SAsquared: So Alive in South Africa: Bold and brave campers at Hella Hella

Greetings once again from South Africa,

I hope this message finds you all well, wherever you are in the world. Here in South Africa I am at the point in my internship where the end is near when looking at a calendar but in my head and my heart I’m not quite there yet! As time goes on, the connections I’ve made here have grown and solidified – which of course makes sense. The longer I stay here the more I feel connected to the school, kids, teachers, friends I’ve made, and community, making it all the more difficult to leave in four and a half weeks. I will continue to prepare the kids and myself for our departure as best I can, but in the mean time, I’ve got some pretty amazing stories to share with you about the happenings here since I last posted.

Before I get to telling you about camp (the majority of this blog post), I will fill you in on some fun adventures that I’ve been on in the past month on the weekends. Three of the past four weekends I have spent in what has become my favourite place in South Africa. The Drakensberg Mountains are strikingly beautiful with their steep cliff faces and vast ruggedness. At the end of May, our landlord brought Brynn and I to Sani Pass in the Southern Drakensburg. It was our first time to the Southern ‘berg and certainly wasn’t my last as I took the rural route through Underberg two times following our first weekend at Sani Pass! Currently I am typing this blog post from a log cabin overlooking a valley edged by jagged peaks and steep mountaintops.

And just east of the Drakensburg Mountains is a quaint little spot called Hella Hella. It shares the natural beauty of the ‘berg with clean rivers and towering peaks. And this is the place where we spent two nights with 47 leadership students from Slangspruit Primary School (June 3-5, 2016). Our camp was beyond successful from start to finish. The kids learned, played, ate, shared, and made memories that will last a lifetime.

Upon arriving at Hella Hella, we were greeted by a family of antelope on the hills behind the camp. What a superb welcome from Mother Nature; a sign of the true magic that was about to come our way all weekend.

I had eight grade 6/7 boys in my cabin. They were so excited to see our room that they could barely contain their excitement. When they saw the bunk beds, all the anticipation of their weekend away came exploding out of them as they ran to claim their territory. I learned that none of them had ever slept on the top bunk before and most have to share a bed with several other people at home. With lots of blankets (remember its winter here now and in the mountains it can get close to freezing level), our own bathroom with hot showers (these were VERY popular), and a giant soccer field right outside our front door, it was the time spent in the cabin that was a highlight for most of the kids.

I feel that it was these above simple pleasures combined with challenging and new activities that made the camp as successful as it was. During our rotational group activity time, the kids got to experience a nature walk with sensory games, a teamwork challenge obstacle course, a writing workshop where the kids got to express their views of leadership, and a little rafting trip up the river. So much valuable informal learning for all!

I led the rafting trip where the kids got to experience paddling for the first time. We began up the river and immediately tested the group by encouraging them to slowly and carefully switch from one boat to the other. They got a kick out of this and did a great job and no one fell in! Our final adventure in the rafts was scoping out the zip line. The daunting cliff where the zip line begins hangs over the river. Zip liners must bravely jump off the rock and swing down over the chilly river below. Before reaching the bank on the other side, you must drop into the water and swim back to shore or hop into the awaiting boat.

Just above I mentioned the word ‘bravely’. We discussed being brave in our opening ceremony and it was a task that the kids didn’t take lightly. They were brave and bold all weekend long in trying new things and conquering any task thrown their way. All the adults mentioned the bravery witnessed on the weekend and we were very impressed with the students.

On Saturday afternoon the zip line opened and everyone at camp headed to the riverbank to try on a life jacket or get a good seat to watch the action. A grade six student was the first to try the zip line and he enjoyed it so much he was one of the last to use it at the end of the session. Many kids did get to go two times. The river that the kids dropped into was like swimming in the ocean at home in March. The look of shock and horror was present on every single child’s face as they surfaced from their dunk. It was difficult to breathe and with weak swimming skills, the kids needed a minute to catch their breath. As I have mentioned many times now, this was a highlight of the camp and a moment of triumph over a fear of heights, water, and the cold for many brave campers.

Another memorable aspect of Hella Hella was the food. From the moment we told the kids about camp, food was a source of concern and an anxiety due to the nature of hunger and cost associated with not only camp but whether or not they would have to provide their own food. We assured the kids that they did not bring any food at all. Thanks to the generous support of so many people that made this camp possible, we had a bit of extra money to put towards food to include things like meat in our menu that we would not have been able to eat if we had just raised the bare minimum amount. On the Saturday evening we had a BBQ with bratwursts and the campers were thrilled. Food was another major highlight for many of the kids.

Of course one of the common concerns we heard throughout our time at Hella Hella was that we just didn’t have enough time there. Thus the children were very pleased to hear that the bus was running very late and we would have a few more hours to bask in the camp glory at Hella Hella. We led a small debrief onsite and held a more thorough one once back at school a few days later. Discussion around feeling safe from dangers that are present in the community, learning camp call backs to get everyone’s attention, and getting to try playing rugby and field hockey were some of the items that the kids brought up that we hadn’t heard before. We also discussed how everyone treated each other with respect and how we can use what we learned at camp to better the school and the community.

To end off this description of our incredible trip to Hella Hella, some of the kids wrote what camp meant to them and what they learned:

“Leaders can’t be selfish, you have to be brave to try the zip line, and don’t think that you are ever alone.”

“I would say it was great and we have many more games that we had never played in our life.”

“The water for bathing in the shower was cold and it started to be hot after a few moments.”

“It was like we were in a five star treatment hotel because everything was perfect!”

Our two days at Hella Hella have been spoken about dozens and dozens of times since returning a week ago. It was an absolute pleasure to witness the leadership students from Slangspruit experience camp for the first time. To see it through their eyes with their grateful and excited comments and smiles was nothing short of extraordinary. Thank you to all of you that made camp possible.

Khethiwe the chef!