Happy Holidays

Seasons Greetings from Malawi!

Karen, John, Mr. Veto, Ngoni, Jaren and the rest of the World Camp family

wishing you and your's all the best this Holiday Season!

Holiday "Green" Craze: Trees, Trees, Trees!

I'm not ashamed to admit my love for trees. I climb them, I read under them, I nap on their branches, yes, I even hug them. And though I hate the idea of taking one from it's home, I love the idea of having one in my home.    

Malawi, Africa

Last week some friends and I embarked on a journey for the perfect Christmas tree. What turned into an epic search for such a tree, got me thinking about sustainability and the holidays. This internal debate is by no means novel; environmentalists have danced around it for years. And not just about real and artificial trees. Recycled wrapping paper, sustainable gifts, energy used to manufacture toys, paper waste from presents and holiday parties.

Despite the lavish spending and production this time of year, the kid in me still believes there's something good that makes it all worth it. Looks of excitement on little kids' faces as they talk about Santa reminds us that we, too, are still young. Forgetting about the world's harshness, we connect for a moment of cozy happiness during wine and cheese parties. We throw aside diets and inhibitions, filling our bellies with delicious treats and our souls with obnoxious singing to Christmas songs. Holiday movies inspire us to believe in taking chances again, even if we don't act on them. We brave the stress and crowds of holiday shopping to find yet another way to show someone we care, though we could simply tell them.

I'll admit, it's a silly tradition when you think about. Covering a plant in blinking bulbs and little figures? But what's behind these strange activities and our indulgence in material goods, is a process. A process that, perhaps ironically, connects us to one other and our environment. We take time out of our busy lives to decorate the tree together, the completion is almost magical. Even the search for a tree is an adventure itself. Many of us forget to take adventures as we grow older. So call me crazy, but a part of me loves this season.

On our search last week, my friend's sister mentioned her slight guilt in cutting one down. The environmentalist in the back of my mind nagged "yeah, especially with the insane pine beetle kill in Colorado." Images of visible deforestation flying over Malawi and teaching about erosion flashed in my mind. My buddy, however, quickly retorted that she looked it up and cutting one 6 inches in diameter and close to other trees was actually healthy for the forest.

Ahmedabad, India

I silently reassured myself of this, as we drove further and further into the mountains and the forests looked lush and happy. I let the day's spirit permeate every inch of me. The crisp air, blue skies, sparkling snow and sheer ridiculousness of three girls and two dogs climbing with saws, arguing how big the tree would actually look in the house, and sliding a massive one down the mountain. "Green" or not, our adventure and our tree successfully yanked me out of wallowing in a world of suffering and material goods, and left me believing, once again, in whatever I found as a kid during the holidays.

I, of course, still researched Christmas trees a few days later. Though both sides of the debate are compelling, for those of you environmental worriers, tree lovers, or holiday fanatics, here are a few things you may find interesting:

• An acre of growing Christmas trees creates enough daily oxygen for 18 people. 
• The average tree farmer plants 2-3 seedlings each year for a single tree cut down for the holidays.
• Christmas trees may help prevent erosion while growing. 
• Live trees are PVC and lead free, carbon neutral and 100% biodegradable. 

Regardless of your tree choice this season, we hope your holiday adventures bring loads of happiness, connection and all around fun. 

Happy Holidays, from all of us at World Camp!

Links related to this post: 

The science behind a "green" and live Christmas tree.

Recycle your Christmas tree!

Christmas tree debate. 

How green is your tree? 

Staff Story: One of a Kind

World Camp is the first organization that got me hooked to kids. I always wanted to bring a change in the lives of the kids of Malawi, I just did not know how. But at the same time, I did not want to be a teacher. When I learned about World Camp and the work they do with kids, I was so interested and decided to become part of the organization.

Scholarship Recipients-Tamara, Litah, Lilian, Precaria
with Coordinator Scott Coriell and Doreen.

 

Working as a Scholarship Mentor got me so close to the kids World Camp works with. I got to learn their stories and serve as their mentor, not only with word of mouth but also with my behavior and grades in school. I learned about time management since I had to divide my time between work and school.

 

Standards 4  and 5 at Chakhala FPS

Through my college, I learned about Urban Promise, an organization that works with kids and youth in after-school programs and youth programs.  Because of my experience at World Camp, I decided to apply for an internship with this organization.  That is how I ended up in New Jersey, Camden. Both World Camp and Urban Promise serve under privileged kids. Kids that are forgotten and don't have a voice in society. Kids that have been labeled to amount to nothing.  This is what my life has always wanted to do: bring hope to the hopeless.

