Vision

  • Children of Africa healthy and empowered to reach their full potential.

Mission

  • Global Camps Africa equips South Africa’s vulnerable youth with the tools and knowledge to lead healthy, empowered lives and make positive impacts on their communities.

Need

  • South Africa has the largest HIV epidemic in the world, with 7.7 million people living with HIV and over 50,000 deaths per year due to AIDS.

  • 150,000 South African adults and children were newly infected with HIV in 2023.

  • There are 160,000 children (aged 0-14) living with HIV and over 640,000 million orphaned children (aged 0-17) due to AIDS.

  • Even with the high prevalence rates of HIV/AIDS, the majority of the population, particularly in Soweto, have never been tested for the virus.

  • Only 45.8% of people aged 15-24 can correctly answer simple questions about how to prevent the spread of HIV.

  • Rates of HIV infection among young South African women are more than twice as high as rates among young South African men (3.8% of young men are HIV+ versus 8.4% of young women). This can be attributed to many reasons, including violence against women, gender inequality within the family, or having no say in condom use.

OUR Response

Access to curriculum-based sex and HIV education programs is a powerful tool for prevention. Many adolescents who participate in curriculum-based HIV-prevention education programs experience delayed or decreased sexual behavior and/or increased condom use. Programs for children and adolescents are most effective when they include life skills, especially those that enhance their ability to refuse sex, insist on condom use, and avoid unsafe situations. Global Camps Africa provides curriculum-based programs through camps and year-round clubs that focus on the development of life skills, equipping young people with the tools they need to lead healthy, empowered lives, including:

(Statistics taken from 2023 UNAIDS report and Avert.org)