We had a camp with 130 of the kids from our various Carepoints in and around the Manzini area. We had around 20 staff volunteers mainly comprised of our Bible Club leaders and AMICAALL Peer educators. It was a weekend camp with the kids arriving around 4pm on Friday afternoon and leaving on Sunday around tea time or 10am. Tea time is very important to Swazis, I really don’t know what they would do if there ever was a world shortage of tea. They are intense about having their tea time.
The 130 kids were the older children from our Carepoints ranging in age from 12-16 years. The theme for the camp was “Love and Relationships”. We had one of our Bible Club leaders give the first talk on Friday night on the nature of God’s love, your relationship with him, yourself and others. She used the story of Joseph to stress how God sticks with you through the tough times.
On Saturday morning we had some 3rd year Nursing students come and give talks (boys and girls were separate) about puberty followed by an extensive Q&A session. Two of our Bible club leaders then did some follow up on the biology with some biblical input on the subject.
We then had a local youth pastor come and give a talk around lunch on the subject of Love and Respect towards others. He shared a story in the bible where Samuel was called by God. The youth pastor stressed how much Samuel respected and loved Eli. The basic point was even though Eli wasn’t Samuel’s father…Samuel still obeyed him, loved him and respected him. He also made the point of how God can use anyone, even the fatherless.
Saturday Night the Beat the Drum Team (Dream for Africa) came and did a sketch about abstinence and purity. They did a fantastic job and the kids really enjoyed it. I think the skit really helped because the kids can now visualize how casual sex does not only expose them to AIDS and pregnancy but that it also gives away pieces of their hearts and devalues sex.
Besides the teachings and various talks the camp was filled with laughter, games, singing and dancing. The kids love to sing and dance…basically show of their skills. The different Carepoints all performed songs and there are some little girls with some major talent. We also had dance where 2 or 3 kids would get up in front of the whole group and duel off in dance. It was good being able to take these older teens away from the harsh realities of their life and just let them have a good time and feed them some great meals. We had soccer games, Die (a local game that is like dodge ball), sheet races, wheelbarrow races, Simon says, “Do what I say not What I do”, and other various fun activities.
I firmly believe that this camp has saved some of these kids’ lives from the clenches of AIDS. It probably has saved other lives because these kids won’t be out spreading the disease in acts of casual sex. Please pray that the spirit of God goes forth throughout these kids/teens and their hearts desire God and his perfect plan of purity. Thank you again!
