Rethink HIV: World AIDS Day 2015

By World Camp Intern Rachael Thorn

World AIDS Day is held each year on December 1st to continue support for the fight against HIV and to commemorate those who have died because of an HIV or AIDS related illness. It began in 1988, making this the 27th year of this international health day. While there have been great strides in the past three decades in understanding HIV and developing treatment, World AIDS Day reminds us that this struggle is not yet over. 

Here are some stats of what happened in 2014 alone (AVERT):
Estimated 36.9 million people living with HIV
2.6 million children living with HIV
54% of all people living with HIV know they have the virus
2 million new HIV infections
220,000 new HIV infections in children

This health pandemic still affects a huge number of the population. Although HIV is manageable with proper regimented treatment, there continues to be misconceptions, stigmatization, fear of getting treatment and lack of access to treatment that pose as obstacles. World AIDS Day is a time we can all come together and show solidarity in the fight against AIDS. Support our HIV health and education programs by visiting our donation page. You can also order your red ribbon.

Your gift provides services and awareness to Malawian communities. By taking this day to reflect on the evolution of this pandemic and rethink HIV, it gives us the opportunity to create new ways of providing support and infrastructure that can benefit those, especially youth, living with HIV in Malawi. Thank you!

Access to Health Care: How Governance Plays a Role

By Intern Rachael Thorn

World Camp’s work focuses on helping the people of Malawi access health care. There are many challenges to health access in Malawi and issues surrounding governance are a starting point to help us understand lasting and sustainable solutions for communities. 

Malawi’s government decreases its capacity to provide fundamental services to its citizens through poor governance that would ultimately only strengthen Malawi as a whole. The 2014 report of the Corruption Perception Report ranks Malawi as 110 out of 174 (with number 1 being the country with the least amount of corruption). Its score is 33 on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (not at all corrupt) (Transparency International).

Corruption Perceptions Index 2014
The perceived levels of public sector corruption in 175 countries/territories around the World:

What does this have to do with access to health care? Let’s take a look at Malawi’s government. Malawi appears to have a patronage system, which means the government rewards contacts in the private sector for their support or in exchange for furthering their political advantage. Between a patronage system and the large income disparity present in Malawi, we begin to see a vicious cycle of poverty and stagnation for lower classes. As there is less room for reward in sectors like education and health, for government officials and companies, less money is put into these underfunded sectors. Largely, a system has been put in place that is beneficial for some, but not for those who depend on the state to provide fundamental public services.

The 1998 Local Government Act was an attempt to introduce a framework that diminished instances of corruption. This was implemented “to further the constitutional order based on democratic principles, accountability, transparency and participation of the people in decision making and development processes” (Commonwealth Local Government Forum). However, Malawi’s rule of law lacked the ability to enforce this accountability that would come from the democratic process, because it was proposed without outlining methods to constrain the patronage system already in place. Thus, the pedestal of democracy did not have the legs to stand on and the tradition of patronage continued to dictate the priorities of the public sector.

We must remember that it is difficult to talk about the corruption in any country because it is only the perception of corruption that it is verifiable. Thus, to quantify it, such as the Corruption Perception Report does, only tells us part of the story. It is more important to understand that the citizens perceive this corruption based on the quality of life in their daily experiences and accessibility to public services. World Bank’s “survey results suggest that users (households and businesses) regard public institutions as delivering generally inferior quality services or alternatively that none of the public institutions listed are performing exemplary public service in Malawi. The performance and the perceived honesty/integrity of institutions are highly correlated” (eldis). It may be difficult to view public institutions as reliable for many citizens after the 2013 Cashgate scandal in which over 70 people were arrested in regards to illegitimate payments from the government that were being paid to civil servants who had previously supported political players.

Why is understanding corruption in state governance important? Where do we go from here? One major form of change comes through social mobilization that comes out of education, awareness and empowerment. World Camp is working towards all of these things. We face the systemic problems everyday and have to continue to believe that they are not unchangeable. The first step in mobilization is understanding where the foundation is cracked and how that crack trickles down to affect almost every aspect of society. The first of the World Bank suggestions for moving towards progress says: 

“In fighting corruption not only must the approach be holistic, but it must also be carried and supported by all stakeholders in the society” (Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Survey in Malawi). 

Continuing support of our work to include all citizens of Malawi in having an empowered voice can lead to improved access to health care and education. Our holistic programs reflect the suggestion of the World Bank and looking towards the future, the hope instilled in our partner communities can become empowerment—and empowerment can become change. 

World Camp Clubs Refocus

By Managing Director Emily Stallings

Do you remember a teacher who ignited your interest in learning or your passion for a certain subject? I remember teachers from all ages – my kindergarten teacher who would leave the room and come back in as our teacher’s magical sister; my middle school French teacher who taught us songs and encouraged us to use our introductory skills to chat with one another; my high school English teacher whose passion for literature and learning was simply infectious. Great teachers spur us on to learn through their enthusiasm and they can have a significant impact on our interests and development.

World Camp is working with teachers in Malawi’s public primary schools to equip them to make this kind of impact on their learners through our World Camp Clubs. WC has been working with teachers for over a decade to provide supplementary training on child-centered, interactive teaching methods and pressing health topics, beginning with HIV many years ago. Teachers that serve as faculty advisors to our World Camp Clubs (WCCs) are the cornerstone of the program. It is through the passion, dedication and knowledge of these teachers that the program succeeds.

