Ross and Lynton were two young, white South Africans off on an adventure. They applied late for work and wanted to work in a camp kitchen. We must have needed help because we accepted them at Winnebago for a summer in the early 90s. I read their applications and, while they seemed a bit overqualified, so did a lot of Eastern Europeans whom we had engaged who were law students, medical students and the like, all using this as an opportunity to get to the U.S.
When they arrived, they charmed everyone and were excellent, caring workers as well. They bought a junker car and left it at the end of the trans-continental, end of summer tour of the U.S. at some major airport, probably JFK or LAX.
On my first exploratory trip to South Africa in 2003, I had lunch with Ross. He drove me around, filled me in on the culture, and was a wonderful host. He managed a mushroom farm that sold to supermarkets and restaurants in Johannesburg and was quite a big business.
We fell out of touch until this year when he contacted me and wanted to have lunch with him and Lynton and to meet his fiancee. We had a lovely time reminiscing and discussing what we were each doing. Lynton represents Embraer and is its corporate jet representative in Africa. Ross has expanded the mushroom business. Both are interested in finding a way for South African businesses to be more socially responsible and to support our use of camp to change children's lives.
We'll see if something will work, but it is a wonderful feeling to reconnect with people from a past connection in a foreign country.
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Last Updated on Monday, 05 October 2009 11:01 |
Working with children, most of whom come from what we would consider to be abject poverty, provides me with a belated, but startling, realization.
These children are much like the mostly privileged children I have been working and playing with all my life, with a single substantive difference: they don't have money.
Their enjoyment of activities, appreciation of human values and how to treat one another, and their brightness, are all parallel with those who have had far better opportunities.
Interesting that it took 6 years and many trips of 8,000 miles for me to have this clear realization. I had intellectualized it many times before, but after seeing thousands of these South African children at camp over the past years, I finally got it clearly and deeply. They could be world leaders, movers and shakers if they had the opportunity that so many of have in the US and Canada. The difference is that when they get it, they appreciate and use it.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 30 September 2009 07:29 |
One of the biggest cultural taboos in South Africa has been against being tested to learn your HIV status.
Incredible to many medically knowledgeable observers, who know that if you learn your negative status, you can be relieved at that time from worry, and if you learn your positive status, you can take steps to inhibit its spread and do much to prevent it from leading to AIDS.
The more traditional view has been that to learn your positive status will lead to friends and family members abandoning you and leaving you to die by yourself. HIV positive status has meant certain AIDS and certain death. The stigmatization only makes it worse, so why be tested and have the bad news delivered?
We are trying to break the taboo at camp. Although children have the power to make their own testing decision at age 14, we asked for parents' assent as well as children's consent before going to a testing program.
We had 4 counselors at camp in April. They gave counseling to the 70 campers they had time to work with. (There were others who could not be interviewed at camp.) 69 of them opted for testing. 68 of those tested were negative.
What a breakthrough! We not only could give good counseling to the one child who was positive, but could give some reassurance to the rest of the campers that they would not have to live in fear of AIDS onset in their immediate future. It also gave credence to the lessons we had taught about AIDS and what had to happen before you could become HIV positive.
It also gives us a base to work with as we go forward and learn which former campers stay HIV negative after their camp experience. We hope they all will.
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Last Updated on Monday, 05 October 2009 11:01 |
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A Powerful Response From Camps Across the US |
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Much of the summer has been a busman's holiday so far. I have visited 8 camps in 4 states to talk about Global Camps Africa and how it relates to campers in US camps.
The response has been powerful. Some campers and counselors are moved to tears; others ask how they can help; many counselors have asked if they can be on our staff in South Africa.
I have spoken to about 1,500 people and have offered our "Change for Kids" label to those interested in having a place to put their spare change until such time as it amounts to a few dollars and parents can send a check.
While it may not get us a lot of money, I love the idea of kids here helping kids in South Africa, even if it is just a few dollars at a time. We are not an Obama for President machine and I do not have illusions about getting millions of dollars (well, maybe I harbor the fantasy), but I want people, especially children, to know that they can be part of a program that makes a significant change in children's lives and it doesn't have to take a lot of money to do it.
