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nelson mandela bay's family lifestyle
author:
xandre van der berg
spring into summer fun
photography:
zuko, lifegate photography
issue:
7, spring 2008
You’ve seen it on television and in movies, but did you know your child does not have to travel thousands of miles to an American continent, in order to experience the wonders of educational summer camps people talk magazine has discovered our own African version, very close to home. Adventure Camping takes education to a very different terrain, exposing young people to a learning environment that challenges not only their intellectual development, but addresses the need for emotional, physical and spiritual development. It teaches through extreme excitement, new relationships that are forged in a foreign environment and challenging experiences. The success of this “add-on” to children's traditional education has been proven in many countries – in many ways becoming an essential, rather than something that could be done. The UCSA's outdoor camps are the perfect option with regards to educational weekend and holiday camps. It offers a few days of extreme excitement, in a safe environment, away from the strains of everyday life. Across South Africa there are twelve very well organized Camp Centers and four Outdoor Adventure Centers, that can accommodate 2140 young people at any one time and they are bustling with fun and activity, each summer. Be it a holiday or weekend camp, these centers are rigged with the best adventure activities and perfectly organized with leadership training seminars and educational programs. The United Christian Student Association has established these Educational Adventure Camp Centers, because they want to guide a new generation, to a new lifestyle in Christ. They focus on building a new leadership, a new generation, a new life and a new culture. With this in mind they passionately create life-transforming experiences for young people, through a variety of programs. At the four permanently operated adventure centers, trained staff offer active learning experiences in various subjects, from life skills to spiritual growth. Also popular are the adventure courses with abseiling, climbing walks, rock climbing routes, zip lines, high and low rope courses, paintball adventures, water activities and hiking trails. We find, young people who attend these educational adventure camps, are stimulated to develop to their full potential. They leave enriched, transformed and invigorated – almost as if they've been helped to discover something about themselves – something that was hidden and could not surface in the routine of daily life, or their normal environment.” The closest adventure center is right on our doorstep, outside Uitenhage at “Die Bos”, Elandsrivier. It all started with Johan van der Spuy (affectionately known as Captain), who has organized many camps over the years. The UCSA, aware of the fact that young people often finish with high school, unprepared to enter the workplace or even the higher education environment, started a “Service Year Program”, offering school leavers the opportunity to spend one year in service, while they are emotionally and spiritually guided to maturity. As a member of the first Service Year team “Captain” participated in many educational adventure camps, festivals and other activities. It soon became clear to him that the boys always seemed to be in the minority at these events. Maybe this was not so surprising: boys do not always gravitate naturally to singing, dancing and talking over coffee. “Captain” came to the conclusion that boys needed a different environment in which to experience God and learn and grow. This is where the dream of “Die Bos” started. Captain organized a boys' camp on a farm on the banks of the Elands River. Out in the bush, sleeping in tents, taking part in various adventurous activities and making their own food, the boys experienced God, life and each other, in a completely new way. They liked it and more camps followed. Then girls started showing an interest in these camps the boys returned from, after a weekend or holiday. Since then, both guys and girls have been camping at “Die Bos”. What started out as a primitive camp, with a couple of tents pitched in an open field, has evolved into a well-organized campsite, with room for 80 campers, a kitchen, paintball area, rock-climbing and abseiling routes, rope-course-areas, and of course several swimming pools in the river. Everything that happens at this adventure camp is based on experiential learning. At first, camps were held during weekends and lasted two or three days. However, there was a need for longer camps, and so adventure camps, lasting five days, were organized during April and September holidays. The shorter camps continued and evolved into Life Orientation camps. Later, leadership camps and hiking trips were also added to the array of possibilities. But what do they do at these hide away camps? “It is easy to explain to somebody how to ride a bicycle. You can explain to someone how to use the pedals, steer the bicycle and even how to change gears. In the end that person will still not be able to ride the bicycle – he'll have to get on and experience it. At 'Die Bos', we want to get people on the bicycle and then be with them and help them learn how to ride the bicycle, even though they may fall a couple of times. Each activity has a specific goal. All the campers are divided into groups. It is in these groups and under the guidance of a small group leader that they participate in all the activities and prepare their own food. The small group leaders are all well trained in various people skills. They have also received intensive training for the various activities, the majority having national qualifications for activities such as abseiling, rock-climbing and high-rope-courses.” We find, young people who attend these educational adventure camps, are stimulated to develop to their full potential. They leave enriched, transformed and invigorated – almost as if they've been helped to discover something about themselves – something that was hidden and could not surface in the routine of daily life, or their normal environment.” The UCSA is really the leader in bringing the concept of educational adventure camps to South Africa. They are founding members of the Christian Adventure Ministry Network and has been instrumental in creating acceptable training standards for the staffing of these centers, across our country. “As the holidays approach, parents are often challenged by children who are at home, while they are expected to be at work. Our Adventure Camps are really the perfect alternative, to kids stuck at home, while parents are at work. Instead of worrying about what your children will be doing, or how they will be entertained, sending them off to one of these Adventure Camps, might just change their life.”
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