KnowledgeCamps

KnowledgeBeat chooses to focus on KnowledgeCamps in order to address high risk issues that face youth in Zambia. KnowledgeCamps motivate, educate, and empower middle school aged youth on gender issues and the risk of HIV/AIDS. The Camps promote academic and non-academic initiatives that contribute to retention in school and reductions in behavior that can negatively impact quality of life.

We held our first KnowledgeCamp in July 2008. The Camp was a Girls Empowerment Camp conducted over three days in Itezhi Tezhi and included girls from our flagship site, Ngoma. Each activity and program was tailored to meet the 40 attendees’ needs. KnowledgeBeat found success and new found achievement in the young women. Since 2008 we have implemented a total of four KnowledgeCamps, two Girls Empowerment Camps and four HIV/AIDS prevention camps. Our goal is to implement 100 KnowledgeCamps in the Itezhi Tezhi District by 2015.

KnowledgeCamps include the following programs:

• Girls Empowerment Camp: Teach self-reliance and balancing of professional and personal endeavors.
• HIV/AIDS Camp: Training and education for facilitators and children respectively on prevention, basic hygiene and teen pregnancy avoidance.

KnowledgeBeat has a strategic focus on KnowledgeCamps that is anchored on the following:

• School and area based approach while maintaining flexibility to use other approaches in rare and difficult circumstances.
• Supporting KnowledgeCamps in communities for 5 years and phasing out thereafter to move to other vulnerable schools. This will include an exit strategy that enables the community and teaching staff to continue running KnowledgeCamps independently.
• Focus on supporting grades 5 – 9.
• Implementing specific activities in such a way as to bear in mind short and long term impacts.
• Advocacy for school and community involvement.