testing Awareness Day
In honor of National HIV Testing Day, Global Camps Africa urges all Americans to get tested. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC,) approximately one out of every five Americans living with HIV are unaware of their status. HIV testing is a critical step in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS, a disease which claims upwards of 2.8 million lives worldwide each year. To find a test center nearest you, visit HIVtest.org, call 1-800-CDC-INFO, or text your zip code to KNOWIT (566948).
With knowledge comes power: once HIV is diagnosed, medicine and proactive treatment can postpone its progression, and people living with HIV can lead longer, healthier lives.
Whether on a local, national, or global scale, education about HIV/AIDS and its prevention is a crucial step towards its eradication. From raising awareness about testing in the U.S. to teaching young children in Africa the basics of the disease, it is necessary for all of us to know about HIV/AIDS so that we can join together in the fight against it. Global Camps Africa is working to foster this mindset in the most vulnerable young people of South Africa through a residential camp which incorporates HIV/AIDS education as well as life skills and support.
Please join us on this important day to work towards empowering everyone, from Americans to South Africans, adults to children, for an AIDS free tomorrow.
Global Camps Africa changes the lives of South Africa’s vulnerable children and youth by providing HIV/AIDS prevention education and training through high-impact residential camp and day camp experiences and continuing education. Thousands of vulnerable South African children participate in camp and Youth Clubs activities each year through generous contributions from donors from around the globe. Learn more about Global Camps Africa at www.GlobalCampsAfrica.org
April 2011 Camp Report
March 28-April 6, 2011
"In the community my son is known for all the bad things. Most people would say he will never be like others: they would go as far as saying like father like son, because I have also served time in jail and had done a number of things that I am not proud of. My community has not given my child to make his own mistakes but has forever said he will grow up and be like me. Yesterday he told me that at camp they taught him how to dream with his eyes open. I don’t know what that means but the look on his face showed me that he knows exactly what he is talking about. Sizanani has given me hope. Thank you." Mr Ndlovu
For our first camp this year, we piloted a day camp model which was a change from our residential setting. Having done 37 sleep-away camps, we wondered whether we could achieve the same impact with our campers in a day camp setting, since much of the appeal in our eyes is that being away from home gives the children a temporary respite from the many stresses they face daily. Now that we are also becoming a training organization, we want to do what will be most useful to South African non-profits that deal with children. As they see children just during the day, we thought it would be easiest for them if we could show them a day camp format. First we had to see if we knew how to run a day camp and, second, whether it would approach a residential camp in its impact. Did it? Read on.......
The results? Beyond our expectations!
We held the 8-day day camp at the Thusa-Setjhaba Secondary School in Poortjie. Poortjie is something of an afterthought township. It is about 10 miles from Soweto and is at a point where farms emanate in all directions from it. There are some 4,000 homes and a population of 25,000-30,000 people. The Secondary School where we held Camp Sizanani has over a thousand students, more than 50 children in each of the classrooms. We have had campers from Poortjie through the years and have had two large (over 100 in each) Kids Clubs there for several years.
The story I have come up with is that blacks owned the farm land in the area and, when the whites wanted it, the blacks were forcibly removed and placed in this township. It’s hard to think of another reason for its creation. There are no stores, beyond tuck shops, a modest convenience store that sells small quantities of a lot of things at inflated prices because everything has to be brought in by taxi. There are no grocery stores, gas stations, or other amenities that even Sowetans take for granted.
There is very high unemployment, high crime and drug use, and no apparent infrastructure for job creation or economic growth. Most people live in squatter-type housing, although there were about 100 units of government housing built near the school.
Camp: What would we see? Given that this was a new model for us, we tried to be prepared for a whole host of potential challenges, such as:
- Daily attendance suffering because the campers went home each night;
- Parents not appreciating what the campers were learning at camp;
- The shorter day would not allow for messages to sink in and be processed and going home at night might short-circuit the process of dealing with individual issues; and
- The association of school with camp would take away from the camp experience.
The positives we thought might occur were:
- Teachers and parents might be more attracted to camp and would look in to see what was happening;
- By going home each night, campers could practice what they had learned;
- Similarly, parents would be less surprised seeing gradual learning and gradual changes in the campers than if they saw a major transformation at the end of an 8-day period; and
- Counselors would be more rested and able to go at a 100% pace since they had no duties with the children after 4:30 pm and could discuss plans for the next day more thoroughly since they were living together at the HIVSA house.