To start off the new school year and a new year of WCCs, World Camp staff Chipingo (Country Manager), Zoey (Intern), and I (Managing Director) met with the Matrons and Patrons, as the faculty advisors are known, of our eleven WCCs on September 10. The meeting was to receive feedback on the previous year’s program and plan strategically for the coming year. The meeting was a wonderful success. Matrons and Patrons expressed the value they see in the WCC program as well as the challenges it faces. The group collaboratively completed a SWOT analysis of the program and moved on to planning for the new year.

I’m thrilled about the plans for the new school year. Teachers agreed that a more developed, shared curriculum would be a big help in implementing the WCC program. The way WCCs work is that WC staff train the Matrons and Patrons as well as the club-elected student leaders and support these individuals in running weekly meetings. The model is decentralized, empowering these individuals but demanding a lot of them, too. The teachers told us they feel capable and invested in running meetings, but also overwhelmed at times.

Together, we agreed having a specific health topic for each month (increased health knowledge is an essential piece of the WCC program) with detailed lessons and activities would provide an enhanced structure for the Matrons and Patrons. Another element of the WCCs is to build up the life skills of club members, so we ensured many weeks incorporate opportunities to flex those life skills muscles. Week 1 of a topic might be heavy on the knowledge component while Weeks 2, 3 and 4 emphasize group work, public speaking and leadership, for example.

So here we are! We’ve delivered the first month’s topic, lessons and activities to the Matrons and Patrons and they’re making their first go of it this month October’s health topic is sexual and reproductive health (SRH), which is a challenging one. We believe in them and we’ll keep you posted on their success!

Staying Connected with Our Kids

By World Camp Intern Zoey Ponder

With the end of Camp Hope comes the beginning of a new year of Camp Hope Follow-Up sessions. Follow-Up sessions are daylong events specifically for the campers that World Camp recruited to attend Camp Hope. These events focus on reinforcing the lessons learned at Camp in a smaller setting that allow campers to grow closer to one another and get one-on-one attention and counseling from World Camp’s dedicated mentors. The first session was all about encouraging campers to dedicate themselves to setting future goals and coming up with ways to achieve those goals. Managing Director, Emily Stallings and I were lucky enough to get to participate in this year’s first Follow-Up. 

The first session, held on September 19th, had two activities to teach our campers how to focus on their goals. One of these activities was a game led by Makhumbo Bwanali, former World Camp staff member and long-time Camp Hope Mentor, intended to help the campers see the importance of focus in achieving their goals. Makhumbo led the campers through a card game to teach them the benefits of focusing on their goals and how to help their fellow campers stay focused. 

For the other activity, I taught the kids how to make an American craft, dream catchers. Dream catchers were an excellent activity to illustrate goal setting and focus because of the significance of dream catchers. The legend of the dream catcher says that bad dreams get caught in the web while good dreams flow through the hole in the middle of the web and down the feathers onto dreamers. The dream catchers serve as a perfect symbol for resilience – allowing the dream catcher to filter out all the negative thoughts while letting positive thoughts filter through. We decided to have the beads of the dream catcher symbolize goals and the feathers symbolize methods of achieving your goals. One feather was made of paper on which the Mentors helped campers write their goals for the future and strategies for achieving them. One girl wanted to be a nurse and a Camp Hope Mentor and asked me how, other than school, she could achieve her goals. Together, we decided she should practice caring for the people she already knows and helping others. She was so excited by this new idea she flashed a huge smile as she wrote it down lightning fast on her methods feather. It was wonderful to see what all the kids want to be when they grow up; many have dreams of helping others by being police officers, nurses, or mentors. 

At the end of the activity the kids proudly showed off their dream catchers and we took pictures of each camper in front of all the dream catchers made by the group. It was beautiful to see all the bright beads and feathers symbolizing all our campers will one day achieve. 

After activities we had lunch prepared by our nutritionist Thandie, who single handedly prepared food for upwards of fifteen people - she was quite the impressive cook! After lunch, she sat with all the kids to talk about the nutritional value of what they ate. I was impressed by how eager all the kids were to talk about their goals and share their knowledge about food groups and healthy eating. 

Last, we had time to hangout and play. Several of the girls were very fascinated with my hair as I had just cut it very short. They ran their hands through it about ten times before they believed it was my natural hair. 

At the end of the day, with healthy snacks and dream catchers in tow, the kids headed home. One girl held my hand and thanked me “for all I had done for her”. She thanked everyone in this manner, the most sincere thank you I’ve seen anyone of any age give in a long time. All the kids were so open and wonderful, always reaching for a hand to be held or jumping at the chance to answer a question. 

The World Camp Rover left the driveway full of waving, singing campers excited about their day and looking forward to the October Follow-Up session!

Connecting Community Engagement with a Global Mission

By World Camp Intern Rachael Thorn

World Camp’s United States headquarters are located in Asheville, NC, a small city known for its active local engagement and progressive ideas centered on community. As our focus lies on Malawian communities, it is necessary to understand how to motivate a tight-knit local community to become active in a far away community. Many people become more invested in projects when they are directly affected. For example, issues concerning climate change are more likely to be addressed when adverse effects are noticeable and affect one’s every day life. So, how do we connect community engagement with a global mission? What gets people passionate in engaging with an organization whose outcomes benefit those living in different parts of Malawi?

