Introduction.
July 2011 saw another highly successful 7 day Under Privileged Camp. Below is
a brief report plus our preliminary financial breakdown.
We were especially fortunate with regards to our weather as I cannot recall a
warmer July camp.
We did the usual activities, although no rafting nor abseiling down Madonna
and Child. We had an exceptionally high number of first time Instructors which
made discipline more difficult, as well as on-the-job tuition. Despite this it
was a very successful and enjoyable camp and we are hoping for another, bigger
and better camp in December.
Yours
sincerely,
Josh Paton
Centres
Director
Hobbiton Association
Camp for Under Privileged Children - July 2011.
Children
Numbers invited: 120
Numbers attending 93
Backgrounds
Grahamstown: 41
East London: 42
Hogsback: 10
Gender
Female: 70%
Male: 30%
Group photo - Hobbiton UPC Camp July 2011.
Health
Reasonable to very poor.
Some of the Grahamstown Children were from the Raphael centre, which is an
organisation that deals exclusively with people affected by the HIV / AIDS
pandemic, either being HIV positive themselves, or having parents who are, or
through being orphaned through AIDS. Some of these children are relatively
affluent, coming from the wealthier parts of the township, although the majority
were very poor.
The East London children were from E.L. Children’s Home which comprises of four
homes in and around E.L, as well as Isaiah 59, East London Child Welfare and
House on the Rocks Children’s Home. The Children were selected by their
caregivers.
Camp duration
7 days.
Activities offered
Self Development, Understanding Democracy, Creative Arts,
Abseiling, Group Dynamics, High, Middle and Low Ropes Courses, Hiking, Videos,
Camp Cleaning, Kitchen Work, Early morning jogs / swims / aerobics, Activities
in the Hall, Night Hiking and Camping and the eradication of Alien Plant
species, understanding the need for a clean environment, AIDS lectures and
Soccer, Volleyball and Cricket matches.
Instructors
Numbers: 25
Backgrounds of Instructors
South Africa: 22 (Xhosa: 6,
English: 16)
American: 2
Drinking water in the forest - Hobbiton UPC Camp July 2011.
The Camp
This camp was held for seven days for 93 children who democratically chose their
activities, from adventure to recreational, work to play. Points were awarded
for each completed voluntary task and again extra duties (such that would
benefit the community, like litter collection or dish washing) were assigned to
misbehaving individuals. We also continued with our programme of developing Life
Skills that they are not given at school and we educated the children on Alien
Invasive plant species and we eradicated some in and around Hobbiton. We
continued to use the basic model of the camp as we have been so successfully
using over the last few years, again with great success.
Outcomes
We did not have the benefit this camp of having the Assumption nuns to give us
any feedback and the other organisations seldom give us any reports, so this
aspect is conjectural and subjective, but I never-the-less feel completely
confident that the camp was very successful.
Choosing shirts - Hobbiton UPC
Camp July 2011.
Finances
Costs were the following (ZAR):
Food: 46.514
Fuel: 7.230
T-shirts: 5.552
Stationary: 279
Telephone: 1.307
First Aid: 144
Face clothes: 489
Sports Equipment: 588
Casual Labour: 1.972
Gas: 1.964
Electricity: 1.290
Total costs: ZAR 67.329
Income from Amatola Foundation: ZAR 67.000
Thanking you again,
Yours sincerely,
Josh Paton
Centres Director
Hobbiton Association