 

World Camp taught me that love knows no boundaries. That teaching kids while they are young is a great investment, to the kids, but also to the nation and the world at large.  If you give a kid a gift, it will be taken away or worn out but if you give them knowledge, no one can take that away. 

 

Doreen, Lusungu Masamba, Katy Lackey,
and Jackie Kalongosa

With World Camp kids learn about HIV/AIDS in ways that no one else could tell them. Malawi culture is a secretive culture. People don't want to talk about sex or condoms, let alone sexually transmitted diseases. World Camp helps kids in this culture to open up and talk about issues; issues that society has neglected but are affecting their lives greatly. It is amazing how many questions and misconseptions about HIV/AIDS these kids have.  World Camp brings light about HIV/AIDS and its reality to the dark secret corners of kids hearts.

 

World Camp has also been a great resource when it comes to renewing the environment. The organization teaches kids how to take care of their beautiful environment which they often take for granted. They teach how to replace trees whenever they use them.  World Camp has empowered kids to take responsibility not only over their lives, but also the environment they live in and the people around them.

 

I am still learning a great deal from World Camp. Bravo World Camp!!!!!!!!!

Submitted by: Doreen Jessica Kaphalayna, Malawi Field Assistant

*Part III in our Staff series. Check back for more reflections and updates from our in-country staff! Email submissions to info@worldcampforkids.org or katy@worldcampforkids.org 

A Volunteer's Story: A New Awareness and Connection to Humanity

As a sophomore in college, I was a wildlife biology major, Division 1 swimmer and looking to compete in triathlons. Then my mother sent me a newspaper clipping about a student from my high school who volunteered with World Camp in Malawi, Africa. In search of a wildlife adventure, I had always wanted to travel to Africa. So, for perhaps initially selfish reasons, I looked into the organization. I decided to apply, however, because it felt like an amazing opportunity to experience Africa and grow as an individual.

Fast-forward to the summer of 2005. I joined WC in Malawi with little knowledge of the country or awareness of the issues. But the WC participants, and the organization as a whole, quickly became my new community. It was within this community that we learned the curriculum and grew, both as individuals and as a team. In turn, this created an incredible environment for young villagers to learn about important issues. It was astounding how this brought them together as a larger community! Though 3-day camps seemed short, I saw we were able to build bonds through common interests. We used our time to listen and play games with kids in order to facilitate these bonds. We increased communication about issues through developing dialogues among the class, rather than merely speaking at our pupils.

I was training for an Ironman triathlon while in Malawi. I woke up early in the mornings to watch the sun rise and train before journeying to rural villages for camp. I connected myself to a bungee cord and swam in the pool at the WC house. Some days another volunteer or WC guard and I ran at the golf course (mostly utilized by European vacationers). I remember running in my lycra, hot as hell some days, as full body attire was more culturally appropriate. My strength training was accomplished by using Sobo juice bottles as weights and a bar with cement blocks attached to the ends. Returning after 6 weeks in Africa, I completed my first Ironman competition in late July! People were surprised by my success, considering my very unorthodox training. Despite the immense physical pain from completing a 2.5 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a 26 mile run in one day, what I realized was that so much in life is beyond a physical experience.

Everything about WC was an amazing experience: the educational camps, community presentations, village home-stays, field trips, time spent with local youth at a homeless shelter and reflection conversations with one another. Conditions and opportunities differ significantly in Malawi; they were not at all what I was accustomed to in the U.S. However, my experience with WC allowed me to be a part of a culture and community so different from my own. I learned so much from the children we worked with and their accomplishments. I developed a sense of hope and joy based on things other than material possessions. I found a beauty far beyond health clubs, athletic and educational success, nice cars, big houses and drunken stupors. WC opened me to an awareness of and connection to humanity. Though it may seem dormant at times, my experience planted a seed that continues to grow. It changed the way I see the world, other people and myself. We are not so separate after all.

WC taught me about myself as a human being and as part of something much greater than the individual; it taught me about the global community. I am a better athlete. A better student. A better human being. It opened my heart to experience and opportunity I had not imagined. I want to explore other landscapes, experience other cultures and enjoy wildlife around the world. I hope to continue in education and give a part of this awareness to others.

