A Passion for World Camp

Wonder what it's like to be on-the-ground in Malawi seeing our life-changing programs in action? To get an in-the-field perspective, we chatted with our Country Manager, Solomon Chipingo-Phiri (Chipingo). He filled us in on his love for World Camp's work, what makes Malawi great and some of his passions.

What inspired you to join the team at World Camp as Malawi Country Manager?
I am inspired by the opportunity to contribute to the improvement of underprivileged people World Camp serves and the empowerment philosophy we adopt in our work.

Why are you passionate about World Camp’s mission?
It makes people proactive and strategic actors in the development of their lives and their surrounding communities rather than being passive recipients of development. World Camp has a bottom up approach which is dignifying to the people it works in partnership with.

Why is World Camp’s work so important in Malawi?
The government ministries have good plans, but they are limited by financial resources. World Camp works to complement the government initiatives contributing to the specific development of heath and education. World Camp has a distinction in its work in that it aims at empowering the locals to identify their problems and devise solutions for those problems, while working with them as a partner. This assures the sustainability of our projects.

What’s a favorite memory from Camp Hope?
A favorite memory of Camp is during the Memory Tree activity. This is where campers share what they have gained and are able to recount the treasures they have amassed from camp. I like the true stories because they are honest and come from their hearts rather than from their heads. It makes me cherish the hours that I invest in camp.

What is the most rewarding thing about your job?
To see hopeless lives being transformed and impacted with my contributions.

What do you love the most about your home country Malawi?
It is a land of peace and the people are so lovely. It has a rich culture that believes in family and a supportive structure morally and socially.

What do you do when you are not working at World Camp?
Reading, watching my favorite channels on TV, creative beauty arts and composing songs which I 

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.

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!

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!

Our Inspiring Visit with a Community Based Organization in Malikha

World Camp Country Manager Michael Kumwenda, Program Coordinator Karen Clark, and Professional Capacity Building Intern Rufus Faggons ventured to meet with the leadership and members of Kasumba CBO (Community Based Organization) near Liwera Full Primary School in the Malikha Primary School Zone.

We were warmly welcomed by the staff, who had arranged nametags on our seats. They dove right into sharing with us the meat of their efforts. The Kasumba CBO membership hovers around 30 and they serve 58 villages! There are over 200 orphans living in their catchment area, but the number is increasing at an alarming rate.

The CBO has been serving the Kasumba area for five years, and when asked why each member joined, they all provided different and very personal responses. One woman’s sister-in-law was handicapped and she wanted to provide support not only for her sister-in-law, but for everyone in her area who faced physical handicaps (both women are pictured right). One man, frustrated that his children couldn’t go to school during the rainy season because the road washed out, has personally vowed to plant 1,000 trees during the year 2012 to combat deforestation and preserve his environment. Another man observed the human rights of youth being abused in his community.  He joined the CBO to learn more about child rights and use the group as a way to educate and sensitize the community to the fragility, resilience, and potential of youth. One woman noticed the growing number of orphans in her community and the fact that they weren’t getting the support they should from their extended families. She’s been at the forefront of Early Child Development Centers and Orphan Support Units in the area.

The main room in the CBO’s office. The sign reads,
“2010: HIV and AIDS Outside the Box: Living Positive with HIV and AIDS.”

So far, the CBO has realized amazing success: they have set up and sustained seven Community Based Childcare Centers, supported school drop outs and orphans through the donation of school uniforms and feeding programs, held weekly after school athletic events and tutoring sessions during the school year, handed out five wheelchairs for those with disabilities, and sensitized the community to the benefits of education and the risks of early

marriages. But there’s still a long way to go. HIV rates are rising, the Home Based Care group lacks adequate training, the CBO shares a building with all other community groups and the church, some of the husbands of the female members don’t like when they go to meetings, adult literacy is low, and funding is a large problem.

Two CBO members show a map and posters
used to log information

Despite the future struggles of Kasumba, we were struck by the members’ openness, articulation of past success and future objectives, complete commitment to positive growth and development, and passion for those living in their communities. Kasumba Community Based Organization is a forum for activists in Liwera to plan and accomplish their dreams for community improvement, and with the passion we saw this week, we have no doubt they will!

Educational Follow-Up: Mkhosi and Matapila

Muli Bwanji!

Reinier and George are back in Lilongwe after spending two awesome weeks in two of our potential partner communities: Matapila and Mkhosi.

We’re glad to say that our experience could not have been any better and the Educational Follow-Up Program has proven to be a big hit in rural Malawi!

Upon arrival, we received a warm welcome by all the teachers, students, and community members who remembered World Camp from our camps and homestays this summer.