We should consider that the three aspects of community engagement involve decision-making, capacity building, and relationship development (Bang the Table). While these three facets are not mutually exclusive, a broader engagement relies most heavily on relationship development to engage citizens at a local level. Since the local community does not directly see the benefits of engagement, it is necessary for the lens to be widened to include a global vision and to redirect what a successful outcome looks like.

This is difficult, as modern psychology shows that humans are generally insensitive to scope. This means if you could save 1,000 birds by giving $80, you would not increase that amount proportionately if you were saving 10,000 birds. Since individuals are rather unaware of scope, the next approach to successful community engagement is outreach. If more people can become excited about the global vision, then the cumulative engagement will be more powerful than from a few individuals who will not be more driven to give by an ever increasing need. This is relationship development.

 Engagement through relationship development can come about by combining a few tools. These include: accessibility to information, clarity of mission and vision, providing welcoming and approachable events, implementing reward systems, and engaging with already present community staples. One of the best ways to keep the local community engaged is to make progress visible and current. Luckily, our globalized world can provide the reward of seeing the effects of donations or involvement almost instantly as pictures, videos, and online posts can keep donors updated on the successes that are happening everyday.
Stay connected to World Camp’s programs and projects, not only through this blog, but also on Facebook (World Camp Inc.) and Instragram (@worldcamp_Malawi).

Graphics from Bang the Table

Reflections on Camp Hope

By Intern Zoey Ponder

As this summer’s sessions of Camp Hope wind to an end and World Camp begins to prepare for our year-round programming, we all take the time to pause and reflect on our time spent at Camp. I was lucky enough to spend four days at two different camp sessions this year and will forever remember how touching this opportunity has been. 

Camp Hope is held in a beautiful setting, sort of off the beaten path about an hour outside of Lilongwe. The campsite lies against the backdrop of amazing rocky peaks and surrounded by quiet villages and farmland. The last fifteen minutes of the drive in is filled with kids yelling “azungu” (a friendly nickname for someone with light skin) and waving at the car as we bounce up and down on the dirt road. The campsite itself has large boys’ and girls’ dorm rooms as well as a huge dining hall in the center. Off to the right of the dorms and dining hall is a soccer field and the main hall and classrooms are over on the far side of that. 

Meal times are some of the silliest times. Kids have three meals and three snacks each day to help teach the value of nutritious eating and to provide valuable nutrition they may not receive at home. It was at Camp Hope that I tried Malawian food for the first time. Everyone is encouraged to eat as much as they want, as it was explained to me by an enthusiastic camper, “This is Africa, EAT EVERYTHING!” Meal times are also utilized to teach campers important food groups, staying hydrated and to celebrate the “Super Campers”. Super Campers are campers who are celebrated for their accomplishments at Camp during “Camp Kawawa” - which is essentially a big party of singing and dancing and giving out awards for any number of accomplishments that can earn one the “Super Camper” certificate. 

Outside of mealtimes the day is filled with loads of activities, special classes on all sorts of topics from the stigma attached to HIV to arts, crafts and campfires. I was very impressed to see the kids memorizing their ART (antiretroviral therapy) treatments and pill names so they can advocate for themselves and understand their treatment. Kids at Camp Hope get the chance to learn a lot about HIV and how they can help keep themselves healthy, like the importance of taking your treatment each day and the value of nutritious food. 

One of my favorite activities was the creation of a goals book. Campers got a picture of themselves taken in front of the Camp Hope sign, which many of them were very excited to share with me—and let me tell you these kids know how to strike a pose! Inside their books, they are encouraged to write what they want to achieve with their lives. Many of them wrote professions like a nurse or an accountant. They then wrote how to achieve these goals, what might stand in their way and how to overcome those obstacles. It was amazing to see kids who very seriously wanted to figure out how to achieve their goals. They were even asking me how to reach their goals and wanting me to share my goal book to them. It was an honor to have them want to share their books with me. 

Camp Hope really is a wonderful place for these kids. I saw so many of them laughing, holding hands, dancing together and sharing stories of struggle and hopes of a very bright future. These kids face a lot every day, but they are brave. Together, I saw them standing tall, whether it be dancing on the stage at Stage Night or in the lunch room receiving their “Super Camper” award. I am very proud of everyone who took part in this year’s Camp Hope and I can only hope that Camp Hope will continue to reach more kids each and every year.

A Hopeful Future

HIV was first reported in Malawi in 1985. Since then, the spread of HIV has reached 10.8% of the adult population. “Malawi has a generalized HIV epidemic. HIV prevalence among persons aged 15 to 49 years has been declining steadily from 16.4% in 1999 to 11.8% in 2004 and then 10.6% in 2010.” Not only does the disease affect the adult population, but about 170,000 children also live with HIV (Malawi AIDS Response Progress Report 2015).

Photo: AVERT
An HIV prevention poster in Mzimba, Malawi.

