Grassroots Outreach

About

World Camp collaborates with Malawian communities to confront locally challenging issues and develop short- and long-term solutions. World Camp provides communities with program infrastructure and support to meet humanitarian needs. The greatest development issues currently facing poor countries are those of the most basic survival necessities and human rights.

Camp Hope

Built on the Hole in the Wall Camp model, World Camp partners with the Paul Newman Foundation and Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative in Malawi to adapt a program for HIV positive youth and address the social and emotional needs of these children including life skills, disease education, medication adherence and decision making. The result is a locally designed, culturally applicable program that excites, inspires and empowers children to regain their sense of optimism, possibility and hope.

This Global Partnership Initiative will deliver high-quality programming that intertwines HIV/AIDS education and traditional camp activities. These camps are aimed at enhancing the campers’ adherence to treatment as well as encouraging them to create a sense of possibility and optimism. The activities at camp are designed to help children live positively and develop hope for their future by fostering resilience, rekindling a sense of joy and curiosity, teaching them how to make informed decisions and surrounding them in a supportive community with positive role models.

Youth have enormous mental and physical energy and official attention to HIV positive youth in Malawi has been minimal. Investment in World Camp’s Camp Hope programming for HIV positive youth serves as a potent strategy to build child self-esteem and adherence to treatment. The psycho-social benefits matched with improved care and treatment, including access to antiretroviral therapy enables many to live into their teenage years and beyond. As the number of HIV-infected youth increases, extended programs are needed to provide age-appropriate care, psychosocial support, reproductive health counseling, and advocacy. One of the most significant problems facing HIV-positive youth is a lack of support networks, difficulty disclosing their status, isolation, trouble coping with their status, and stigma and discrimination.

Camp Hope Malawi creates a positive experience where HIV-positive children are understood and accepted. At Camp Hope children build independence, gain self-confidence and enhance their coping and resilience.

Professional Capacity Building Projects

World Camp’s Professional Capacity Building projects match professional volunteers with community needs in order to help community based organizations improve management, structure and leadership of local initiatives. In rural villages of Malawi, Community Based Organizations (CBO) provide a direct and sustainable relationship with community members. Staff and local volunteers play a key role in the organization of local leaders, teachers, women groups, families and children. Their time, energy and ideas are vital in providing sustainable programs that support struggling children and families. The Professional Capacity Building project aims to increase the capabilities and outreach of CBOs by providing unique training opportunities at a professional level that are otherwise unavailable. These projects support environmental and economic sustainability, youth empowerment and local health needs. These projects integrate capacity building and community participation to create sustainable community-based solutions.

World Camp selects professionals based on skill sets that are adapted to the needs of our partner CBOs and matches them with community development staff and volunteers. World Camp’s training programs focus on transforming individuals and community leaders to become action-oriented in development activities. Our training places emphasis on participatory training techniques, which empower individuals and community leaders to take positive action in development activities.

World Camp MediServ International

Mediserv International is the medical aid division of World Camp. The goal and mission of Mediserv International is to provide both acute and chronic care to a population of patients who would otherwise not have access to medical care. Mediserv International delivers aid to the underserved populations by placing volunteer doctors, supervised medical students, nurses and other health care providers in rural or mobile clinics in Malawi for short-term stays throughout the year. Mediserv International will work to develop a network of full time Malawian doctors and nurses to create continuity of care when volunteer doctors are not in country.

One of the biggest challenges currently facing Malawi is the lack of human resources available within the country. In terms of the AIDS epidemic in Malawi, this problem has been most significant in the healthcare sector, where attempts to increase access to HIV testing and treatment have been hindered by a severe shortage of staff. Malawi has just one doctor per 50,000 people – one of the lowest levels in the world. Although funding for healthcare has increased, there are simply not enough trained staff available. While the shortage of medical staff in Malawi has partly been caused by factors such as migration and a lack of access to education, it has also been directly aggravated by AIDS. The National Association of Nurses in Malawi (NONM) estimates that four nurses are lost to HIV and AIDS related illness every month. By connecting volunteer health providers with underserved populations in Malawi World Camp will provide a comprehensive continuum of services through medical mission trips.