The headmasters of both schools invited us to stay with them for the week, something they probably regretted after realizing that we couldn’t stop asking them about education, HIV/AIDS, activism clubs, hyenas, and black mambas. However, all these questions as well as meetings with key stakeholders in the communities helped us to develop a clear understanding of the structures, struggles, and opportunities that exist. We soon became amazed about how much was being done by the village headmen, SMC/PTA committees, support groups, and many others despite the huge challenges that these communities face. Also, the constant quest for skills and training instead of “things” or “kwacha” really enabled us to have insightful talks about moving forward.

All these key stakeholders brought their energy, ideas, and concerns to our Leadership Workshop at the end of the week. Seeing the SMC/PTA talk about their responsibilities, village headmen discussing with students how they could help clubs to be more active, and teachers brainstorming about ways to increase peer education could not have been more inspiring. Our field assistants did an amazing job facilitating this process, because truly seeing the community discuss educational improvement among each other was exactly what we hoped for.

Last, during both weeks we started Empowerment Writing Workshops with St. 8 students. We had contacted NGOs, World Camp alumni, and other experts on how to effectively teach young people about creative writing but still were a bit nervous to see how it would play out in practice. We worked closely together with all the teachers and carefully explained what short stories, poetry, and journaling are all about. The students insisted to write in English and both the boys and the girls were excited about becoming awesome writers. We told them that they should see the journals that we gave them as new friends that they can talk to about anything, which helped to really make it an empowerment writing class.

Read Alefa's introduction to her short story to get a bit of an idea what their stories were about:

“My Birthday”

“A long time ago there was my birthday. But this day was very happy because there were many people on this day.

I welcomed many friends, these friends are Charity, Dyna, Cathirin and Yustina.

This birthday started at 2:00pm and finished at 6:00pm.

When it finished there were two girls and two boys, these children were going to the forest at 7:30pm and this one girl was HIV positive.

At the forest was sexual intercourse.

Because of sexual intercourse they contracted HIV. Then all the girls died and the boys contracted HIV.

When I go there two years later the boys are also dead.

Many people in the area suffer from HIV and AIDS and in our area, population is decreasing and children of orphanage are increasing.”

It was amazing to see that many of the students were able to give some of their sad stories a positive twist by looking critically at themselves and describing how they could do something to put a smile on their own face and on that of others.

These students definitely made us smile, and writing this blog puts a smile on my face again. What makes me even happier though is thinking back of how involved, excited, and helpful all the teachers were during these workshops. Seeing these teachers work incredibly hard in overcrowded classrooms and being able to provide them with new ideas on how to empower their students is what cannot make me stop smiling!

Let's make sure we water it!

Muli bwanji!

It has been over a month since the last interns and coordinators left Lilongwe after two awesome summer sessions. John, Vito and Angoni still talk about how much fun they had with the mzungus over the summer and they hope that you will all come back sometime soon!

Over these past 4 weeks Reinier and Michael have been working hard on developing ways in which we can make our work even more sustainable. Many brainstorm sessions, phone calls, and headaches later we developed what we call the “Educational Follow-Up Program”.

This summer we started meeting with key stakeholders in our target communities: the School Management Committees and Parent Teacher Associations. These committees argued that they would like to be more involved with World Camp’s activities in order to make the entire community part of educational improvement. Their call for community participation and follow-up support encouraged us to return to 2 potential partner communities, Mkhosi and Matapila, in order to respond to this identified need. Both these communities struggle with high student/teacher ratios, many social barriers related to HIV/AIDS, and a general lack of basic knowledge on HIV.

Our team, consisting of Michael, Reinier, Chikabachi, Cyrus, Cathy, Winter, and George, will be working on several activities.

First, we are going to conduct an in-depth community assessment in order to better understand issues surrounding stigmas, healthcare, educational outreach, and many others as well as the role of the local CBO in this. This information will help us develop a clear picture of our potential partner communities and enable us to more effectively conduct possible future activities.

Second, Reinier and George will be staying with the community for a week to facilitate an empowerment writing workshop. We have identified that our empowerment sessions need more sustainability and strongly believe that creative writing could help students get certain things off their chest and make sensitive topics discussable.

Third, at the end of the week we will conduct an intensive educational follow-up workshop. We will divide the community up into 4 groups (teachers + headmaster, community members, students, and the SMC/PTA) and each field assistant will work with a specific group of their choice. We’ll be strengthening activism clubs, provide follow-up teacher training, increase awareness among the SMC and PTA of their responsibilities in improving educational standards, and conduct HIV/AIDS workshops with the wider community. At the end of the day each group will participate in a collective “Jungle Walk” and present their action plan on working towards educational improvement related to HIV/AIDS to the other groups.

We are all very excited about this as we truly believe that this follow-up program will increase the continuation of our impact in our partner communities!

Wangari Maathai once said “until you dig a hole, you plant a tree, you water it and make it survive, you haven’t done a thing. You are just talking”. In a certain sense this relates closely to World Camp’s educational activities at our partner communities: we conducted educational camps and teacher training, now let’s make sure we water it and make it survive!