All the camps I visited were most supportive. Heart O' the Hills in the hill country of Texas hosted me and had me speak to their camp and to their brother camp, Camp Stewart. I had never been to the San Antonio area and enjoyed the dry heat and the Tex-Mex atmosphere, as well as the wonderful campers and counselors. It was the prototypical Texan hospitality. Jane Ragsdale, Director of Heart, even has a life skills class that deals with issues thought important to American girls coming into adulthood--very different from the life skills of our campers in South Africa.
In Wisconsin, I started in the northwest at Camp North Star, run by my friend Robert Lebby. He had fully prepared his campers and counselors and they had a lot of interest and questions. I then went to Camp Agawak, where I met with the girls and staff for a quick rest hour meeting.
Mike Cohen at Camp Timberlane, who arranged the Wisconsin part of the trip, hosted me for two nights and provided a camp ready to hear and participate in GCA's work. Counselors and campers seemed eager for more information. Unbeknown to me at the time, one of the questioners was a nephew of board member, Nancy Risman. From now on, I ask board members whether they know people at camps before I venture forth.
I also visited Chippewa Ranch Camp, directed by Lisa and Cliff Lissner, and formerly directed by now-author, Thomas C. Adler, who has just published a wonderful book on camping, "Campingly Yours."
Also nice (and full disclosure here) is that a healthy percentage of every sale goes to fund charitable camp ventures, including GCA.
I also visited Camp Chewonki in Maine, whose director, Garth Altenburg, is a good friend of my older son, Andy, and who graciously hosted me last year, too. The crowd was smaller there, as I had to compete with choice activities after dinner, but I liked the competition and was pleased with the quality of the group I got. We'll see what develops from the 20-25 who attended.
My final stop was last Friday-Saturday, when I spoke to three age groups at Camp Blue Star, a large, camp in beautiful Hendersonville, NC, with a "living Judaism" program. Directors Candy and Rodger Popkin were kind enough to weave in GCA with the "power of one" theme for the week. I spoke at two Sabbath services on Friday and then met with the older campers and counselors for a more informal session.
It is great to see so many top camps in a relaxed way. Even though I am tired from the travel, the time at each camp was relaxed, casual, and lovely.
Thanks for providing me the opportunity to do this and to raise consciousness and money for GCA.
I have already received over $2500 from the Wisconsin camps.
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Last Updated on Monday, 05 October 2009 11:02 |
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Teens Fundraise in Westchester |
Zenola Harper heard about us while visiting a child at Rye Country Day School, where Caroline Breinin and her mother, Rachel, were encouraging students to bring in sneakers to be given to campers who needed them. This is a whole different story as Caroline, co-chair of our Youth Advisory Committee, has gotten 400 pairs to go to South Africa.
Zenola, associated with Jack and Jill of Westchester, thought the children in Jack and Jill might be interested as a fundraising project. I was in contact with her, but mostly deciding on a good day to come to speak to them after the fundraising was finished. So much for my use as a motivational speaker!
We decided on a late April date and I was told when to appear.
There were 30 children and 15 parents at the Girls and Boys Club of New Rochelle for the occasion. Neither I nor the children knew how much had been raised.
After dinner, I gave a talk and showed slides. Then there were some questions. Finally, the giant check was presented: $2,700! The kids had done laps around their school, sold cookies, done odd jobs, and, in general, a great variety of jobs and services aimed at helping kids abroad.
We're hoping for some of them to become involved with the Youth Advisory Committee and to spread the word to other Jack and Jill Clubs nationwide.
A very inspirational evening! Thanks, Zenola and others who helped plan it. |
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Last Updated on Monday, 05 October 2009 11:02 |
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Reports from Uganda and Rwanda - Sept. '08 |
By venturing into two countries where I've never been, I feel more aware and sensitive to new and different cultures.
Rwanda and Uganda are both small, beautiful, crowded, and faced with major economic problems in getting jobs for their employable citizens. Both have made major gains in getting children to school and in reducing or eliminating school fees. The resulting crunch leads to crowded (100 students in a class is common) classrooms and fewer books per student, since there are more children to be served and the same or less (school fees have been eliminated without something replacing them as an income source) financial support for the schools.
HIV/AIDS is major in both countries. Uganda was one of the first countries to recognize the problem. Their strong (autocratic) President Yoweri Museveni, has been powerful and forthright in meeting HIV/AIDS head-on. He adopted the ABC policy of, in order of importance, Abstinence, Be faithful, and use a condom.