My experience in Malawi inspired my recent application to the Peace Corps...I’ll let you know what happens...

**Part VII in a series of reflections on how we internalize what we learn abroad into who we are back home. Email submissions to info@worldcampforkids.org or katy@worldcampforkids.org. Articles, thoughts, poems, quotes, pictures, etc. are welcome!*

And What About HIV?

"If you're not infected, you're affected."

These words are among many that struck deep at an AIDS awareness event last Wednesday. As part of the HIV education sector,  I was poised to ask my favorite "development work" questions and drink my support in red wine. What I got instead was a call to activism.

Speaker Jeff Fard kicked off the night by getting us to think about perceptions. It wasn't difficult. A black man talking about AIDS in a predominantly white upper-middle class town unconsciously stirs many perceptions. And when he reversed the situation, asking about others' perceptions of us, the crowd was quick to point out we were actually in Edwards, not Vail, and many work hard for their money.  But, back to perceptions and what this has to do with AIDS.

As many of you know, HIV/AIDS was originally termed a "gay disease" in the 80s. GRID or Gay-Related Immune Deficiency to be exact. No judgement towards those early scientists and doctors that first identified the virus. Thousands had already died of AIDs and today research traces the virus prior to 1924. But at the time GRID "made sense." In 1981 patients in California and New York surfaced with rare forms of pneumonia and other symptoms unresponsive to regular treatment. Most of these patients had two things in common: their sexuality and the indication of some other common illness. Eventually doctors considered the possibility it was transmitted sexually, and people realized it affected the entire population, not just gays.

Jeff was working at Mercy Hospital in Denver during those years. Before we identified modes of transmission, they burned those who died. Bodies, and everything they touched, were wrapped in red plastic bags and taken to the incinerator. Nurses and doctors were afraid to touch the infected. It was a crisis, but no one knew of what or how to address it.

What Jeff pointed out, however, was how much we owe to the gay community from that time. Yes, a group isolated sexually from the rest of society, is what allowed us to identify HIV. More than that though, was the group's response to the crisis. Perhaps partly because of stigmas attached to homosexuality at the time. Or because of the perception that HIV was a gay disease. Nevertheless, they were activists. Activists that held and supported each other. Activists that brought attention to a global epidemic. Activists that banned together to fight for their lives. And being activists had less to do with being gay, more to do with being human.

It's easy to look at HIV as epidemic of the poor, the black community, or another country. It's easy to look at the 20% in global reductions last year. It's easy to say we know how to protect it, and we're getting the crisis under control. But in the U.S., 1 in 5 people with HIV are unaware of their positive status. D.C. has a prevalence rate similar to countries in central and west Africa. Whether you work with gangs, corporations, little kids, or politicians, HIV is there. Jeff is right, we're infected or we're affected. HIV is a global epidemic, and that means it's a personal one as well.

I left the event thinking about the people who inspire me most, or even the ones I merely sit in awe of. The founders of our organization, who at 19 and 20, fought for a kid's right to life-saving information. A college friend who stood up at homelessness conference of 400 people to call out a gay-bashing comment. My students in India who tracked us down to find out how they could start an awareness club. A man in Cambodia who spends his days risking his life to de-mine the fields in which he planted land mines as a child soldier in the 60s. The people who wake up every day to face the harshness of this discouraging world believing that today they will make a difference.

We're students. We're volunteers. We're educators. But most importantly, we're also activists. I think we forget that sometimes. And as activists, let's ask the question I was challenged to that night. Wherever you are, whoever you're with, and whatever you're discussing, ask, "And what about HIV?"

A Volunteer's Story: From Botswana to Malawi

My time in Mochudi, Botswana was defined by my internship with BOFWA, or the Botswana Family Welfare Association. Mochudi's a fairly large village boasting over 40,000 residents, and after my last homestay in Manayan (4,000 people), Mochudi took some real getting used to. It has its own transportation system with at least 8 different routes going in all different directions, one internet cafe, four grocery stores, a lodge and a really cute main street with lots of little shops. I stayed with a great family for about three and a half weeks, working a total of 15 days for BOFWA.