We modified our usual daily schedule to accommodate shorter hours while still trying to incorporate the critical life skills and HIV/AIDS education. A typical schedule of camp (8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.) included:
Nutrition: Teaching participants the importance of personal and kitchen hygiene; the importance of eating a balance meal; identifying fruit salad using fruits that they can easily access; how a healthy lifestyle plays a big role when HIV positive.
Arts and Crafts: Encouraging self-expression, creativity, income generating projects; listening to the inner voice.
Theater: Promoting self-awareness and self-realization; developing confidence/stage presence and creativity.
Adventure/Sports: Teaching teamwork, trust, communication.
Life Skills: HIV/AIDS related sessions (distinct classroom units), sexuality, abusive behaviors, leadership, participation, and self-confidence woven into all activities.
After each activity, there was a debriefing session where everything learned is referred to life in general. For example, how working as a team in adventure is the same as working hand in hand with family, friends or community to better the world or each other.
Each day we had a surprise visitor designed to offer new perspectives and encouragement. Our Day’s Surprise sessions included:
- Our former campers from the township of Orange Farm won a national contest of traditional camp dance competition two years in a row and are going to China in a cultural exchange. The Kids Club that sponsors them brought them to camp to perform and meet the current campers.
- Parents Visit. They arrived for a meeting , visited certain activities to observe their children in action, and then had more meetings with the directors.
- A South African celebrity, Twasa from a television youth program called Jam Alley came and motivated kids on the importance of believing in yourself and roles that each one has to play in this world.
- All Camp Activity – Campers played different indigenous games with all counselors participating.
- An HIV/AIDS educational game played by the groups. This is a Chutes and Ladder adaptation using HIV related questions with choices and consequences.
We generally had about 75-88 campers which was a lower attendance than we anticipated. Since we are not confined by bed space, we know to overbook for the next day camp in September. We were supposed to have the school to ourselves, but there were grade 12 college board-type classes going on every day we were there except on Sunday, and 4 church groups that came to use space on Sunday. Once we got used to this, it wasn’t a problem. Rather, it gave us a chance to show others what we were doing.
One of the teachers watched us for quite a while and couldn’t believe that the students were behaving so well and cooperating so fully. The Deputy Principal came and met with our director, Mbali. He said it was a nice demonstration that she was putting on, but what did the kids do when he wasn’t there. She told him there was no special demonstration. He didn’t believe her and went to the second floor and observed, out of sight. Of course, the same activities went on. He was incredulous. He said these were some of the worst kids at school and their behavior at camp was unbelievable.
Joining us for camp were two professors from the University of Georgia who started a five-year longitudinal study of camp and Kids Clubs to measure the effectiveness and degree of behavior change in our children. Their intent was to do pre and post camp testing as an initial barometer for their research.
In a happy misstep, they found that what they called, “the Sizanani effect,” took place as soon as the campers arrived and well before they were to be tested. They were warmly welcomed by the staff, included in the singing that was being done, and made to feel a part of a community instantly. In the future we need to do all the testing before the campers show up at camp.
The initial results turned out well. In Sports and Adventure, lumped together for this camp, the initial expectations of what was going to be learned focused on activities and rules. The post camp test of what was learned was overwhelmingly what we call Level 2 skills-teamwork, cooperation, communication and the like. This is a significant change in attitude.
Parents and Campers Reactions One of the benefits of holding a day camp in the community where the children live is the opportunity for the parents to become part of the dialogue. We had a Parent Visiting Day on the 5th day of camp. About 17 families visited, mostly to thank us. One father (the only man in the group) came because he was fed up with his son lying to him and wanted to catch him in his lies. The son had been telling him of all the great things happening at camp and the father was truly astonished that they were all true.
The story that best sums up the impact camp had on a camper came from a 23-year old 11th grader. She is an orphan and the youngest in her family. She had been passed around from family members over the years and had suffered abuses from rape, beatings, and food deprivation. She was quite sullen and sad the first day of camp. On the second day, she reported that her brother had woken her up early. She asked why and he said that he hadn’t seen her smile in 3 years and when she came home from her first day at camp she was happy and smiling. He wanted to make sure she wasn’t late for the next day.
