It has been harder than usual to adjust back to life and my sleeping cycle is completely off, but I'm getting better everyday. Even made it to work the last few days!
I know a lot of you are anxiously waiting to hear how camp was and this email will serve as a brief description as I would like to present a video and discussion in a few weeks for anyone to attend (especially sponsors).
I arrived at our meeting place in Soweto with Riana to find the camp director KB and a few other counselors there. It was a typical awkward situation..."uhh I dont know anyone and they all know each other and I'm the foreigner here". Luckily, a sweet girl named Tembe or Pebbles introduced herself and we instantly clicked. Once the other counselors arrived we boarded the bus for Magaliesburg Retreat Center, about an hour and a half from Soweto. On the way I chatted with another young woman my age, who proceeded to tell me about her life in Soweto. Her mother died tragically last year and she was very young when she had her own daughter, but she is one of the lucky girls in Soweto. She is engaged, soon to be married to a good man with a good job and has a caring father and family that take care of one another. I was also lost in the landscape, snapping away with my camera, the landscape along the way reminds me of California during winter, farms and brown rolling hills with concentrations of townships or squatter camps along the way.
The Magaliesburg Retreat Center is within a animal preserve, a common thing in South Africa...acres upon acres of protected land for all kinds of animals. This preserve has giraffes, zebras, kudu etc...that are visible on a 20 min hike behind the retreat center. Once we arrived at the center we were given room assignments and immediately began training. The four days of training covered everything from: how to be a leader, how to facilitate exciting lectures and activities, team building, Zulu vocabulary, how to deal with sensitive issues, privacy of campers, camp rules and much more. There was another American girl Allie from Arizona (Director of the Juvenile Arthritis Foundation branch in AZ), also my age who was to be a counselor as well. We were both completely overwhelmed by day two and were wondering "How we were going to fit in with these children?" and "Would they even listen or speak to the American girls?". We found ourselves attached at the hip because all the counselors knew each other previously from school, camp or work in Soweto. Not to mention Allie and I don't speak Zulu or Situ or Kosa, so we were often very unsure of the conversations.
However, since day one together with the other Vochelis (counselors in Zulu) we were exposed to a multitude of songs and dances originating from Camp Sizanani and from their culture. I was instantly hooked. The passion, excitement and joy that they exuded was addicting to me. Some songs were of love, some were of old tribal warriors and some about being friends at camp. Each one sung with as much effort and emotion as the last; I found it to be the way I would bond with the Vochelis. So, luckily I have a few dance moves and rhythm and I immersed myself in their song and dance. I didn't always know the words, but it didn't matter, I felt connected to the Vochelis and their culture as a whole. I cried a few times, I couldn't help feel so moved to have the privilege to be part of something so spectacular as 25 young adults singing in harmony with as much emotion as a man dancing Zeibekiko. By the end of camp I had all the songs memorized, was often admired by the children for my ability to move with some grace and rhythm and also provided comedic relief as they have NEVER seen a WHITE girl sing and dance to their songs. I haven't stopped singing them either...I took a lot of video to show to everyone :)
4 days of training flew by and the kids arrived early on day 5. 155 children to be exact, pouring out of 2 buses from all parts of Soweto. It was an exciting day...we sang and danced for about an hour before getting our camper assignments. I was assigned to Cabin C with two other Vochelis, Mpo and Nomfundo, and 13 girls ages 13-14. Each age bracket (11 -19) had boys and girls so Cabin D was our "brother" cabin whom we ate every meal with and they kids attended classes with. When the girls and I arrived at our cabin I was so nervous. They weren't speaking any English and were definitely looking at me curiously. I had three girls in my room: Oratile, Gugu (who I later nicknamed Gigi) and Mathapelo. All the girls instantly melted my heart...all of them so beautiful, sweet and definitely sassy. Typical preteens obsessed with boys and makeup and doing each others hair (including mine).