Counsellor explaining about HIV testing and treatment on World AIDS Day, Malawi - See more at: http://www.avert.org/hiv-aids-malawi.htm#sthash.qndVapSH.dpuf

Counsellor explaining about HIV testing and treatment on World AIDS Day, Malawi - See more at: http://www.avert.org/hiv-aids-malawi.htm#sthash.qndVapSH.dpuf

Counsellor explaining about HIV testing and treatment on World AIDS Day, Malawi - See more at: http://www.avert.org/hiv-aids-malawi.htm#sthash.qndVapSH.dpuf

Increased prevention work and education over the past decade attributed to the decline in new cases. Although, Malawi’s infrastructure and economic standing make it difficult to truly erase it from epidemic status. Recent years indicate positive steps in the right direction, but prior decades of poor governance and constrictive bureaucracy left behind a lot of work to be done.

HIV prevention and access to antiretroviral drugs are the focuses to curbing the spread of the disease. Initiatives currently implemented include: expanding voluntary HIV testing and counseling (HCT/ VCT), prevention of mother-to-child transmission services, condom promotion and distribution, voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC), blood safety measures, mass media campaigns, and life skills education (LSE) for young people (AVERT).

Many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) collect high volumes of data in their hands-on work to identify the most common causes of transmission and the most affected demographics. Organizations such as the World Bank, the Global Fund, the World Health Organization, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) have all taken an active role in funding and planning to decrease incidence and increase awareness in Malawi (AVERT).

Photo: AVERT
Counselor explaining HIV testing and treatment on World AIDS Day, Malawi.

UNAIDS, specifically, leads the way in analyzing target goals to catalyze initiative to eliminate HIV/AIDS. Their plan for 2015 has been very successful. The target goal for 2015, as set out in the Millennium Development Goal 6 of 2000, has been surpassed. This year, UNAIDS “celebrates the milestone achievement of 15 million people on antiretroviral treatment—an accomplishment deemed impossible when the MDGs were established 15 years ago… [Worldwide,] new HIV infections have fallen by 35% and AIDS-related deaths by 41%” (UNAIDS).

Malawi’s steadily improving situation reflects the larger global picture, but meeting goals requires working within localized communities. Greater awareness and education will lead to a better perspective on HIV prevention in Malawi. For example, many adults do not get tested, but simply assume they are living with HIV because of its prevalence. Unsafe sex is justified by choosing partners based on their societal status or perceived cleanliness. Even if precautions are taken, condom use and safe sex practices are rarely being implemented on a consistent basis. Education, access to testing sites, and decreased stigmatization of testing will be key factors in the next five years in continuing to improve the state of Malawi’s HIV epidemic.

Looking to the future, UNAIDS’s highlights its target goals for 2020, “90% of people living with HIV will know their HIV status, 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy, and 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression” (UNAIDS 90-90-90).

By World Camp Intern Rachael Thorn

Loving the Warm Heart of Africa

By World Camp Intern Zoey Ponder

It is my eleventh day here in Malawi and I am growing to love “ The Warm Heart of Africa” more and more. In just 11 days, I have experienced two trips to Camp Hope as well as adventures to Dedza and around Lilongwe. Lilongwe is the capital of Malawi and home to the World Camp house, which has quickly come to feel like home to me. Each time we return, I am always excited to get back to our evenings of dinner and chatting and days full of trips to various markets and other spots around the city.

Everywhere you go, there are vendors along the side of the road with all sorts of goods from sugar cane to woven furniture and everything in between. On the trip home from Camp the other day we even saw members of the Gule Wamkulu, a secret cult that performs dances at ceremonies, walking along the roadside.

One of my favorite parts of coming “home” is the men who work around the house. John is the House Manager and one of my favorite people to chat with. Each morning when I wake up John can usually be found in the kitchen and makes my mornings a delight (which for me is no easy task) his big smiles and mannerisms can cheer up anyone’s day; not to mention that he makes one mean shepherd’s pie! Ngoni is the Grounds Manager and he is always bringing in beautiful eggplant and tomatoes that he grows in the yard and greeting us at the gate with the enthusiasm of seeing a much missed friend. He makes coming home feel like a celebration regardless of how long I’ve been gone.

During our trip to Dedza and Camp you get to drive past some beautiful scenery, mountains which stick up out of the ground so sharply it is as if someone dropped them down from the sky. Baobab trees that stand broad and tall against the backdrop of villages with tall grass fences and roofs. Kids drive cattle carts alongside the road and roving bands of goats stress Emily out by always lingering too close to, if not in, the road.

In our trip to see the ancient rock paintings near Dedza we got to hike up one of the mountains to a cave with 2,000 year old paintings of animals and people on the ceiling. There is a chameleon, a duck, a person, a lion, a bull as well as other animals painted in black and white and still very visible after all this time. On the way back down the mountain to view even older rock art, we even saw some monkeys hanging out in nearby trees.

Closer to the village, there is rock art done by Pygmies that is 10,000 years old. The Pygmy rock art is red and reaches impressively high up, the Pygmies used ladders or stood on each other’s shoulders to paint all sorts of scenery including a nearly 20ft tall giraffe which was my personal favorite.

The longer I stay in Malawi, the more I see how beautiful this place is. Whether it is the beauty in the culture of kindness or the incredibly cute kids at Camp and everywhere else or in the breathtaking sunsets every evening, I cannot stop marveling at Malawi. In the next few weeks, I have no doubts I will continue being amazed as we travel to the Lake and as we start work on our different programs that will kick off in September and October. 

Greetings from Camp Hope!

