This weekend was one of the most incredible weekends of my semester so far! A few weeks ago, a friend of mine from class mentioned that she had volunteered at a kid's camp for a weekend, and was going back for another. Since we had bonded over both being camp people, she suggested I come along for the next one, and that is just what I did!
The camp is called Umthombo weSizwe, which means Spring of the Nation, and is part of an organization whose mission is to train preteens and teenagers in understanding and appreciating diversity as well as with leadership skills, emotional literacy, and teamwork skills. Umthombo seeks to break the cycle of prejudice in South African society by bringing together children from a variety of backgrounds in one space. The kids at camp ranged from ages 11-13, and came from a variety of schools, including some from townships, others from wealthy white suburbs, and other middle class schools. This weekend was the second of three weekend-long camp retreats for these kids. I had missed the first weekend, but other facilitators told me the kids had already improved greatly at branching out and befriending kids from different backgrounds.
Although the camp tries to tackle some serious topics and even directly addresses the inequalities of the lives of the campers themselves (more bluntly than I expected), it was also nonstop fun. The campers were adorable and hilarious, and it was amazing how quickly we got to know each other. Even though many of them were from such different backgrounds than my campers at Camp Micah, they really reminded me of them! In addition, a lot of the ice-breaker/energizer activities we did were similar to ones we do at camp back home.
I was really impressed with the programming at Umthombo, because it mixed fun and education very well, which is really difficult, and the kids were incredible receptive to it! This weekend, we covered sharing and learning about our own cultures, empathy and perspective, the constitution and children's rights, and class inequality. For sharing our cultures, the kids were broken up into groups, and each group was assigned a life event, such as birth, coming of age, death, weddings, etc... Within each group, each camper shared how their culture celebrates or marks the event. In my group, we did coming of age ceremonies, and I learned how this life event is marked in Xhosa culture, in Malawian culture, in Zimbabwean (Shona) culture, as well as what some white Christian South Africans do to mark adulthood. In turn, I told my campers about Bar and Bat Mitzvahs! It was neat to see kids proudly represent their own cultures, but also frustrating because some of the white kids didn't enjoy the activity because they felt they "have no culture," which is super problematic since it designates whiteness as a norm or base line of humanity, and everyone else as "Other" cultures that are exotic and different. This was one of a couple aspects of camp that were unfortunately indicative of the kind of prejudice embedded in society, such as some kids' impatience with other's difficulty speaking English (particularly Xhosa and Zulu kids who are learning it as their second language).
The next program was on empathy, where the kids did some exercises with a partner from a different school and a different gender than themselves. They then had to do a few different activities, including switching shoes with one other and literally walking in each other's shoes. This was funny and really adorable, but also turned out to be a great way to explain kids what empathy means.
The last program that really stood out for me was an incredible exercise that basically explains capitalism to children. The kids were divided into groups of about 6, and told they had to construct houses out of materials provided, and that the best house wins a prize. What they weren't told, however, was that some groups would receive an abundance of materials, including cardboard, tape, glue, markers and paper, while others just received paper and rubber bands. They weren't allowed to ask the facilitators for more materials, but they were never explicitly told that they couldn't share with each other. Watching this play out was almost poetic, because it was such a microcosm for society. Once the kids started to realize that other groups had more than they did, some felt dejected and wanted to give up, some asked the groups to share and were rejected, others even tried to steal materials. After the activity we did a debrief, and the kids seemed to really understand the meaning behind the activity, and the winners even shared their prize with all the other kids!
The entire weekend was so memorable. I made really good friends with the other facilitators, who were some really cool young people from Cape Town, also from a variety of backgrounds. They welcomed me in so warmly, as did the campers. This weekend also provided some really positive and helpful closure for my semester in Cape Town, in that children can tell you a lot about a society. I've spent so much time being negative about the state of society here, and although there was definitely evidence of some ingrained prejudices among the children, so it was incredible refreshing to see such positive action being taken, and targeting children as agents of social change. At first I was hesitant about the use of the hackneyed "Rainbow Nation" discourse that is often used to mask all the inequality here, but Umthombo really addresses the inequality and its roots, while inspiring the kids to lead the way towards equality and integration. I'm devastated that I can't keep coming back, and that I probably will never see these kids again, but I will definitely remember this weekend for the rest of my life.
I walked away wondering if there are camps like this in the US (sort of like Seeds of Peace or Camp If, but about racial/socioeconomic diversity), and how they would function. I think because of the legacy of apartheid, there is a more immediate need for such programs here, but in the US, integration and racial equality are considered issues of the past that no longer need to be addressed, particularly with children. I think the US could really benefit from such camps however, because, like South Africa, statistics show that our schools are still heavily segregated by race and by class, and people often grow up only in contact with those similar to themselves. Camp is such a positive environment for kids to have growing and learning experiences, and to formulate their identities, it provides the perfect forum for such life lessons! I hope to bring a lot of what I learned this weekend to camp with me this summer. All in all, this was the highlight of my time in Cape Town, and I am so grateful for my experience at Umthombo weSizwe!
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