Each day consisted of 6 classes for the children: Nutrition, Swimming, Life Skills, Theater, Adventure, and Art. Each class was 45 min long and planned by the Vochelis. I was assigned to Nutrition (at my request) with Mpo, Nomfundo and two other girls Lunga and Dutu. I was SO EXCITED about teaching this class and created activities/lectures based on personal hygiene, digestive system and why we need: vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbs etc. (MCAT material put to good use). What I found to be even more exciting was learning about what the children thought of these topics. On day one we asked, "What do you hope to learn about in this class?" A multitude of answers flew out, "What is good nutrition? How can I make proper good food at a low cost? What is a good diet for someone with AIDS or for one with diabetes? What is diabetes?" and funnier ones, "Why do I momentarily die when I sneeze? Why are fat people fat? How do I not get fat?" Day one and two I spent a good 20 mins in each class answering all kinds of questions like these confidently with my knowledge from pre-med classes and MCAT material. Not that I'm an expert yet, but I had just enough knowledge to answer their questions fully and also feel kind of awesome about myself that I could share it with them. The rest of the week proved to be eye opening as well...for instance 18 year old boys didn't know that you should wash your hands frequently because there are things called germs and you should wash before and after eating and using the restroom. At least for 5 days I knew they were washing their hands, as I expected them to once their entered class...I also made them sing "Happy Birthday to me" twice to ensure they did it long enough. Better yet, was when I would hear them in the restroom in the dining hall singing Happy Birthday or when I would walk by a cabin...it was music to my ears.
A conflict to my zealous Nutrition classes was the actual Nutrition going on at camp. Global Camps has a food buyer in Soweto, an Afrikaaner lady who apparently has been in the business for many years and gets good food prices. I have been joking that going to an African camp was a good diet because I lost 5 pounds while I was there. There were three meals a day and here are typical menus for each:
Breakfast - everyday a scoop of cornflakes was available, on good days a hard boiled egg was given as well. Some days there was baked beans. The kids drink Coffee or Tea with approx 4 tablespoons of sugar in about a 6 oz cup.
Lunch - two rolls with one of the following: hot dog, magenta colored bologna, sloppy joe looking meat and sometimes a salad of iceburg lettuce, pasta on a good day
Dinner - some type of stewed meat (chicken lamb or beef) with carrots and potatoes and served with rice, pasta or "pop" (a staple in their diet, corn maize served thicker consistency than grits). spaghetti on a good day
Each meal accompanied by loaves of sliced bread that the children piled up on. I am not kidding when I tell you some of the older boys had 6 slices of bread each morning with butter and jam. It was incredible.
You can imagine my horror. Not because I'm a prissy American who gets to eat fresh vegetables from a farm everyday, but because we are teaching them a "healthy lifestyle" and that's not what we are showing them. The camp director KB was also horrified and he ate less than I did. Thankfully I had brought some snacks and protein bars and KB would go to town for fruit for me. The founder Phil of GCA and Sizanani seemed to pickup on my feelings toward the menu and has asked me to provide the organization with some menu suggestions that they could try to incorporate. His food buyer on the other hand is the problem who seems to have her own agenda, and while I understand its hard to do business in another country (which explains his reluctance to confront her completely) its really unacceptable what the kids are being served. Granted, most of these children only eat ONE meal a day, so that was heaven to them, but you cannot expect them to make better decisions on their own with out the experience and proper tools. Ok, so that was my only complaint about the whole experience.
Throughout the week, the girls began to warm up to me, especially because I let them play with my hair (I am not lying when I tell you everyone from Vocheli to child was facinated with my hair and wanted to touch it, I had 18 year old boys asking if they could just touch my hair. Black hair is tight and curly and everyone has braids or weaves, so the fact that I had long, flowing, colored hair was seriously the most fascinating thing to them). I won't lie, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment, I'm a sucker for someone playing with my hair or massaging my scalp. I'd often fall asleep every night to 5 girls braiding my hair.
The most important class for campers at Camp Siznanani is Life Skills. Life Skills is a combination of sex, drug, peer pressure, AIDS and poverty education mixed in with confidence building lessons and groups discussions. Life Skills carries out the mission of Sizanani, to ensure children have the proper and accurate information/facts on HIV/AIDS, to encourage them to get tested frequently throughout life and how to protect themselves from becoming infected. The sex and drug educational aspect is almost exact to what our students in the US experience in middle school and high school. The HIV/AIDS component explains how people can become infected, what is actually happening in their body, what treatments are available and also tries to debunk the cultural beliefs that exist toward the disease. There are a multitude of myths that exist, originating from gossip, hearsay or from tribal traditional healers. They are horrifying to our standards and impossible for us to understand how they could even be believed. I will share with you the most common myth shared with men, that if you have intercourse with a "virgin" you will be protected from ever getting the disease... Which is EXACTLY why there needs to be more educational outreach like Sizanani to the younger generations to STOP the promulgation of these abhorrent ideas. I was reminded of this in my nutrition classes where most students did ask me what actually is happening when you have HIV/AIDS and how should you take care of your body when you do have it. These children are bombarded with the words and ramifications of HIV/AIDS in their daily lives but many have no idea what it actually means to a person.
