Camp Sizanani

Camp Sizanani was founded as a joint venture between WorldCamps, a non-profit American camping organization, and HIVSA, a South African foundation that provides care and services to HIV-affected individuals. Located in the town of Magaliesburg in the Gauteng province of South Africa, Sizanani offers multiple camp sessions throughout the year for children aged nine through fifteen whose lives have been affected by HIV. The term "HIV-affected" can imply that an individual is "infected" with the virus, but it can also mean that the infection of family members or guardians have impacted the individual's life. While some children at Sizanani carry HIV, many more have been orphaned by a parent's AIDS-related death or have family members coping with the disease. Nearly all of Sizanani's campers come from Soweto, Johannesburg's enormous township, to which black Africans were banished during South Africa's apartheid era. The children attend the camp free of charge; they are sponsored by the WorldCamps corporation and its donors.

Goals

Sizanani takes its name from a Zulu word which translates idiomatically to mean "help each other". It is largely modeled on North American summer camp tradition. Accordingly, its stated goals include fostering independence, self-esteem, cooperative skills, respect for others and awareness of health issues. This final goal is particularly unique to Sizanani, given the children's backgrounds and the AIDS crisis that continues to grip South Africa.

Curriculum

A day at Camp Sizanani would likely include any or all of the following: dance and drumming, permaculture/gardening, swimming, arts & crafts, adventure/teamwork, sports (including cricket, soccer, volleyball and basketball), and Life Skills. Life Skills is a class that teaches health awareness, proper nutrition/hygiene, prevention of STD's, sexuality and identifying abuse. It is the single most important segment of the camp.

External links

* [http://www.worldcamps.org WorldCamps.org official site]