On March 23, counselors from all three camps met in Magaliesburg, our CampSizanani location, to begin an exciting 4 days of staff training together.

Old staff took particular delight in mentoring their new brothers and sisters in how to be an effective camp counselor. By the end of training, they were fast friends and very reluctant to part company..

The three camps were dealing with very different campers. GGA campers were older-14 to 20-and their focus, aside from HIV/AIDS education, awareness, and prevention, was skills development, which will help them get jobs after graduation. KZN has an 80%+ unemployment rate.

The VSO campers were all orphans and came from a remote, poor village. Many arrived with just the clothes on their backs.

Comparatively, our traditional campers from Soweto, the enormous urban slum that borders Johannesburg, looked sophisticated and even well-off in comparison.

At the start, the VSO campers were shy and reluctant to participate fully, and the GGA campers were quite independent and resistant to a tight schedule. After just 5 days, a visit to each camp demonstrated that camp activities worked at many levels.

A visitor could not distinguish among the groups by watching them relate to one another. The songs and games were similar; the screams of delight when completing a difficult task on the adventure course, the "hamming it up" on the stage, and the appreciation for the opportunity presented to them was the same.

For me, it signaled a new commitment, my first ever that extended beyond a single camp location. It also gave me a clear experience of the power of the camp experience.

Starving children from Limpopo, who do not speak any of the 11 official languages of South Africa, older secondary students from a semi-rural part of KZN, and the street-smart kids of Soweto all found camp to be a powerful tool in forming them into productive and strong young people who had suddenly discovered their voices and power.

Both GGA and VSO want to continue their camp beginnings. They have both committed to a second camp in September. Our commitment to them is to support them partially and to provide training for their staffs.

Congratulations for helping to bring us to our next level of professional credibility. Thanks for your investment in the children of South Africa. Please continue your support and tell others who might like to join you in supporting us.

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