A new year...the perfect time to add a new adventure to your calendar
It's the first month of a brand new year. Isn't that exciting? A blank calendar just begging for plans to be made and dates to be filled...but what if this year, instead of allowing those boxes to be covered with the same old appointments, obligations, and expectations, you added something brand new? An adventure. A bucket list item. A dream fulfilled. A new year is calling...follow the map below to find one amazing way to answer.
Now that you are sure a trip to South Africa with Global Camps Africa is a terrific idea, find all the details on our itinerary and brochure. If you're ready to sign up (spaces are filling fast and the deadline for joining the trip is March 31!), let us know. If you still have a few questions, we'd love to talk to you (you can reach us by phone at 703-437-0808 or email info@globalcampsafrica.org). We hope your 2016 is off to a great start, and that you can join us for an amazing adventure in South Africa to make this year a truly spectacular one. Sawubona!
Holiday Cheer from Global Camps Africa in South Africa
Vochellis on their way to camp in Kwa-Zulu Natal
It's holiday time! In the US we celebrated Thanksgiving and before the turkey leftovers had been thrown away, it seemed, we were hurtling headlong into Christmas and Hanukkah. Many of us do feel that it's "the most wonderful time of the year," as the old song goes, and this year at Global Camps Africa we are especially merry and bright. That's because we have not one, but two camp sessions running in South Africa this month!
Those of you who follow our work know that generally we have a session in March/April, one in September/October, and one in December. This year we were able to have our December session in Magaliesburg (the "usual" location) and add a session in KwaZulu-Natal, the second-largest province in South Africa and traditional home of the Zulu tribe. Following their experience leading a smaller USAID-funded camp there in January 2014, Camp Sizanani staff members expressed their strong desire to go back and work with more youth in that region, whom they felt were in desperate need of what Camp Sizanani has to offer: education, empowerment, and hope. Thanks to our generous supporters (that's you!), we were able to stretch ourselves to reach 110 children at the Mercury Hibberdene Children's Home there. Talk about a holiday wish come true!
The children at Camp Sizanani in KwaZulu-Natal come from all over the province. We worked through the US Consul General's office to find great organizationsdoing important work with the young people in their communities, and asked specifically for the Ambassador's Fund Community Grants Coordinator to help us find groups that would be most likely to continue implementing what they learn at camp after the Sizanani team is gone. This week, we brought selected staff from those organizations together for a 4-day training, led by 7 of our Camp Sizanani vochelli all-stars who traveled to KwaZulu-Natal with Phil Lilienthal (our founder and president) from their homes in Johannesburg. When this camp session is over, we will not only have reached 110 more HIV-affected young people, but also trained 14 new vochellis who will return to their neighborhoods with their campers empowered and inspired to continue the process of changing their minds, their habits, their perspectives, and their communities.
So it turns out that, for us at Global Camps Africa, the holidays really are "the most wonderful time of the year." We have so much to celebrate. Together with our campers, vochellis, and supporters we are looking forward to a very merry holiday indeed.
P.S. Thank you to our partners in Kwa-Zulu Natal: Whizz Kids, Amangwe Village, Hillcrest AIDS Centre, Don McKenzie Teen Centre, Thanda After-School Centre, and TLC Home Service
Five-Year Evaluation Report: The Sizanani Effect
Executive Summary
This report documents the results of a five-year process of monitoring and evaluation of twelve sessions of Camp Sizanani and includes a synopsis of the program evaluation methodology, description of the intervention, the camper context and background, snapshots of the evaluation results for twelve camp sessions, and recommendation for future implementation and evaluation.
The Intervention: Wrap HIV/AIDS prevention-education in fun and games, combine it with caring adults trained to help weave together threads of new information, feelings of insecurity, and the realities of children’s daily struggles, and you have a powerful intervention known as Camp Sizanani Campers participate in program activity areas including life-skills, nutrition, arts and crafts, theater, sports and adventure, and usually swimming.
The Evaluation Methodology: Campers at Sizanani completed a self-report pre-test and post-test questionnaire designed to assess Knowledge, Attitudes and Beliefs about HIV/AIDS as well as a questionnaire to document resilience, locus of control and sense of hope and risky behaviors among campers. In addition, campers were asked on the first day to write what they hoped to learn during the camp in the program activity areas (life-skills, nutrition, arts and crafts, theater, sports and adventures, and usually swimming). On the last full day of programming, campers were asked to write what they had learned in the same program areas.
The Results: When the pre-test and post-test evaluation results are compared, important statistically significant gains were made during camp. In addition, the gains were demonstrated across different camp sessions demonstrating program fidelity in delivery, meaning that Camp Sizanani had a statistically significant impact among youth campers on almost all of the measures during each of the camp sessions. In addition, the demographic data documents that the target population that is being served is exposed to and partaking in risky behavior. At the end of the camp, campers showed increased scores on sense of hope, resilience towards life, as well as locus of control. In addition, HIV knowledge scores were significantly increased. HIV-related stigma beliefs and disclosure concerns were significantly decreased.
Recommendations: The program delivery method is working to achieve overall goals. The results regarding change in sense of hope, resilience and locus of control are particularly heartening in that these psychological measures are difficult to measure in a short period of time. There is a need to focus and improve the delivery and retention of HIV Knowledge specifically related to commonly held myths in the culture. Based on the responses to the open-ended questions by campers, the “Sizanani Effect” is more than program activities and HIV prevention education. It is about powerful connections made by campers that their actions can affect their futures and that they can form relationships with caring adults who can be role models for them. Camp Sizanani and the follow-up Youth Clubs empower youth to believe in themselves and have hope for their futures.