BOFWA itself is based in Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana and has five branches in other villages, Mochudi being one of them. There were two paid staff members and a number of volunteers in Mochudi. BOFWA offers a number of services to the community. There is a large hall that can be rented out for functions (the Ministry of Agriculture held two events and the Mochudi Police Department threw a party), an HIV testing facility (Botswana has the second highest HIV prevalence rate in the world after Swaziland), a full clinic, basketball/netball/tennis courts that could be rented by adults or used for free by kids, and an afterschool center for Mochudi's youth. In addition, the volunteers of BOFWA will present or provide information on any topic to whoever asks for it.

 

I talked about the negative effects drug and alcohol abuse can have a community to a group of Standard 7 students during my first week with the organization. Although it was a slightly different topic than I normally cover with World Camp, returning to the front of a full classroom felt familiar and comfortable. It was a slightly frustrating experience as my Setswana, the most common language in Botswana, wasn’t as good as I would have liked for such a specific presentation. Although the students are taught in English, they couldn’t really understand anything I said, and my supervisor had to sum up my presentation once I had finished.

I also spent two mornings every week at Motswedi Rehab Center, a boarding school for the physically and mentally handicapped. Sometimes I played games like Simon Says or Duck Duck Goose with the older kids and then talked about hygiene, sex or abuse. The discussions were much like those I’ve experienced in Empowerment with World Camp, and I was again reminded that youth all over the world are facing the same issues and have the same questions. Other days at Motswedi, I stayed in the physical therapy room and played with the younger kids between their sessions. It was incredibly difficult to watch these kids be stretched out as they screamed in pain, but also knowing it would help so much in the long run.

Like so many NGOs, BOFWA’s biggest obstacle is funding. Although partially funded by the Botswana government, BOFWA is completely underfunded. It was frustrating to see such a vital and effective organization not be able to reach its potential because of a lack of money. With only one person working in the clinic, clients were sometimes turned away if Kealeboga, the supervisor and trained nurse, wasn’t in for the day. The Mochudi branch used to have a car to drive volunteers to events, but it was stolen and they haven’t been able to buy another.

I loved being on the other side of the HIV epidemic. Instead of solely teaching about HIV like I do with World Camp in Malawi, I watched adults come in for testing. I saw couples walk in together and walk into the counseling room separately. I saw kids playing netball after school and the BOFWA staff happy that they weren’t on the streets. I saw dedicated individuals talking to schoolchildren about the dangers of unprotected sex and malnutrition. I watched my colleagues pay their own khombi (public busses) fares to get to presentations around Mochudi. And, and what reminded me most of Malawi, are the incredible people I met who are completely dedicated to stopping the spread of HIV and saving lives in their community. 

Submitted by: Karen Clark, Coordinator, January 2010 volunteer

*Part IV in our Reflections series. Email submissions to info@worldcampforkids.org or katy@worldcampforkids.org. All forms of reflection encouraged!

World AIDS Day: Where Do We Stand?

Today holds both promise and sorrow. We celebrate World AIDS Day for the 22nd time, and recognize the strides made in research. We commend the attention global leaders and celebrities bring to the epidemic. We admire those with immense strength to keep fighting. But we are also left with anger at systems that fail their people. We mourn the loss of many. We struggle against barriers perpetuating the disease.

This year's theme is "universal access and human rights" and there's a lot to consider. So where do we stand?

33.3 million are living with HIV. 
2.6 million were infected in 2009 alone. 
1.8 million people died of AIDS last year.
9.5 million need life-saving drug treatment immediately. 
14 million children in Africa are AIDS orphans. 
30 million, worldwide, have lost their lives.


The numbers are staggering. But they are not without hope.

There's a 20% global reduction of new infections.
54% of pregnant women in Sub-Saharan Africa receive ARVs, up from 15% in 2005. 
The pope acknowledged condom use as a means for prevention.
HIV testing initiatives are reaching prisoners in developing countries.  
A UN project in Malawi has been distributing female condoms since 2008. 

Statistics and news aside, there's much reason to be hopeful. People are talking. Really talking. About HIV. Basic knowledge of transmission and prevention is apparent, now more than ever. This allows us to address the deeper issues of stigmas and gender disparities. Teacher involvement at our camps is rising. Students are starting awareness clubs of their own. The number of VCT centers is increasing.

There's strides towards universal access. NGO workers and ministries advocate for treatment programs. And for the first time, the HIV Millennium Development Goal is in sight. So we wake up today, hearts aching for those that suffer, but also with the hope that we'll reach zero new infections and human rights during this lifetime.


*Statistics gathered from WHO, UNAIDS, & Avert.