Report from the Field: A Visitor to Camp Sizanani
By Ruth Dengwani
[The author is a representative of the Africa Alive Education Foundation, which serves communities and children in Zimbabwe.]
I was invited to the last day of the youth camp at Diepsloot by Sizanani camp last Friday July 12th.
It was such an awesome day and the kids reminded me so much of our Mazivisa kids. They are just as hopeful and looking for love and care from the adults in their lives just like any other child. It was very interesting to observe and note the way they responded to teachings, instructions and encouragement as the Counsellors from Sizanani Camp worked with them- what an amazing team these guys are.
Let me give you a brief report of the day:
I met up with Kabelo (KB) in Fourways just before 8am and we drove in convoy to Diepsloot. When we got there the kids were already there, with bright faces and expectant hearts. They swarmed the cars - just like our Mazivisa kids do- to give us hugs and greetings - the genuine pure love of children. My eyes misted even now as I recall that moment. That's when you realize the human race is connected at a deeper level than we know and unless we impart and leave meaningful legacies in whatever forms to this generation we would have not played our roles in the race of life.
So anyway, the kids hugged us and smiled at us. However because it was the last day of the camp, many were asking when will the Counsellors be back, and if they will be back. They just didn't want to let these Counsellors go and they needed an assurance that this wasn't the last camp for them.
The kids are divided into different groups A- J starting from the youngest age. A&B 6-9
C &D 10 -12
E & F 12 -13
G & H 14 -15
I & J 15 -18Starting with the youngest age group, the kids were called for breakfast being served by the oldest age group, I & J. During the breakfast time, other groups were rehearsing and finalizing their presentations for later until their turn for eating. As it was the final day the kids had to showcase in their presentations what they had been taught and learned during the camp period.
These would cover the following:
Nutrition
Life skills
Sports
Literacy
Drama
Arts and crafts
I observed the drama group. The kids are briefed on the subject of the drama and in this case was rape. The daughter was raped by her father and she eventually tells her mother the secret she has been keeping. The mother doesn't believe her and goes through the different emotions. Mother then kills the daughter and guilt engulfed her after the act. The father confesses that he actually raped his daughter. Each emotion is represented. The kids are given room to innovate and be creative in their roles with the guidance of the counsellor. Encouragement is given to the kids as artists to own their roles and be confident and creative.
Our societies in Africa face similar challenges - Leadership, social issues, peer pressure, HIV /AIDS, sexual abuse and all kinds of abuse. The kids use games and songs to open the programme. In the presentations, the kids just shone as they gave their all. When children are acknowledged they respond and flourish well. They remind me of seeds in good soil - if you water and nurture it, it will give good fruit and thrive well.All in all it was a great day. Camp Sizanani did great work and they connected with the kids.
Michelle and KB, your team is so awesome, keep up the good work.
Phil, thank you for connecting with us and we looking forward to the September camp.
Children's Lives Saved by HIV Treatment in South Africa...Facing the New Challenge
In a recent report by Sally Sara on ABC's The World Today, the wonderful news of the thousands of children whose lives have been saved by anti-retroviral drugs in South Africa was tempered by the emergence of a new crisis for these children: What does the future hold for these orphans and vulnerable children now living with HIV?
It's an important and complicated question, and may define the next phase of the fight to protect and support the children affected by the AIDS epidemic. Our first order of business, as a global health community, was to do all we could to facilitate counseling, testing, and treatment for HIV-affected youth. Without success at that effort - saving the lives of these vulnerable children - there was no hope for their future. To the extent that the South African government and all its partners and funders have been successful in that effort, together we face new and perhaps even equally challenging questions.
As the founder of Sparrow Rainbow Village Orphanage in Johannesburg, the Reverend Dr. Corine McClintock, asks in her discussion with Sally Sara,
"When they leave school, where do they go? Our housing situation is in crisis. But they are actually victims of their illness because they are orphans and they have nowhere to go and there's no voice for them."
Global Camps Africa's mission is to empower these young people with the life skills they will need to navigate the challenges they will face, and also to help them become aware of the hope and potential that their lives hold. Living with the stigma of HIV can be a tremendous burden for these children, but it is our job to give them tools to overcome that obstacle and make choices based on hope, not despair or fear.
Much work remains to improve the circumstances under which these young people must operate...decent and affordable housing, good education, improved economic opportunities, and a stronger healthcare system will all be essential to the ultimate positive outcomes for these children. But we have come so far together already...let's make our choices based on hope, not despair.