After years of writing about Camp Hope and working to make it possible each summer, I had my first chance to visit yesterday. The experience was as moving and fun as I could have ever imagined. The campers, like all groups of Malawian children I’ve gotten to hang out with, were sweet, excited to meet a new person, and super energetic. I was invited to eat at a different table for every meal, but I barely sat down before the kids were eagerly asking, “What’s your name?”

Camp Hope is a camp that serves specifically youth living with HIV. These children, so considerate and adorable, are all facing a tremendous life-long challenge. Camp offers our newly-disclosed to youth a chance to come to terms with their diagnosis, learn more about their disease, and bond with other children facing similar difficulties. It’s jam-packed with fun activities, but also designed to provide campers with knowledge and skills they will need to care for themselves throughout their lives.
One of the absolute highlights of my visit was meal time. Campers are clustered into Color Groups that sit together at meals and participate in activities together. During meals campers chant songs, break out into dance and celebrate each other’s achievements from the day. Two campers from each Color Group are recognized at every meal, sung to the front by the whole Camp – enthusiastic hands pounding out a rhythm on the tables. Mentors (think Camp Counselors) recognize the success of these campers: Describing their positive contribution, Labeling the attributes this speaks to, and Praising the camper for this behavior.

I was so happy to find that my visit fell on Day 5 of Camp which features Stage Night in the evening. Stage Night is a talent show that really lays clear what a supportive, nurturing environment Camp is. Each Color Group spent much of the day preparing a presentation to share with the rest of Camp. The presentations showcased the campers’ talents while also emphasizing the importance of Camp Hope to our youth. My favorite moments were when campers recited poems they had written about Camp, or the importance of adhering to your HIV drug regimen.

Both World Camp Intern, Zoey Ponder, and I will be visiting Camp again next week. We can’t wait. We’ll be back with more updates for sure!

Risky Business: Malawi's Youth and Tobacco

In the past decade, Malawi has become one of the worlds five largest tobacco producers. (Aljazeera) As a result of Malawi’s high-nicotine, low-cost tobacco, many major cigarette brands are including Malawian tobacco in their blend. More than 90% of Malawi’s tobacco is bought by U.S.-based leaf buyers Universal Corporation and Alliance One International. These companies resell to tobacco firms, amongst these firms are such big names as Phillip Morris (Marlboro) and British American Tobacco (Lucky Strike) (The Guardian). Malawian tobacco can be found in the blend of nearly every cigarette smoked in the west. 

At first glance the industry may seem good for Malawi, being that it is one of the least developed nations in the world, ranking 153 of 169 countries in the human development index. (Aljazeera) Unfortunately, however, the tobacco industry has done little to improve the situation for Malawians and much to improve the payout for the large western companies that purchase the incredibly cheap “green gold”. The price of this tobacco is kept low for big business in a multitude of ways. There are low tariffs on unmanufactured tobacco imports and a low labor cost. The labor cost is often kept so low by employing child laborers.  

Photo: The Guardian

Though the minimum age to work in Malawi is officially 14, it is common to see children as young as five picking tobacco alongside their parents. It is estimated that 20% of children aged 5-14 in Malawi are working. (Bureau of International Labor Affairs) Many of these children drop out of school to work in tobacco farms and other industry and are unable to return to school or only able to attend school sporadically. Child laborers are especially susceptible to work-related injury and illness. When working with tobacco, large amounts of nicotine can be absorbed through the skin causing nicotine poisoning, an incredibly common ailment amongst child tobacco workers. Large tobacco industries claim not to support farms that employ child laborers, but often do little to actually prevent child labor. In addition, the legal framework to prevent child labor in Malawi is weak. 

The most effective method thus far for preventing child labor is pressure on the companies that purchase the tobacco, in turn putting pressure on the government as well as farms. Other groups suggest improving the school system to attract children and families to enroll and stay in school. This is problematic, however, since many families need the children to work in order to support the family. An improved education, though valuable, would not immediately help support the family. The main groups making headway within the farming system and the government are small NGO’s and other grassroots programs that support both the children and the family. Still, with tobacco sales comprising 70% of Malawi’s income and Malawi being one of the most child labor-intensive economies in the world, it is unlikely much will change as long as companies can keep the tobacco cheap.

This blog was written by Zoey Ponder

The Camp Hope Experience

With Camp Hope just around the corner (the first session on August 2nd and the last on August 18th) we at World Camp are quite excited. Camp Hope is a summer program that happens each summer for kids in Malawi living with HIV. With a HIV prevalence of 10.6% HIV is unfortunately common amongst Malawian youths. Camp Hope gives these kids a space to meet other youths living with HIV and engage in educational programs to help them cope.

Some of the main focuses of Camp Hope are to: increase understanding of anti-retroviral therapy (ART), promote nutritious eating and healthy living, as well as to improve self-confidence and decision making skills. Youths living with HIV and their guardians face a plethora of issues ranging from social stigma around HIV/ AIDS to remembering the names of treatments and how to take them. Camp Hopes both guardians and youths to handle these issues by developing programs which help kids handle all aspects of their health as much as they can while enabling guardians to provide the best support.

