5K Run and Pancake Breakfast: Two Great Ways to Help GCA
From a recent article in the Asbury Park Sun:
TOAST TO SPONSOR A CHARITY 5K RACE THIS FALL
PROCEEDS BENEFIT GLOBAL CAMPS AFRICA AND THE MICHAEL J. FOX FOUNDATION
By Jill Bartlett
Get ready to lace up your running shoes, Asbury Park.
Toast restaurant will host a charity 5k run/walk in the city this fall that will end with a pancake breakfast after-party in Kennedy Park.
The race, which takes place Saturday, Oct. 12, will raise funds to benefit Global Camps Africa and the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
Restaurant owners Amy Russo and Chris Hartsgrove chose the Micheal J. Fox foundations because they both have grandparents that suffered from Parkinson’s disease.
“Parkinson’s is one of those diseases that is hereditary,” said Russo, which fueled their decision to choose the Michael J. Fox Foundation as a benefactor, since the foundation is dedicated finding a cure.
Global Camps Africa provides youth in Africa with HIV/AIDS prevention education and training through overnight and day camp experiences. The camps seek to provide the at-risk youth population in Africa with life skills education and support to encourage and promote safe adult lives, according to their website.
The funds raised for Global Camps Africa will sponsor a trip for Lisa Brodrick, a yoga instructor and 13-year Asbury Park school teacher, to travel to Global Camps Africa’s Camp Sizanani in South Africa. There, she will provide Radiant Child Yoga teacher training to the camp counselors. Radiant Child Yoga is an international program that provides yoga instructors with ways to teach children yoga and work with them to be more conscious of their inner selves, according to their website.
“She has a huge opportunity to go and teach,” said Russo. “If I could take a month out of my life to travel to Africa for a month to help kids, I would do it.”
“It’s all about holding a space,” said Brodrick. “The children are our future. They are big souls in little bodies. What we teach them connects them back with their truth and their light within themselves so that they can live to their highest potential.”
“It’s that mind-spirit connection,” she said. “There is nothing more important than that.”
Russo hopes to make the run an annual event, and may switch the charities that benefit from year to year.
Registration details have yet to be finalized, but will be available on the Toast 5k website soon. Participants will be able to register on the website, or in-person at Toast.
The race route will be the same U.S. Track and Field certified double-loop course as the Asbury Park 5k, which begins and ends in Bradley Park opposite Convention Hall at the corner of Sunset and Ocean avenues. All participants will be invited back to Kennedy Park for a pancake breakfast after-party after their completion of the race.
Toast is located at 516 Cookman Ave. in Asbury Park.
For more information about Global Camps Africa, visit their website, or contact Lisa Brodrick at lbrodrick@gmail.com. For more information about the Michael J. Fox Foundation, visit their website.
South African Counselors at American Camps!
This summer, 9 of Camp Sizanani's South African counselors are experiencing camp in a new way...working as counselors at US camps around the country! Here, we have profiled 3 of our visiting counselors: Kgotso, Bongani, and Elliot. Each has had an exceptional learning experience and is eager to take his new knowledge and skills back to Camp Sizanani.
Elliot with co-counselors at Greenwood Trails
Elliot Mtimkulu is in his second summer as a camp counselor at a US summer camp. Last year he attended Kenwood-Evergreen. This year he is at Greenwood Trails.
He has loved both camps and, like all the counselors, has switched camps to "broaden myself and provide me with a greater education about camps and children."
Last year he taught arts and crafts, his specialty at Camp Sizanani; this year, he is a cabin counselor and divides his time among the ropes course, crafts, and dancing. He is very popular among the staff and campers.
The photo is with his two co-counselors, both swim counselors, one from the UK, the other from the US.
Elliot especially likes the broad diversity and international flavor at camp. Elliot's first camp session at Camp Sizanani was in 2007.
Bongani with campers at O-at-ka
This is Bongani Shabangu's first year at a US camp, although he was first a counselor at Camp Sizanani in 2006.
He is at Camp O-at-ka, a camp in southern Maine. He is a cabin counselor for the older boys and is involved in a variety of activities.
He says, "the people at camp are so welcoming. I felt at home right away. The campers and, especially, the counselors ask me how I am and what they can do for me. I love the food, the people, and am grateful to be here."
The campers swarmed to him as they returned from a day at the beach.
Kgotso with younger campers at Kenwood-Evergreen
It is Kgotso Mathebula's first experience abroad and he is a counselor at Camp Kenwood-Evergreen, in New Hampshire.
He is a counselor of the oldest boys. His nickname at camp is "KG."
He has been learning rap with one of the American counselors and has developed a bit of an American accent!
Kgotso has found that it helped to be cautious at the beginning and observe the culture of camp and the participants.
He loves camp and has found the campers to be particularly supportive when he is alone. They come over to ask if everything is all right. The boys in his cabin "wish you were here before."
The counselors, too, have been nice and inclusive, both at camp and on days off, when he is always asked to accompany them.
Kgotso sees his view of the world having expanded enormously. At the same time, he, like the others, is writing down all the new games and ideas he is getting from camp so he can bring them back to Camp Sizanani.
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.