It continued in that vein. The counselors, most of whom were veterans of residential camps were impressed by the level of confidence and expressiveness that the campers achieved in the 8 days. While the pre and post-camp evaluation reports are still being analyzed, the talk during camp was amazement at how much could be achieved in what we considered to be a less valuable setting with limited hours.
It made all of us think about what the impact of camp can be when done as a day camp. No one preferred the setting and structure to a residential camp, but, barring that, neither could we find a reason not to continue to do another day camp, pending the M&E results of what the campers achieved. We love the idea of being able to pass the day camp approach on to South African non-profits that might be better able to integrate what we taught into a day camp setting, rather than the more difficult residential camp program.
UN, World Bank Release New Report On The Global HIV Epidemic
A new report on the global HIV epidemic among young people was released by five U.N. organizations, as well as the World Bank and the International Labor Organization, on Wednesday. In a statement given after the report’s release, the World Bank’s managing director, Mahmoud Mohieldin, noted that "Existing prevention strategies have had limited success, so we have to look for creative new approaches to reverse the HIV/AIDS epidemic. These must address people's very basic needs for education, economic security, inclusion, dignity, and human rights." We at Global Camps Africa agree with Mr. Mohieldin and his colleages at the United Nations. That’s why we are using an innovative approach to HIV/AIDS prevention and education in our programs: residential camp experiences for AIDS-affected children and youth in South Africa. We are reaching young people with voluntary HIV testing and counseling services, life skills, and HIV education through activities that are informal and fun. We create a secure environment that provides a foundation for learning based on trust, love, and acceptance.
Please join us in our work to empower children for an AIDS-free tomorrow. Find us at www.globalcampsafrica.org.
South Africa camp provides skills, self-confidence and smiles
San Diego Network News, April 25, 2010
“When we are happy, we sing. When we are sad, we sing. When we are hungry, we sing. When we are full, we sing! When we are tired, we sing! No matter how we feel, we sing!!”
URL to Original Article: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-04-25/education/education-commentary/south-africa-camp-provides-skills-self-confidence-and-smiles
Publication: San Diego News Network, April 25, 2010
Author: Cori Glass
South Africa camp provides skills, self-confidence and smiles
“When we are happy, we sing. When we are sad, we sing. When we are hungry, we sing. When we are full, we sing! When we are tired, we sing! No matter how we feel, we sing!!”
This was one of the first lessons I learned as I stood outside the dining hall, surrounded by 150 campers and vochelis (counselors) smiling, laughing, singing and dancing in a manner that would seem choreographed to the western eye.
Mbali Nkwanyana, the director of Camp Sizanani explained. Far from choreographed, anybody who felt like starting a new song simply sang and clapped louder than the others, and within seconds, smiles spread across the group as everyone joined together in a new song. Nobody seemed concerned about the meal that was awaiting them inside, despite the fact that many of these young South Africans were being fed three meals a day for the first time in their lives.
Camp Sizanani, the brainchild of Phil Lilienthal, is the first residential camp in South Africa. The camp brings together girls and boys, ages 10 to 15, from disadvantaged communities who have been exposed to the presence of HIV/AIDS in their families.
Following 30 years as the owner and director of Camp Winnebago in Maine, as well as the man behind Ethiopia’s first residential summer camps (which he started while doing legal work with the Peace Corps), Phil set off to South Africa to see if he might be able to use his camp experience to help HIV/AIDS affected children.
Realizing that no camp of the sort existed, he went to work. In 2003, Phil developed Global Camps Africa [2] in the hopes of using camp as a vehicle to change the attitudes and behaviors of youth about HIV/AIDS and their future.
After partnering with HIVSA [4], a South African organization, Global Camps Africa established Camp Sizanani in 2004. Sizanani means “to help each other.”
The camp program is part education, part HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, and part crucial life skills, all wrapped up in a spirit of fun and camaraderie. Six 10-day camps are held each year, bringing together 130 children each time and 30 to 35 vochelis. In the past six years, over 4,200 children have been taught and loved by the vochelis at Camp Sizanani.
Providing a safe place
When I first heard about Global Camps Africa, my love (those who know me best call it an obsession) for camping, along with my interest in South Africa (again, obsession), immediately drew me in.