This year Managing Director Emily Stallings and myself are traveling to Malawi in the beginning of August to assist with this year’s Camp Hope. This will be my first year helping out in Malawi after interning in the Asheville offices for a year and I could not be more excited. Camp Hope will be my first opportunity to try doing what I want to do for the rest of my life; teaching health education abroad, particularly sexual health education. While there’s room for improvement in the American sexual education system, I feel that teaching sexual health in the developing world truly change the world. Especially in countries like Malawi, where 46.9% of the population is under the age of 14, empowering youths with knowledge of sexual health could prevent so many negative health outcomes.

Camp Hope is particularly interesting for me because of the holistic approach they take. Sexual health and ART understanding are taught right alongside healthy cooking and eating classes as well as classic camp activities like crafts and games. Even after the completion of Camp Hope there are Camp Hope Follow-Up sessions and Guardian sessions to reinforce and expand upon the themes at camp. I’m so looking forward to seeing the effect that Camp Hope has on these kids and their families as well as on myself and the staff and take that knowledge with me into my career.  Here’s to another great session of Camp Hope for all the kiddos and the adults, we all have a lot to learn!

At A Curve in the Road, Thank You to All Our Volunteers

This summer, for the first time in 14 years, World Camp is not leading a volunteer teaching program. Summer 2015 will mark the official close of our long-standing Outreach Through Education (OTE) program, as we make a full transition to year-round, locally driven programming spearheaded by 3 major initiatives: World Camp Clubs, MediServ, and Camp Hope.

This is a huge, but important step for World Camp. HIV, gender inequality, and environmental degradation remain pressing issues for Malawian communities. But – in large part due to what WC’s OTE program and others have accomplished – needs related to these issues, and the best ways to address them, have changed.  

Nevertheless, this step feels foreign and a little surreal. Since the founders of World Camp traveled through southern Africa in 2000, summer has meant organizing and leading volunteer trips. It has meant the chance to introduce new, wonderful people to the World Camp family: energetic volunteers traveling across the world with a shared passion and vision. A time of incredibly hard work and immeasurable fun leaving an indelible mark on hundreds of volunteers and tens of thousands of students and individuals.

For so many of us, being a World Camp (for Kids) volunteer or intern was one of the most formative experiences of our lives. Being a WC volunteer was both deeply personal, but also communal. While we learned about ourselves and explored new places, we also interacted with diverse people and built new relationships. While most volunteers experience great personal growth, we can’t discount the impact we were making. Over 400 volunteers served communities on three continents, reaching nearly 23,000 people directly. Life-saving HIV prevention information was being spread in remote communities that otherwise lacked access to such knowledge. The morning songs and large groups of foreigners brought excitement to our students, as well. The national HIV prevalence rate has gone from around 20% to 10.6% in Malawi over the time WC volunteers have been teaching.

The incredible dedication and insight of our volunteers over the years helped World Camp grow deep, meaningful roots in Malawi – our operations in Honduras and India were always more tentative. While local translators, field assistants, staff advisers, and camp participants have always been a crucial perspective and source of support for World Camp, we've placed an even stronger focus on local ownership in recent years. Our goal of increasing Malawian participation and leadership in every aspect of World Camp’s work has led us to year-round programming managed and implemented by Malawians.

Having been WC volunteers and having seen the amazing impact our volunteers have had, World Camp continues to value the role that passionate, intentional people can play in development in any part of the world. When we look at the future of WC we see a strong role for volunteers but in a different capacity. It has long been the hope of all WC volunteers to see Malawians with the skills and knowledge to manage their own community development. We see great potential in our partner communities and staff, and the time has come to support rather than lead them.

Volunteer opportunities with World Camp are not closed – there are always ways to stay involved and we hope you will be there to support our work and engage with us, as we hope to remain involved with you. 

Thank you all for everything you’ve done to enable World Camp to grow to its current state. We absolutely could never have succeeded without each and every one of you. Know that you have made an impact, not only on World Camp, but the children with whom you came into contact. Thank you for helping us reach out to these individuals, together we made a difference.

Please check out our other programs if you haven’t already. We think it’s pretty amazing to see what started as group of friends and grew into a family of diverse volunteers has flourished into. Thank you for supporting us – thank you for being us. 

Reach out to us at any time with any questions about this transition. We’ll be in touch too! Still with alumni updates, Throwback Thursdays, alumni happy hours, and more. We hardly see this as an end to the relationship WC has with alumni, but rather just another curve in a very long, exciting road.

Below you can check out a slideshow we have created covering all 14 years of the volunteer program to mark this occasion. We have also created a webpage on this topic. That can be found here.

Emily Stallings

Managing Director

January 2005 Volunteer, Malawi

Summer 2008 Program Coordinator, Hondo

Back to Basics - WC's Mission, Vision, Approach and Programs

What would you say are the defining values of World Camp? What values do you hold that you associate with World Camp? In recently answering that question, I came up with the following responses:

Belief that improved health and education are the bedrock to increasing people’s choices and freedoms
Malawians know what kind of solutions will work best in their communities
Belief that access to information and skill-building empower individuals and communities, enabling them to gain control of their futures
Young people are open-minded and quick to pick-up new skills: they are an important demographic to work with
Conveying all the above in supportive, safe, and open environments will increase the impact of each element as well as create positive outcomes of its own.

