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!

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!

World Camp Clubs

New Programming: World Camp Clubs

In early November we introduced World Camp’s new geographic focus, the Malikha Zone. We’re working hard to initiate sustainable programs and interventions for locally challenging issues.

Students and youth are a key part of any and all solutions taking place as they are future leaders, members of their community, and a massive force for change! They have a vested interest in the wellbeing of their communities and neighbors, and should be involved in community development projects.

To this end, World Camp will establish a World Camp Clubs (WCC) at each of the 11 primary schools in Malikha Zone (and we’ve already done so at the five schools we visited in 2012!). These clubs foster and encourage youth activism and involvement in community projects that address issues such as deforestation, stigma surrounding HIV positive patients, youth rights, and community infrastructure.

Liwera World Camp Club members

Each WCC is led by two teachers and at least five students elected by their peers. The addition of elected student leaders fosters youth ownership, responsibility, ability, and power; something that can be lacking in many of the communities we visit. In September, Teacher Mentors went through training to equip them with the basic knowledge of encouraging student activism, budgeting, reporting to WC, planning effective outreach activities, and many other skills! WC will continue to work with Teacher Mentors every month to provide support, answer questions, facilitate idea sharing, and encourage Zone-wide events. Additionally, WC will visit each Club at least once a month during one of their meetings to check-in on logistics, observe discussions, and provide on-site support.

In the few short months since their inception, WCCs have been a huge success: Mkhoma WCC planted 40 trees in their community to combat deforestation and Liwera WCC participated in a quiz to show off their knowledge of HIV (see the video here!). All five Clubs have developed detailed action plans for the 2012-2013 school year to ensure continued progress, and we can’t wait to see where the students of Malikha Zone take this project!

Current Events in Malawi

Last week, the Malawi Humans Rights Commission (MHRC) urged for human rights issues be included in HIV/AIDS programs in Malawi. At a meeting held by the MHRC in conjunction with District Commissioners in the Northern Region, concern was raised over the human rights violations that occur in response to the stigma of HIV/AIDS. This bias against people who are HIV positive leads to further discrimination within society and the workplace as well. The MHRC are urging district commissioners to gain and acquire tools to combat the degrading stigma that exists. This stigma in the workplace and public sector has caused many people to go untreated. The MHRC believes sensitization to this issue and the needs of the HIV positive community in Malawi is vital in ensuring human rights are applied to all people, regardless or HIV status. Similar meetings in Central and Southern Regions of Malawi are anticipated in the near future.

http://www.nyasatimes.com/malawi/2012/10/21/integrate-human-rights-in-hiv-activities-urges-malawi-human-righsts-commission/

A New Geographical Focus

A New Geographical Focus

Picture Ideas: map of schools in Malikha zone plus others

Hand-drawn map of the Malikha Zone

History: World Camp has been in Malawi for eleven years now and we’re proud of the progress we’ve made. We’ve worked with over 20,400 students  in over 190 schools. We’ve conducted workshops with hundresds community members and met with countless organizations to learn even more about Malawi and the work being done by others.

What we’re doing: We have added year-round staff to our Malawi office so we can implement a geographic approach in order to increase both our programming and presence in partner schools. For the next few years, World Camp will concentrate solely on one primary education zone that comprises 11 primary schools and their communities in order to create a stronger and more sustained impact.

Why we’re doing it: A geographic focus will allow us to delve deeper into locally challenging issues; we can identify needs and address them individually and specifically. With year-round programming, we can provide more sustained support to students, teachers, community members, and grassroots organizations. We’ll be able to improve our monitoring, tracking, and evaluation processes to more thoroughly assess our impact. 

World Camp Club Mentor, Cyrus Jenda
speaks with stakeholders at the Teacher
Development Center

Where we’ll be: The zone WC selected is called Malikha Zone. It is under the direction of a single Primary Education Advisor, Ms. Elizabeth Kasomekera. It’s located about 45 minutes outside the city, on the way to Salima (Lake Malawi). WC has already visited five of the eleven schools in the zone and is excited to continue meeting new students and teachers as we conduct educational camps and community workshops in the coming years.

What we’ll do: We’ll continue to host volunteers and hold educational camps focused on HIV, the environment, gender equality, and literacy. We’ll establish and support a World Camp Club at each school to foster youth activism and involvement. We’ll support teachers who go through our Teacher Workshop to ensure students continue to receive correct information and interactive lessons.

Who we’ll work with: We’ll continue to work hand in hand with the Primary Education Advisor, as she is directing and giving the final approval on a lot of our programs in Malikha Zone. We’ll meet regularly with schools to check on their progress, provide additional support, and answer any questions that arise as they implement new programs. We’ll meet monthly with World Camp Clubs to encourage youth activism and participation in community development initiatives. Students will remain our focus - they are, after all, the future of their communities!