The Conclusion: Camp Sizanani is making a positive impact on the lives of the youth who attend camp.
Conclusion
Overall, the result of comparing pre-test and post-test evaluation documents over the five-year monitoring period shows important gains made during camp. In addition, the gains were demonstrated across different camp sessions demonstrating program fidelity in delivery that Camp Sizanani had a statistically significant impact among youth campers on almost all of the measures during each of the camp sessions. In addition, the demographic date documents that the target population that is being served are exposed to and partaking in risky behavior.
At the end of the camp, campers showed increased scores on sense of hope, resilience towards life, as well as locus of control. In addition, HIV knowledge scores were significantly increased. HIV-related stigma beliefs and disclosure concerns were significantly decreased.
There is a need to focus and improve the delivery and retention of HIV Knowledge specifically related to commonly held myths in the culture. An improvement in 45% of the campers on this one scale can be improved. In addition, the gains in perspective on HIV testing are important to note. Given the strong results for sense of hope and locus of control, the reduction in stigma perceptions is strong evidence of the ability to be resilient in difficult circumstances.
The results regarding change in campers' sense of hope, resilience and locus of control are particularly heartening in that these psychological measures are difficult to measure in a short period of time, yet when change is found it is linked to the ability to implement the new knowledge gained. Based on the responses to the open-ended questions by campers, the “Sizanani Effect” is more than program activities and HIV prevention education. It is about powerful connections made by campers that their actions can affect their future and that they can form friendships with caring adults who can be role models for them. Sizanani and the follow-up Youth Clubs give youth something to believe in: themselves and their future. Remember the power of swimming, “people can help others do impossible things”. When one looks to a future without HIV/AIDS, Sizanani is helping make progress toward what for now might feel impossible.
6/3/15 Respectfully submitted by:
Dr. Su-I Hou, Associate Professor, College of Public Health, University of Georgia
Dr. Hou is a leading researcher in HIV/AIDS preventive research (among late adolescents and young adults, ethnic minority groups, and older adults) as well as eHealth communication and promotion (particularly among middle and older age adults).
Dr. Gwynn Powell, Associate Professor, College of Health and Human Development, Clemson University. Dr. Powell is an expert in international youth camp program development and staff training pedagogy.
References
Brandwein, M. (2008). Training Terrific Staff (Vol 2.). Brandwein. Lincolnshire: IL.
Duttweiler, P.C. (1984). The Internal Control Index: A newly developed measure of locus of control. Educational and Psychological Measurement. 44: 209-221.
Snyder, C.R., Sympson, S.C., Ybasco, F.C., Borders, T.F., Babyak, M.A. and Higgins, R. L. (1994). Development and validations of the state of hope scale. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 70 (2). 321-35.
Wagnild, G. M., and Young, H. M. (1993). Development and psychometric evaluation of the resilience scale. Journal of Nursing Measurement, 1, 165-178.
Sign up for AIDS walk New York May 17, 2015
Join us in the biggest single-day fundraiser for HIV/AIDS on May 17th in New York. In the past thirty years, AIDS Walk New York has raised millions of dollars to support prevention, care, and advocacy programs for HIV/AIDS-affected men, women, and families. The 30th Annual AIDS Walk New York will benefit not only organizations in the New York area, but also groups like Global Camps Africa that participate through the Community Partnership Program.
Global Camps Africa’s team members have already raised over half of our goal! Join us by registering at https://ny.aidswalk.net/Team/View/5139/Global-Camps-Africa-0565 and invite your friends by sharing our social media posts about the event. Can’t make it? Support Team Global Camps Africa with a donation to help us reach our goal and send 6 more HIV-affected children to Camp Sizanani and a year of Youth Clubs.
Beginning and ending at Central Park, the walk will be 10 kilometers long. The day will begin at 8:30 AM with check in at 59th Street and 5th Avenue. Afterwards, there will be an opening ceremony at 9:15 AM. The AIDS Walk will begin at approximately 10:00 AM, and should take about 2.5 hours to complete. For more information on parking and directions, please visit https://ny.aidswalk.net/Day-of-Event-Info.
Purchase tickets to 'Spreading the News' at the Newseum
'Spreading the News' is sponsored by:
For the past 10 years Global Camps Africa has changed the lives of South Africa's vulnerable children and youth by providing HIV/AIDS prevention education and training through high-impact residential and day camp experiences.
This dynamic and powerful organization continues to grow. We served 461 campers in 2012; 618 campers in 2013; and in 2014, 982 campers grew from the Camp Sizanani experience. Nearly 7,000 youth have attended Camp Sizanani with over 1,400 at-risk children attending the bi-weekly follow up Youth Clubs program in 2014 alone.
On April 25, you can make news, too, by joining us and special guest, Sheryl WuDunn, the first Asian-American reporter to win a Pulitzer Prize. She co-authored the #1 New York Times best seller Half the Sky and A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity with her husband, Nick Kristof. She will join us at the Newseum and will help us give young people hope, goals, and skills they never knew they could have.
The Newseum
555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington D.C. 20001
Catered by Wolfgang Puck's The Source
Purchase your tickets or sponsorship package today!