While this list is not exhaustive, it does touch on some of the central tenants of our work, how we approach change, and our values, mission, and vision.
As you may have seen on Facebook or our website, we recently updated our mission statement. While we don't see this mission as a departure from our previous work, it shows how we're growing as an organization.  Our new mission statement is, “World Camp improves access to quality health services, education, and resources through community-driven initiatives in Malawi.” We hope you like it and see your own passions and desires in it.

While our primary sector of focus may be health, we are working toward improving health through education, capacity-building, community-driven programs, and creating supportive environments where individuals can grow. We believe these elements can reinforce each other and will enable our partner communities to take their health and well-being into their own hands.
While not all year-round programs address health through all four elements, each one does address health challenges through at least one of these elements. Not sure you remember the details of the programs I’m referring to? Here’s a little refresher on each and how they’re tackling health challenges in Malawi.
Camp Hope is a residential summer camp and year-round support program specifically designed for Malawian youth living with HIV. It confronts health issues by providing direct medical care while also preparing youth to better care for themselves. The environment is incredibly supportive and informative. World Camp provides year-round support to campers from the Malikha Zone – this provides ongoing psychosocial support and capacity-building.
MediServ is an international medical volunteer program that provides much needed medical interventions to Malawian patients and hands-on training of Malawian healthcare providers. Western-trained surgeons and support staff travel to Malawi and work in the primary public hospital in Lilongwe, providing surgeries and emergency room procedures. MediServ volunteers work hand-in-hand with Malawian medical staff, increasing local knowledge and capacities.
World Camp Clubs are student-run after school clubs supported by World Camp in our 11 partner primary schools. These clubs address challenges in their communities while also providing a venue to build the capacity and confidence of youths. Further, World Camp Clubs serve as a way to extend the learning day so that club members can learn more about health and life skills topics. World Camp Clubs and World Camp collaborate to undertake community improvement projects that are intended to touch the lives of all community members.
I’m very proud of what we were able to achieve in 2014 and believe this year is looking to be even more impressive. Internally, World Camp staff and Board of Directors have been working intensely to sharpen our focus and refine our programs. I’m excited that all this work is beginning to manifest and our impact is growing. Stay tuned!

- Emily Stallings, Managing Director

Sustainable Development Goals- Moving Past the MDGs

The Millennium Development Goals are a list of eight goals set by the United Nations in 2000 as a sort of “report card” for individual countries and the world as a whole to monitor their progress on in key development areas in the first 15 years of the century. The eight goals served as a pledge by the U.N. to, “uphold the principles of human dignity, equality and equity, and free the world from extreme poverty.” (UN) These goals had yearly reports to assess progress with the ultimate goals to be achieved by 2015. With the end of the MDGs coming this year, the international community is working hard to develop a new and improved set of goals to replace them; these goals have been named the Sustainable Development Goals.
Through the Millennium Development Goals the U.N. and international community have been able to: reduce extreme poverty by half, improve access to drinking water sources for 2.3 billion people, reduce disparities in primary school enrollment between boys and girls, increase the number of women participating in politics, and nearly halve the child mortality rate globally, as well as improve global health and quality of life in a number of other areas. (UN) It appears that the model of setting a few clearly stated international goals and providing yearly assessment of the progress towards these goals has helped the world to focus its intentions and achieve some major improvements. One of the major pitfalls if the MDGs, however, is that they largely focus on low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) with little focus on improvements in high-income countries. Many parties felt little was asked of high-income countries beyond the onus of funding.
  This is why, in 2012, when the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were suggested at the Rio+20   summit the group focused on improving life for all people and therefore knew more goals would have   to involve commitments from high-income countries. “In a world already undergoing dangerous climate   change and other serious environmental ills, there is also widespread understanding that worldwide   environmental objectives need a higher profile alongside the poverty-reduction objectives.”   (The Lancet) The SDGs therefore, aim to reduce poverty and improve healthcare worldwide though   promoting sustainable development. Though the list had not yet been finalized or accepted by the U.N.   the current list of goals can be found here. Currently, it has 17 goals with 169 targets.
The SDGs aim to take all the best elements of the eight MDGs, yearly reports, concise goals (some of which are the same) and international support and combine that with more global incentives like the reduction of desertification and the conservation of the oceans. Some of the SDGs focus on developed areas, such as Goal 11 which pushes for safe, sustainable cities (http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jan/19/sustainable-development-goals-united-nations).  This shift of the focus to include cities and established systems should help to involve high-income countries and improve life there alongside life in LMIC. In an attempt to represent the priorities of people all over the world the U.N. has created a website, My World, where you can vote for which six SDGs you would prioritize. The SDGs are expected to be finalized this year at the UN New York Summit in September and become applicable from January 2016 - December 2030, so get voting!