Benefits for World Camp volunteers and interns: World Camp will give first time World Camp volunteers more information about the schools they will teach in based on experience, data collected, and current community projects. This can only benefit their teaching effectiveness and understanding of the situation of their students. World Camp Alum will hear more about the results of their efforts (and their past students!) as World Camp staff revisit communities, track the successes of clubs, test knowledge, and facilitate continuous learning and community growth.

We at World Camp are excited about this change, and would love to hear your feedback and ideas!

World Camp Club: Liwera

“The more we increase the active participation and partnership with young people, the better we serve them. … And the more comprehensively we work with them as service partners, the more we increase our public value to the entire community.”

- Carmen Martinez, U.S. Diplomat

In seeking the active participation of young people World Camp started a World Camp Club at each of the schools we visited this summer. World Camp Clubs are after-school groups that focus on civic engagement and improving community improvement.

Cyrus Jenda, beloved Field Staff and now World Camp Club Mentor, developed the idea for World Camp Clubs and created guidelines for each of our 11 partner primary schools in the Malikha Primary School Zone. Cyrus was instrumental in planning and carrying out World Camp’s first student activism follow-up project this summer.

Liwera Full Primary School was the first we visited during this year’s summer session, staying there from July 10^th through the 13^th. We were struck by the school’s warmness and desire to introduce us to Malawi. We were given sugar cane, taught to make nsima and relish, started a fire, saw our first Gule Wam Kulu (traditional dancers), received Chichewa names, played with our kids well into the dark, and truly felt like part of our host family.

Before leaving Liwera, we set up our second ever World Camp Club (the first was started at Mkhoma Full Primary School this January with hugely successful student-led reforestation projects). The school’s headmaster appointed a matron and patron of the club, and the student body was left with materials to create their own banner. And they surpassed all of our expectations with the end result!

Just two weeks later, in the end of July, we returned to Liwera to hold a quiz competition, challenge students to recall what they’d learned at camp, and dare them to apply what they’d learned to more challenging questions and topics.

The entire WC team was close to tears at the reception we got upon our arrival. The kids were cheering, dancing, jumping, yelling, waving. The Club did their school cheer and the enthusiasm during group songs was infectious. What was even more impressive, though, was the critical thinking and creative responses they provided during the actual quiz. Not only did the students remember how HIV affects the body and how to protect themselves, they knew how to care for someone living with HIV. Perhaps most importantly for a World Camp Club, they could articulate tangible differences they could make in their own community in the fight against HIV!

Zikomo Kwambiri Liwera World Camp Club!!

You impressed us all with your hard work, knowledge, activism, and dedication.
We can’t wait to work with you again!

A Community Collaboration: World Camp's Activism Club at Mchezi

Cyrus meeting with community members at Mchezi

Last Thursday Reinier and Cyrus made the trip back to Mchezi, just 45 minutes outside of Lilongwe, to meet with the brand new World Camp Club as well as with several key stakeholders in the community to discuss how we can continue to work together on educational improvement.

We all agree that activism clubs are very important in continuing the debate among students around HIV/AIDS and the environment as well as in decreasing drop-out rates (students have something on their hands after school instead of engaging in risky behavior). The potential of activism clubs is huge (if you haven’t already done so, watch the video of the HIV/AIDS club at Matapila FPS on our facebook page), not just in engaging its members through educational activities but also by spreading messages about HIV/AIDS, deforestation, gender equality, and nutrition into the community. However, as our field assistant Cyrus Jenda noted, what these students and club mentors (teachers) need is continuous support from World Camp by giving them that little push in the right direction. 

Club Members holding a (semi)secret voting for officers

Three weeks ago we started our first World Camp Club at Mkoma FPS and when we revisited them last week we realized that Cyrus was right: over a hundred kids showed up (proudly waving the World Camp Club flag created by our interns in January) but they did not know what to do next. Cyrus sat down with them and the students elected their president, secretary, vice-secretary, and treasurer. After a long brainstorm session the students decided that this week they will start an outreach project focused on how to care for HIV positive people and they are going to meet with  Mchezi CBO and the group village headman to see how they can all work together to plant more trees. Also, their mentors will continue weekly empowerment writing workshops that we introduced during our 4-day camp and the students brought some of their stories to class for us to read.

Club officers preparing to assume their new duties

The elected students were nervous at first about their responsibilities but their mentors told them that they should not worry as this is a learning process and this will prepare them for dealing with their responsibilities later in life. Cyrus told the club members that just like World Camp they are a group of young minds who think creatively about finding simple solutions to complicated issues and by working hard they too will grow!  

In the meantime Reinier had a meeting with representatives of the CBO, surrounding schools, and the Ministry of Education to discuss how we can increase collaboration between the 11 primary schools in the area as well as have the wider community more involved with educational strengthening. World Camp has been working on narrowing our focus through an innovative and holistic model, and listening to their ideas has convinced us even more that we are going in the right direction! More on that will follow in our next blog post; stay tuned!