Camp O-At-Ka in Maine Raises Funds for GCA

On July 18th, Camp O-At-Ka opened their doors for the very first Road Race for GCA. The race was held in Maine where 100 runners came from both Camp O-At-Ka and Camp Fernwood. Runners could choose among three different races, a 3km, 2km, and 1km fun-run, and some runners enjoyed the race enough to finish in wheelbarrow fashion! Prior to the races, Phil Lilienthal, Global Camps Africa’s founder and president, spoke with the campers and shared more insight into GCA and Camp Sizanani. The campers were intrigued by what Phil had to say and enjoyed being able to run in a race to benefit the work we do for the vulnerable children of South Africa. As an added bonus, the campers showed interest in getting more involved and plan to donate items such as swimsuits, hats, and sneakers.

How wonderful to see so many new campers embracing  the meaning of “sizanani” (helping one another),  and getting involved in their own ways. This event provided a great opportunity for campers in the United States to support the fight against the HIV/AIDS crisis in South Africa. We hope this will be the first annual Camp O-At-Ka- fun run for GCA’s benefit, and that the campers’ participation can grow into a lasting relationship with our organization. Our South African youth clubs each have a focus on community service, and it is an honor to share that tenet with camps here in the United States, and to spread the spirit of sizanani. We hope to continually encourage youth to actively engage in their local communities as well as with communities across the globe.  

Each camper contributed $10 as an entry fee, all $1000 of which went to GCA, enabling two additional campers to attend camp and a year of Youth Clubs.

We are grateful to Kyle Tong, O-At-Ka's director and a former vochelli, who spearheaded the entire event. Kyle shared that he was pleased with this year’s turnout and expects the event to grow even bigger in coming years.  We’d like to thank all Camp O-At-Kat, Camp Fernwood, and the participants for a fun and successful day!

GCA for My Birthday!

by Courtney Harris

With my 30th birthday fast approaching -- April 1st will be here so soon! -- I thought this “milestone” birthday would be a creative avenue for sharing Global Camps Africa with my friends, family, and social network. Having begun my role as office manager in January, those close to me have already heard many wonderful things about GCA’s mission and programs. I thought a birthday fundraiser would allow me to share some videos and stories with my extended network, with the added bonus of hopefully raising money for our programs and extending our donor base. My immediate family loved the idea and encouraged my development of the fundraiser page. At this point in my life the only “gift” I desire is time with friends and family, so for those who enjoy a more “tangible” gift idea, this seemed like a reasonable (and fun!) solution.


The fundraiser kicked off in early March, and so far it has been a great way to talk with my network about GCA’s programs. I have shared our videos with interested parties, and received a great deal of positive feedback. If nothing else this fundraiser has provided me the joy of spreading the word about GCA and sharing our impact with my dear friends and family. I am incredibly grateful for the support of friends and family, and look forward to growing in my role as Office Manager at Global Camps Africa!

To see Courtney's fundraising page, click here.

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.

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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

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!

Kwa-Zulu_Natal_Kids_at_Camp

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.