This post was written by Zoey Ponder and Emily Stallings

Family Planning and Overpopulation in Malawi

The Malawi Minister of Health, Dr. Jean Kalilani, recently released a statement saying that the birth rate in Malawi is too high. The current fertility rate in Malawi is 5.66 children per woman with an average age at first birth of 18.9 years of age. (CIA World Factbook) Over population is tied to a plethora of issues not only limited to medical care, though that is the current focus of the Minister of Health. Overpopulation effects deforestation (see last blog post) and food security, as well as poverty and other issues facing Malawi. The population of Malawi has faced a huge spike from three million in 1950 to fifteen million in 2010 and Malawi finds itself struggling to support so many people. (IRIN)

According to Dr. Kalilani, overpopulation is largely to blame for the overcrowding of hospitals saying, “We are doing our best to decongest the hospitals, but what is happening is that we are     just making too many children and the population is growing and there will be more patients going to the hospital.” (Nyasa Times) As of 2011, Malawi’s hospital bed density was 1.3/1,000 people, meaning that for every 1,000 people in Malawi there is 1.3 beds available in a medical care facility. This can lead to hospitals being unable to accommodate all patients and sometimes putting more than one person in a bed or having patients sleep on the floor or in hallways. In some cases, hospital overcrowding forces hospitals to release patients as quickly as possible to accommodate those with the greatest need. Situations like this have an effect on everyone’s health, especially the health of children and pregnant women. In Malawi the infant mortality rate is 48.01 deaths/ 1,000 live births and the maternal mortality rate is 460 deaths/ 100,000 live births. As Dr. Kalilani puts it, if there were less infants and pregnant mothers, hospitals would be more capable of providing better care to mothers and children and reduce these rates.

The current situation in Malawi is, however, better than it has been. The fertility rate has dropped from 7.62 children per woman in 1980; the infant and mother mortality rates have dropped respectively and the life expectancy has risen to 59.99 years of age. This is largely due to international attention to the issue of overpopulation: countries around the world are seeing the effects of population increase and Governments, NGOs and other organizations have begun family planning and education programs to help reduce the rate. The Malawian Government even recently increased the minimum age of marriage to 18 in the hopes of increasing the age at first birth and reducing maternal/infant mortality rates. (Reuters) A large part of the issue is a lack of understanding of reproductive health and contraceptive choices. 
 
Contraceptive prevalence (the number of sexually active women who use some form of   contraception during intercourse) in Malawi is 46.1% currently, meaning that about half of all   women will admit to using contraception. As for the other half there are three main barriers:   cultural acceptance; accessibility, and; understanding. In some areas in Malawi (particularly   rural areas) women need their husband’s or even elders’ permission to use contraception,   meaning that on top of educating women of their reproductive choices there also needs to be   education for men and the village as a whole. This education can help to relieve the confusion   and disapproval for contraception in the eyes of everyone making it easier for women to seek   contraception if they desire it. Another issue is accessibility. Women need access to reliable   reproductive care that is affordable. Some people cannot afford condoms or other forms of contraception and need options for how to protect themselves at little or no cost to them. Finally, education is key: proper hygiene and understanding of contraceptive choices/ methods can help everyone to stay healthy. (IRIN)

This blog was written by Zoey Ponder

Deforestation and Malawi's Floods

As Malawi continues to recover from the recent flooding many Malawians have begun asking why this year’s floods caused so much devastation. It is true that there was an unusually high amount of rainfall this rainy season due to weather patterns, but that is not the only factor. Deforestation played a major role in making this year’s flooding so widespread and devastating.
Trees help mitigate heavy rainfall by helping to disperse heavy rainfall in a number of ways. Trees hold more water than many other forms of vegetation, like grasses or crops, acting as a sponge to soak up much of the rainfall. In addition, tree roots loosen the soil, creating space that can be filled with excess water, preventing run off. Lastly, trees slow the route rainwater to streams, allowing the streams more time to expand as needed to transfer rainwater to ponds and lakes. A lack of trees compacts the soil, leaving it less able to properly absorb rainfall, as well as allowing the soil to be eroded into rivers and lakes. Soil erosion is currently causing large-scale issues in Lake Malawi, polluting the water and harming the fish population, which is a large part of the Malawian diet. (Nyasa Times)
Malawi used to be a heavily forested country, with its sub-tropical climate, plenty of rainfall, and lots of open landscapes to support forests. Currently, Malawi has only 27.2% forest cover, meaning almost ¾ of the land in Malawi is lacking trees. (Ripple Africa) Malawi has the world’s fifth highest rate of deforestation, a pattern which has occurred primarily over the past 30 years. Deforestation in Malawi is largely due to the nature of slash and burn farming practices. Farmers will cut down all the trees in an area and burn them where they fall to create space for agriculture. When the population of Malawi was small, the environment was able to recover from such practice, but with the population doubling every 25 years and 80% of the people working in agriculture, trees hardly stand a chance.
  The Malawian government has attempted to slow the deforestation rate in Malawi with   little success. Bans on the cutting of certain trees and the promoting of better farming   practices, such as crop rotation to help keep the soil rich (as opposed to the use of   chemical fertilizers), have had little success. People did not seem to have a good   understanding of the dangers of burning trees and eroding the soil, they simply used the   soil until it was depleted and moved onto the next plot, as they have grown up doing.   However with the increasing lack of available farmland and the severity if recent flooding,   Malawians are growing more concerned for their home.
  An uptick in concern for the environment is underway in Malawi. TNM, a mobile service provider, has recently planted 36,000 tree seedlings at schools around Malawi. (Maravi Post) Many schools have contacted various organizations, such as the Lilongwe Wildlife Trust asking for assistance with planting trees around schools that were damaged in flooding.  It is unfortunate that such a disaster had to happen to draw attention to the importance of reforestation but, the inspiration to preserve is has caused is invaluable. The future of Malawi is a little brighter with the hope that the people will strive to reforest Malawi.

This blog post was written by Zoey Ponder