I knew that I had finally found the right organization to become involved with when I read about their Kids Clubs. After leaving camp, the Sizanani campers join clubs that meet twice a month and provide a safe place to eat, reinforce life skills, and re-connect with their beloved vochelis. This follow-up is an invaluable detail that Phil implemented, and is the reason that I found myself singing and dancing at Camp Sizanani this past December.
During the opening campfire, Phil reminded the campers that Sizanani is not just a 10-day experience. “Hopefully, you will all spread the word, and show by example what’s going on here,” he said. “We want you to have a good time. But while you are having a good time, we want you to learn important things.
“All it takes is staying awake, alive, alert, and …” As if rehearsed, the vochelis joined Phil in shouting “enthusiastic!”
“Have a great week!” That was all that we heard from Phil, until the closing campfire.
Though Phil, referred to as “Dr. Phil” by many of the campers, was often observing activities or clapping his hands and singing along with a grin from ear to ear, most of his work is done behind the scenes. Aside from a handful of international volunteers, it is South Africans who run Camp Sizanani, including many who were previous campers.
During the training days prior to the arrival of the campers, I had the opportunity to get to know the other vochelis. While waiting for the bus on the first day, I was wishing that I understood the Zulu or Xhosa language. To my pleasant surprise, a young man came up and introduced himself in English. Behind him, three others followed by first giving a Xhosa name with numerous intonations and clicks, and then saying, “But you can call me Jimmy.”
Once the third smirking young man walked away, I knew that they were messing with the American. By calling themselves “Jimmy,” they were asking me to refer to them as Jesus!
The three hours that we spent waiting for the bus to arrive helped to get me in the right mindset for camp. I discovered that “is it?” (pronounced izzit) does not necessitate a response. I learned that a “robot” is a traffic light, a “bakkie” (pronounced buckee) is a pick-up truck, and that if something is going to happen “just now,” that does not mean now!
For two hours I needed to use the bathroom, but was afraid to go because people kept telling me that the bus was coming “just now.” Of course, the bus did come when I finally decided to go. As I ran back to get on the bus, feeling badly that 30 people were waiting for me in the heat of the day, I realized that I was the only one feeling bad. The others were happily singing, dancing and creating percussion instruments out of soda bottles, plastic bags and the ceiling of the bus.
Teaching how to fish
In the humbling two weeks that followed, I developed friendships with my fellow vochelis and love for the campers. I watched the shy campers arrive and within minutes feel a part of the welcoming Sizanani family. I saw the surprise on campers’ faces as they realized that they each had their own bed to sleep in.
I watched both campers and vochelis enter a swimming pool for the first time, and within days swim across that pool. I taught campers how to play basketball, and learned from them how to play netball. I saw boys pass a soccer ball to the girls rather than taking an easy shot on goal.
More than once, I felt chills from head to toe as the girls in my cabin sang. I heard countless stories of abuse, neglect, hunger and rape. Countless. I can only imagine the conversations that took place in the life skill classes, while I was playing sports with the campers.
At camp, each child is given a hand-knitted or crocheted bear, bearing a tag signed by the knitter with the message that they are unconditionally loved. The bears come from the Mother Bear Project [7], which is dedicated to providing comfort and hope to children affected by HIV/AIDS in emerging nations.
As I lined up with the other vochelis to hug each and every camper before they got on the bus on the last day, I was not the only one with tears running down my face. It was painful to think about what these kids were going back home to. I wanted to wrap them up and take them home to San Diego with me. I wanted to give them a loving home and an opportunity to go to college. I wanted to give them shoes with soles that were not falling off. I wanted to save them from their lives.
But as I hugged them, I remembered what Phil had written in the very first email that he sent about camp: “There can be a tendency to want to make things (such as life) work for the campers. They are endearing, wonderful children. Our role is to give them a framework from which to make life decisions, not to give them the material things that might ‘help’ them get out of the misery that many of them are in.
“We are not in the material goods business. We are in the transformational business. …What we want the children to gain from the camp experience is the ability to return to their homes and know that, if they apply themselves, they will be able to find a better life after they get an education and can negotiate meaningful lives for themselves. We are truly teaching them how to fish, not giving them a fish.”
Every day, I think about those amazingly resilient young campers, and I hope that they are carrying their fishing poles. Knowing them, even without the poles, they have probably figured out some better way to fish, because that is the sort of kids they are.