Admittedly, there has been some slippage as the initial success lead people to believe the problem was less serious, but the President still speaks about "morality" and strength among youth in an effort to stem the disease.
Rwanda has the added burden of having had a genocide take place, most recently in 1994. The slaughter of nearly a million people, often by machete, over a period of just over 3 months, was and, to a visitor, still is, shocking, brutal and unacceptable.
The thrust there, however, is reconciliation. There are genocide memorials everywhere and some pretty blunt reminders--rows of skulls, bones, and clothing of hundreds, as we entered one church.
The party line is that people are moving on. People we met said there is still quite a bit of nervousness and hostility below the surface.
Given all this, both countries are small enough that the presence of NGOs is evident. The few that I saw and the people I met associated with them seemed to be working hard, are well-motivated, and are struggling to make their money and personnel keep up with the problems of the country.
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Last Updated on Monday, 05 October 2009 11:02 |
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Read more...
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We have achieved a lot of remarkable things in the short four years since we opened our first camp session.
In a sense, we have changed the culture of a part of Soweto, no mean feat in itself.
Camp was unknown; activities that would get children prepared for the adversities that were awaiting them as they reached adolescence were not in place. Perhaps one has to live a long part of one's life doing something the way it has always been done before the enormity of a change in strategy becomes a major blast.
Just by shifting the language with which the camp activities are described and then becoming intentional about acting in accordance with the new language, provides a major difference.
The children who come to camp (3300 so far) are not noticeably different when they leave from when they arrive. The difference is in their heads and hearts. They undergo a transformation in the way they look at their circumstances. Instead of being at the effect of the abuse, rape, incest, neglect, and more, they now have a path by which they can eventually leave this environment.
Before arriving at camp, many don't have a plan or a thought as to how things could get better in their lives--for instance, how they would survive the AIDS pandemic to reach adulthood. At camp, they are taught how to overcome or sidestep the many pitfalls they will face. Their attitudes change dramatically while at camp.
It will be particularly interesting to see how they fare over time. So far, everything we see is positive and encouraging. Stay tuned. |
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The Opportunity of Global Camps Africa |
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I see the opportunity to work with Global Camps Africa as a privilege and an opportunity.
The growing acceptance of using camp as a vehicle to change important behaviors in individuals is an awesome responsibility and, a word not used too often by people working in the HIV/AIDS field, a joy! I love waking up, getting to work, meeting with people interested in changing the way the world looks at its “unsolvable problems,” and then, by day’s end, always feeling as though I have moved another incremental distance toward the goal of no HIV/AIDS among children.
We have been honored by awards from the American Camp Association, the Maine Youth Camping Association, the Association of Independent Camps, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the Board of Supervisors of Fairfax County. We have been written about in the Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, Johannesburg Star, Kennebec Journal, Reston Times, Reston Connection, Reston Observer, Camping magazine, and the Canadian Camping magazine. BBC has done a television and radio report on our camp program.
Children who have been to camp since January 2004 have reported that their lives have been changed by the camp experience. Now, I heard that frequently when I owned and directed a U.S. camp. Somehow it has more significance coming from young people who arrived at camp with little or no vision for their life as an adult; that many fully expected that they would not reach adulthood due to the onset of HIV/AIDS; that they had no similar experience to camp; and that this was their only organized recreational outlet.
It is amazing to me that the values of camp transcend distance, culture, and past experience. After more than a hundred years of camp in the U.S., one more camp hardly makes a difference on the landscape. Unless the camp is a Hole in the Wall Gang or Seeds of Peace, or something else that changes the basic tenor of the camp experience, most young people’s needs can be met through one form or other of existing camps.
In Africa, there are few other camps or programs that provide a similar experiential learning avenue. What a marvelous opportunity to bring an institution that has provided so much to me and those I care about to another place where it can be marshaled to also provide important health benefits.
As an opening blog, I just want to thank you for having supported what has become an important social and health project. It’s probably too soon to say that it has really caught on and will continue without constant support. After all, we have one camp in South Africa and another about to begin. There are other major areas in South Africa that should be served, and 52 other countries in Africa, and then the rest of the developing world that is either unserved or underserved by camps.
Let’s not stop until we have reached all of them! Thanks for providing the partnership that invests in the lives of children in need. |
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 22 July 2009 21:58 |
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