The Life Skills class culminates on the second to last day of camp with an exercise called "Journey of Life". This is actually quite similar to an activity I did while attending/leading the KAIROS camp in High School. Campers are asked to sit in a circle and close their eyes and finish the following sentence, "To everyone around me I appear to be.....however this is who I really am or this is what I'm really feeling....." Before the campers get a chance to open up, the Life Skills Vochelis begin by explaining to the campers how much they are loved and adored by everyone at Sizanani. That every bad thing that has happened in their lives is not their fault, they are not alone and that THERE IS HELP available to them. I attended this session with my two cabins and nothing can prepare you for the heartache that followed. First the children openly cry and begin to say things like, "Everyone thinks I'm happy but I'm actually very sad" then the awful stuff comes pouring out. These 13 and 14 year old children have seen and experienced more than an adult here could in their lifetime. Not to mention the things that the 17 and 18 year old teens opened up about...I won't go into the brutal details.
It was an emotional day for everyone at camp. All of the children had been through that painful exercise and all the Vochelis had broken hearts for them. The rest of the classes, like us in Nutrition, were told to be prepared and to let the children talk if they needed to. We did spend a few classes following up on the things they talked about or spent time just consoling them. Later that night, I spoke to Phil the founder and told him how angry I was after the things I had heard. Angry that children should suffer in such a way. I was also enlightened that everything I get upset about in my daily life is peanuts compared to the challenges they face. Granted, our lives are very different and we come from very different backgrounds, yet there is no denying the perspective that one is given after such an experience.
It continued to be a hard night with my girls after Journey of Life. Two in particular had recently experienced very traumatic things and cried on through the evening...all you can do is hold them and tell them they are not alone, there is help and it wasn't their fault. My favorite camper Gigi sat down with me that night as well and I thanked her for opening up so bravely during Journey of Life. She said that, yes it was awful what had happened to her but she has to try to stay strong and believe that there is something better for her in life. My sweet Gigi only 13 years old, already wise beyond her years and giving me a lesson on life. KB told me a few times after camp that I was an angel to these children by providing them with love and tools to be better in life, but Gigi and all the children are the true angels.
Having the children leave at the end of camp was difficult knowing they were going back into less than ideal situations, and it took everything I had to be strong for them so they would have the strength to go back home and hopefully use the tools they learned. Global Camps has set up after school programs in different townships where the children can go after school and on the weekends and continue to stay connected with the Vochelis and the things they learned at camp. While they are not yet in every township or neighborhood, they are making stride and will be opening up more this coming year. It is this part of Camp Sizanani experience that is vital to the children, to ensure they have access to the Vochelis and information they need to lead better lives after camp is over.
There is quite a bit more I learned in terms of cultural and social aspects to South African society and countless more memories and wonderful things that happened at camp I could share but I really hope to get a complete video together using the pictures and videos I took at camp to show you all. I can't wait for you to see the children singing and dancing!! I hope to have this accomplished in a few weeks and I'll make sure to find a place where everyone can come see the video at once.
What now? I first have to thank all of you for your support in my endeavor to attend Camp Sizanani. Each one of you helped make it possible through love, sponsorships, encouragement and most of all through your belief in me. Actually getting to go was a humbling experience as I have never felt so loved and supported in my life. The actual experience of Sizanani has forever changed me and the lives of 155 children. We are all now connected to one another...because you helped me get there you have helped Gigi by channeling love, support and tools to make her life better.
Despite the awful things persisting in our world, there is good to be done and change that can be accomplished. I've always believed that through education you can make a difference in the lives of many. Give people the facts and teach them and you will see them grow. I wholeheartedly believe in the mission of Global Camps and Sizanani and will continue to support it any similar organizations.
Thank you all again so much, I am so blessed....in fact we are all so blessed.
I included a picture of my girls from Cabin C.
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