Global Camps Africa: A Life Saving Summer Camp with a Difference
Getrude Matshe
Posted: 06/24/2013 12:19 pm
As summer approaches and we see articles on beaches, vacations, summer camps for the kids, and all manner of fun in the sun, do we ever think that one of our basic institutions, associated with fun and games and babysitting, is also capable of creating the most fundamental changes in society?
Yes, hard to believe, but that old chestnut, summer camp, butt of jokes from "Parent Trap" to "Meatballs," seemingly incapable of being taken seriously, except perhaps, by the 12 million children who attend and corresponding numbers of parents and family members who see dramatic change (however short-lived) who see the impact.
Think for a moment of societies where certain areas of vital concern are still taboo to speak of within the family. One of these is HIV. In many African countries where the pandemic is most severe, families do not address the issue: children are beaten or chided if they dare bring it up, and schools and churches follow largely along the same lines. Though a Life Orientation curriculum now exists in South African schools, the country with the most HIV positive people in the world (not as a percentage, but an absolute number) still sees its teachers mumble through the curriculum, barring questions and requiring only accurate, memorized responses on the exam.
Enter Camp Sizanani, a product of U.S. nonprofit, Global Camps Africa, and a South African nonprofit, Camp Sizanani Life Skills. Started by former Peace Corps Volunteer, lawyer, and camp director, Philip Lilienthal, in 2003, it has seen 5,200 children and youth, mostly from the large former township of Soweto, attend its camps for the past nine years.
Using experiential education as a way to get the campers involved, Lilienthal integrated life skills into the sports, swimming, theater, arts and crafts, adventure, and nutrition, not to mention the the life skills curriculum itself. The campers only attend the eight-day camp one time, as the need and demand is enormous. Rather, after they have been to camp, they are encouraged to attend (like camp, free of charge) four-hour Saturday sessions, offered biweekly, at the five youth clubs established around the large Soweto township.This also provides a leadership opportunity and a path to cherished counselor status for the few who successfully complete the rigorous training program.
The camp has attracted top camp professionals from the U.S. and Canada, as well as volunteers from a dozen other countries. Their universal reaction is one of disbelief that an eight-day camp can change the way a child looks at the world.
Entering camp, many campers think they will be dead of AIDS-related illnesses by the time they are 30. Their "career" goals are limited to what they see in front of them: teachers and police. The camp not only educates them as to causes of infection, but teaches prevention in open, interactive discussions.
These empower the campers in all areas. They form career paths; they become more participatory at home and school (teachers say they can immediately identify recent campers by the way they participate); and they are not the victims of their environments any more. They have choices and they are equipped with tools to avoid the gang activity, prostitution, and drugs.
It's not just fun and games at camp in South Africa.
Uncle Phil
by Paul Wrubel via Room 72
Camp Winnebago, Bunk 1, 1947
The illustration for this piece has a past. It is a picture courtesy of a Maine historical society of the crew from Bunk One at Camp Winnebago. The year is 1947 and the kid second from the left in the front row is me at 7 years of age and the blond camper next to me is Paul Schwarz, my oldest and dearest friend then and still is to this very day. I remember the others as well but the one I want to mention is the boy on the left directly behind me in the back row. His name is Phil Lilienthal.
Phil’s father, Howard Lilienthal, was for all intents and purposes the camp director at the time and later the owner of Camp Winnebago. He ran a good ship and over the decades gave hundreds of boys a leg up on life. As the years passed, we loved playing tricks on Uncle Howie (all counselors and administrators were called “Uncle” at camp Winnebago). My personal favorite occurred on his 6oth birthday which fell during the winter and was celebrated at Lüchow’s Restaurant in New York City. By then we were full-fledged adults in terms of age but we had never really grown up when anything about camp was involved. Our birthday gift to Uncle Howie reflected that deep sense of arrested development.
The day before the party, Howard’s younger son, Bob picked up Paul Schwarz and me in his truck and headed north to camp of course. One of the older traditions at Camp Winnebago was stealing the very large sign for Camp Vega, a girls’ camp, one of two other camps that shared the shores of Echo Lake with Camp Winnebago. We decided to give Uncle Howie a special present. We stole the Vega sign in the dead of winter and drove it a few hundred miles to a parking spot a couple of blocks from Lüchows in New York City. At the appropriate hour two Pauls and Bob lugged the very heavy and unwieldy sign down a New York City sidewalk past curious New York gawkers and delivered the goods to Uncle Howie. After the thrill had died down a bit and after the party had begun to break up, the three of us packed up the Vega sign and returned it to its proper place at the entrance of a very cold and desolate Camp Vega in the fading hours of a blustery Maine winter day. It was a round trip of about 8-10 hours depending upon how much time we spent devouring a lobster at the first pit stop on the Maine side of the border with New Hampshire.