Reston Residents Reaching Out to South African Youth
Reston Patch, December 28, 2010
Phil Lilienthal and Global Camps Africa bring life lessons, camp fun to children affected by AIDS.
URL to Original Article: http://reston.patch.com/articles/reston-resident-reaches-out-to-south-african-youth
Publication: Reston Patch, December 28, 2010
Author: Elizabeth Vandenberg
Reston Residents Reaching Out to South African Youth
Phil Lilienthal, Reston resident since 1967, knows about how to run a children's camp.
Lilienthal and his family have owned and operated Camp Winnebago in Maine for more than 35 years. Since 2003, Lilienthal, who is also a lawyer and a former Peace Corps volunteer, has brought his knowledge and experience to South Africa's vulnerable children with his nonprofit Global Camps Africa.
Lilienthal has galvanized members of the Reston community to adopt Global Camps Africa as its project. Several well-known Restonians serve on its Board of Directors and many others donate cash and in-kind services to support the 10-day residential camp program that has so far helped more than 3,000 South African children.
The campers are children whose life has been affected by HIV/AIDS (such as losing parents to the disease). In addition to recreational and fun camp activties, the campers are given lessons in HIV/AIDS prevention, life skills and self esteem.
Judith Forst, a Reston resident and former executive director of the Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE) , accompanied Lilienthal and his wife, Lynn, the chairman of the Reston Historic Trust, to Camp Sizanani in December 2006 as a volunteer counselor. She taught the campers intuitive painting.
"I attended a fundraiser for the camp and after hearing Phil describe the camp's mission it just came over me [that] I have to go there," said Forst.
Forst had never been to Africa and had limited experience teaching younger children in a camp setting, but says her experience was life changing for the campers and for her.
"I could see the issues raised during the week in the camp coming out in their painting," she said.
To carry the camp's message and vision back to Reston, Forst hosted an art show of the South African artists at GRACE.
AVERT, an international HIV and AIDS charity based in the UK, reports that an estimated 5.6 million people were living with HIV and AIDS in South Africa in 2009, more than in any other country. Prevalence is 17.8 percent among those aged 15-49, with some age groups being particularly affected. Almost one-in-three women aged 25-29, and over a quarter of men aged 30-34, are living with HIV.
AVERT estimate that South Africa has 1.9 million AIDS orphans (where one or both parents are deceased), and that the HIV/AIDS epidemic is responsible for half of the country's orphans.
Lilienthal left Reston in mid-December to host another camp session.
"Our longer term goal is to leverage the success of Camp Sizanni by training counselors and staff from other organizations to develop their own camp programs," said Lilienthal.
Global Camps Africa: A Brief Overview
Serving South African youth — ages 11 to 16 — mostly from Soweto
- Up to six camp sessions per year at Camp Sizanani, a rented site about an hour from Johannesburg.
- Coed and single-gender camps
- Seven one-hour classes each day with critical life skills woven into each component in addition to special life skills classes: HIV/AIDS, Life skills; Nutrition; Sports; Swimming Theater, storytelling, dancing and drumming, poetry; Arts and crafts
- Adventure and Teamwork
- Evening programs include campfires, skits, games, and issues discussions
- More than 4,000 children have attended camp; up to 150 per session; extensive HIV/AIDS testing and counseling program implemented in 2009 in partnership with HIVSA.
- 35 counselors per session with 3-4 days pre-camp training; counselors include South African staff and international volunteers who pay their own transportation, room and board
- Leveraged success by training and partnering for four added camps: KwaZulu Natal and Limpopo provinces and Cape Town in South Africa, and Children of Grace Camp in Uganda
- Follow-up provided via biweekly Kids Clubs held on Saturdays, year-round at six locations around Soweto. Between 650 and 1,000 children attend each of the 23 sessions held annually.
- Global Camps Africa has no endowments or government grants. Its support comes from more than 1,500 generous individuals, as well as from foundations and businesses; donations cover costs associated with camps and Kids Clubs; no charge to participants.
- It costs about $500 per child to provide the camp experience and year-round Kids Clubs
- $67,500 – $75,000 cost per camp, including facility rent, food, transportation, supplies (teaching, medical and camp supplies), program, staff and staff training, as well as cost of biweekly Kids Clubs