The administrator at my organization, Free, has decided he wants to start a computer literacy program at his alma mater, Edward Homu High School. Free is about my age, and back in his day, Edward Homu (the high school in Mapayeni) was a pretty good institution for a rural South African school. It had a full staff, a respectable matric (like graduation) rate, and a working if unsophisticated computer lab. Since then, however, standards have dropped steeply. Attendance by both students and teachers is spotty, curriculum standards have changed multiple times, and the place is falling apart. Attendance isn't exactly helped by the fact that as soon as school begins, the gates are locked and tardy students (easily over fifty every day) aren't allowed in at all; the students often linger in front of the gate, afraid of the reprisals they'll receive from family if they return home. The computer lab remains, though dusty and unused; there is no staff to run it, or students who have the education to take advantage of it. So, Free and I went this morning to see if they were interested in us beginning an after hours computer literacy program with them.
They were interested. However, by now the computers are so old and unused that they are basically non-functioning; repairing them would be prohibitively expensive and the software on them hopelessly out of date in a world where the computer industry doubles its efficiency every eighteen months. The school has enough difficulty providing desks and chairs for learners, much less textbooks, much less computers. We left them with a promise of bringing by the forms for a Dell Foundation grant, the foundation that has generously donated computers to many organizations, including Khanimamba. Even if they get the grant, it will probably be a few months before they are here and installed. Everything here happens slowly.
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Good blog, Jade. A little about what I'm doing and what PCVs have helped with:
The Problem: The pandemic of AIDS in Africa has reached proportions that are beyond the comprehension of most of us. In South Africa alone, 5.5 million people are HIV+ If the same percentages were valid in the US, there would be more than 32 million HIV+ people.
There are 40 deaths per hour from AIDS-related diseases
Despite many of the best minds working on the problem, no cure has been found and the numbers of infections have increased. No medical approach has been able to make inroads on the problem, although antiretroviral drugs have alleviated the symptoms and prolonged lives.
Our Goals: In a society where the culture doesn't encourage open discussions about such matters as AIDS or sexuality, either in public or in the family, we have taken the approach that bringing children and youth into a setting where they are away from the social and health problems that they face in their home environments. For the 10 days they spend at camp, they are able to relax and be children. In the process, they are able to learn about the problems that they and their peers face as they advance toward adulthood.
For the first time for most of the children, they are able to get their questions answered and myths dispelled concerning sexuality and HIV/AIDS.
Or goal is to have the campers have the knowledge and the inclination to avoid becoming HIV+ if they are HIV- when they arrive at camp, and, if they are HIV+, to learn that they can live healthily with the disease.
It is not just coincidental that they are having the best time of their lives while they are learning these life-saving matters. By mixing the fun of camp with the vital facts that they have been lacking in order to live HIV-free, we create the conditions that maximize learning. Free from the pressures of survival and the formal structure and massive class size of schools where they are forced to be still, memorize, and repeat information, they engage in interactive questioning that produces real learning that stays with them when they return home and mix with friends and relatives, pass on.their new-found information, and become leaders in their communities.
Camp Structure: Our first camp session was in January 2004. Since then, we have had 26 camp sessions for 3,600 children, mostly from Soweto.
We have conducted the camps like summer camps in the US -- sports, swimming, theatre, arts and crafts, dancing, and nature -- but with three big differences:
* each child has an hour of Life Skills class each day;
* the children can only attend a single camp session; and
* we provide biweekly follow up programs in the form of Saturday Kids Clubs.
The Life Skills classes are taught in small (about 14 children) groups by at least two instructors, specially trained, and present issues of adolescence, dating, sexuality, HIV/AIDS, physical and psychological abuse, gender bias, opportunistic diseases associated with AIDS, crime, nutrition and self-esteem. The children, their parents, teachers and caregivers have all been enthusiastic in their endorsement of what they see as significant changes in the children.
Cost: The camp program and the after-camp Kids Clubs cost $500 per child to operate. We are looking for sponsors for each child. Donors who sponsor children will receive letters from them telling of their camp experience.
We also have plans to raise $1 million to purchase our own camp site. Not only would this cut our per camper costs, but it would allow us to expand with more camp programs and would give us the opportunity for training other non-profit groups that deal with children. We would also be able to rent the space when we were not using it, to gain additional income to make us more sustainable. Finally, we have already trained personnel from other youth programs in Africa. With a permanent site, we could do more in this area and become a premier training force for children's programs in Africa.
In this way, we could have a significant multiplier effect as we would impact on many more than the 150 campers we have at each of our camps.
We plan to assist other NGOs to open a new camp every 18-24 months and plan to bring this all over Africa, particularly in the heaviest AIDS affected areas. We have already worked with groups in Pietermaritzburg and Cape Town to train their staffs in building the capacity to carry on their own programs. We are in contact with groups in Durban and Cape Town to start additional camps.
I recently traveled to Rwanda and Uganda to meet with NGOs there who have expressed interest in having camps be a part of their programs.
Personal Qualifications/Interest: I have a long career in summer camps. I started one in Ethiopia in the 1960s while I was a Peace Corps Volunteer there and have owned and operated a boys camp in Maine for 30 years. When my son was trained and ready to enter the business, I returned to Africa in an effort to use the methodology of residential camp as a tool to make children aware of HIV/AIDS and to effect a change in behavior and attitude among the youth.
In May 2003 I visited South Africa, Botswana, and Kenya, in search of the best possible partner. I found one at Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, South Africa. In conjunction with HIVSA (the psychosocial arm of the Perinatal HIV Research Unit, or PHRU), we started Camp Sizanani in January 2004.
We have received grants from Elton John AIDS Foundation, MAC AIDS Fund, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Wall Street Cares, Red Ribbon Foundation, Gilead Sciences, Inc., and the Jackson Foundation, as well as gifts from some 1000 individuals. We have had media coverage in the Johannesburg Star, the Christian Science Monitor, the Washington Times, BBC-TV and radio, and the Boston Globe.
Thanks for your interest in this project to prevent AIDS and to change the attitudes and behaviors of South Africa's most vulnerable young people.
Phil Lilienthal
Global Camps Africa
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