But this story is not about Howard. It is about his son, Phil. After high school Phil went to Amherst and then on to other things including the University of Virginia Law School but he never left Winnebago. He married his “childhood” love of his life, Lynn, and did a stint in the Peace Corps in Africa. Later on, after Howard retired, he became the Director and Owner of Camp Winnebago and ran the place for several years. Paul Schwarz also returned to serve as the camp’s best all-time head counselor until his retirement a few years ago. Phil turned over the camp operation to his son, Andy, who manages the camp to this day. Camp Winnebago enjoys an extraordinary and well-deserved reputation largely as a direct outcome of the creative and enlightened leadership of three generations of Lilienthals. The tale of Uncle Phil doesn’t end here.
Phil Lilienthal could have easily faded into a life of comfort and considerable wealth but he chose to do something more, something better, something unfinished that began during his Peace Corps years.
Phil founded and is the President of “…Global Camps Africa, a non-profit whose mission is to empower children for an AIDS-free tomorrow. These children are affected by many kinds of violence and have been affected by the HIV crisis in (South Africa’s) Soweto Township. Phil’s 8-day camps and the follow-up biweekly sessions provide a way for the children to see hope for the future.”
“…In 2004 Phil opened Camp Sizanani which is the Zulu word for “helping one another”. To date 5000 children have attended the camp. The staff members are trained locals and many of the volunteers come from Northern Virginia.” Here is “…how Phil described life at the camp.”
“Arriving on the first day of camp, the campers look like children without a care in the world. As the life skills classes move through the various phases of the curriculum, the stories come out of abuse, beatings, rape, incest, and deprivation. Many have to be educated as to what “abuse” is. They don’t know it as anything but the norm, as the condition we describe as “abusive” is one that they have been living with all their lives, including physical, psychological and sexual abuse. Educating children that this is not the norm can change not only the children at camp, but those siblings and friends they interact with after camp.”
Phil continued, “The epiphany that came to me during the January camp (summer in the southern hemisphere) was that the strength we are giving the campers is in the form of transformation. We are not changing the circumstances of their lives; we are, rather, giving them the tools to see their lives as possibilities for excellence despite their current circumstances.”
The above quotes were taken from an article written by Kelly Reid of the Peace Corps Association. It was part of an announcement that Phil Lilienthal, “Uncle Phil”, my friend and former bunk mate, will be the recipient of 2013 Sargent Shriver Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Service. “Named to recognize the first Peace Corps Director – Sargent Shriver – whose efforts resulted in outstanding contributions to the founding and development of the Peace Corps, the National Peace Corps Association annually awards the Sargent Shriver Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Service to a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who continues to make a sustained and distinguished contribution, whether that be a humanitarian cause at home, abroad, or through innovative social entrepreneurial efforts to bring about significant, long-term change. Each year, the recipient of this prestigious award is honored for their incessant devotion to bettering the lives of those not only around them locally or nationally, but across the globe.”
In these times of cynicism and political incivility it is nice to know that special people like Phil Lilienthal still walk this planet. He and the kids he helps make us all better human beings.
Note: If you would like to support Phil’s work you are encouraged to send a check to:
Global Camps Africa
1606 Washington Plaza
Reston VA 20190
Just so you know…
$1,000 will send a child to one residential camp, enable the camper to attend the year-round Youth Clubs, and buy supplies for a cabin of 15 campers.
$500 will send a child to camp and enable the camper to attend Youth Clubs for a year.
$250 will purchase arts and crafts supplies for $140 children attending a camp session.
$100 will purchase shoes for a cabin of 12 children.
$50 will purchase new t-shirts for a cabin of 10 children.
Thanks.
Follow Paul Wrubel's blog, Room 72, at www.paulwrubel.com.
GCA Founder & President Wins 2013 Sargent Shriver Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Service
On June 4th, the National Peace Corps Association announced the winner of this year's Sargent Shriver Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Service, which recognizes a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who "continues to make a sustained and distinguished contribution, whether that be to humanitarian causes at home, abroad, or through innovative social entrepreneurial efforts to bring about significant, long term-change."
The 2013 winner of this national honor is our own Phil Lilienthal, Founder and President of Global Camps Africa.
The award will be presented at this year's Peace Corps Connect in Boston, MA, on June 29th. Congratulations, Phil, on this well-deserved honor!
To read more about the award, Phil's achievements, and other Sargent Shriver award winners, please visit the National Peace Corps Association's web site.