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Dentist, American Campers, and Extra Points - June and July 2007 Camps |
Dear Friends,
The summer in South Africa is their winter. Being in the southern hemisphere, the seasons are reversed. While the days are generally sunny and pleasant (usually in the 60s and 70s), the nights are quite chilly where we are. A normal low is 45 degrees, but it sometimes gets to freezing and this year it snowed!
The 135 girls in June and 115 boys in July took this all in their stride. After all, it's cold and they have fewer blankets where they live, so what's the problem? Our only concession to the weather is not to have swimming in the program for the two camps we have in June and July. The campers, because they only come to camp for one session, have nothing to compare it to, so they are having the best time of their life and won't tolerate complaining by the staff.
We are being visited by more people to see what we are doing. Harris Wofford, former Senator from Pennsylvania, civil rights advisor to John F. Kennedy, a close advisor to Sargent Shriver in starting the Peace Corps, and involved in many other cutting edge social reforms, visited camp during training. One of the two Peace Corps Volunteers (we had two at each camp) Googled him on her cell phone the morning after his visit and exclaimed, "What can I do with my life? He's done it all!"
We had several new things going on this summer. First, a classmate of mine from Bronx Science, Shel Kupper, heard of us through a mutual friend and classmate, Susan Levine, and volunteered to come over to help. He's a dentist and has been on missions to Honduras, Ethiopia, and other countries.
He lived in a dorm with the children and had a separate area (formerly a laundry) in which to conduct his exams and procedures. He saw all 135 girls in 8 days and then examined those counselors who wanted him to do so. Most of the campers and counselors had never been to a doctor and some had a few nasty, decaying teeth. When they agreed, he extracted the offenders and they felt better almost immediately. Shel said that the quality of the teeth was much better than he encountered in Honduras.
The campers loved this excursion into modern medicine and felt very good at having their teeth examined.
In July, two American boys, Eric Schwartz and Jimmy Carter, both campers at Winnebago for many summers, came to camp. They lived with their peer 16-year old group and participated as campers in all activities. They were accepted quickly by their South African peers, including a few campers from some of the tougher neighborhoods in Soweto.
Once again, camp works when people are willing to participate. The Americans learned South African songs and dances and the South Africans learned that the Americans could hold their own in soccer and rugby and excel in basketball. The real point was that there is a people to people quality to the camp experience that can't be completely conveyed by international counselors, alone, participating. It was a wonderful boost to have the American campers there.
I journeyed to Namibia to meet with people interested in partnering with us. Previously, I traveled to Lesotho and had meetings there. I am in contact with other groups in Southern Africa, mainly from Malawi and Botswana, as we look for partners in other countries.
We have started a professional, monitoring and evaluation study, being done under the auspices of Virginia Tech in partnership with the University of Lugano, Switzerland. The study will be conducted over a 6-month period initially, and will give a third-party assessment of the impact we are having. Large funders find this important and we want to know, too. All we have to pay are their actual costs. We are most appreciative of their demonstration of good will and support.
We continue to get young people involved in helping us through community service projects with schools, churches and temples, particularly with Bar and Bat Mitzvah projects. Tommy Kennedy, another former Winnebago camper living in Northern Virginia, has a unique idea with a bit of an edge to it.
Tommy is the place kicker for the Madison High School football team. They have already had two games and he has kicked five extra points in two big victories. He has offered people the opportunity to sponsor him by contributing $1 (or more) to Global Camps Africa for every point he scores for Madison this season.
His program is called Kicks4Camp. His flier is attached. He can be reached at
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. Support us by supporting him. Thanks, Tommy, for thinking of us.
The other painless way to contribute is to register (3 minutes of your time) at www.iGive.com. Several hundred on-line merchants, including Orbitz and Travelocity, as well as Land's End, have agreed to give a percentage of their on-line sales to charities of your choice. Just register once and a percentage of your purchases can go to us without any extra cost to you.
Lastly, if you have frequent flier miles, we can use them for our travel to South Africa and save Global Camps Africa needed funds. Many miles these days expire, so you could get a tax break for giving miles you might not be able to use. These can usually be transferred easily and would be very useful and appreciated.
As you know, we work from camp to camp raising money to support the next session. That is why your ongoing support is so needed and appreciated---you are the reason that Global Camps Africa happens.
Thanks for reading this letter and for your wonderful support.
Warm regards,
Phil
P.S.
In addition to making a financial contribution, many of you have asked if there are other ways to help. Become a Global Camps Africa Ambassador! Just forward this e-mail to 5 to 10 of your friends, neighbors, family, or colleagues if you think they might be interested in finding out about some of the important things that are happening to help the children of South Africa. Remember, they can donate online easily at www.GlobalCampsAfrica.org. |
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Camp Sizanani
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