Camp Speakers and Theme
Tim and Ayesha Peters – Calvary East London Campus Pastors
Sphiwo Mchunu – Calvary East London Youth Director
Camp Leaders and Supervision
The Camp Organiser for this camp is Sphiwo Mchunu, East London Youth Director. Helping Sphiwo is his youth leadership team, who are all aged over 18 years, have agreed to Calvary’s Code of Conduct, have clear MIE background checks and have undertaken youth camp training.
Where are young people staying?
Students will be staying in dorms.
Students will need to bring their own bedding, blankets and pillows. Mattresses have been provided. Our packing capacity is limited – please keep this in mind and only pack essentials.
Boys and girls will be sleeping in separate areas of the campsite, as well as having separate toilet and shower facilities.
Participants will not be sharing beds and supervision will be provided by adult youth leaders. Youth leaders will conduct overnight security patrol throughout the night.
As much as possible, we help students to sleep with their similar-aged friends as we know this will help students feel more comfortable. We also know that there may be students who know no one and we try our best to help these students make new friends and feel comfortable on camp. We will have a sleeping plan finalised one week before camp.
What to pack?
Bible, pen and notebook.
Towel and toiletries (including deodorant 😊).
Personal hygiene items.
Clothing - Camp can be quite cold so please pack warm clothes for your young person, multiple changes of clothes as it can rain as well as it can get messy in tribal wars and activities.
Clothing in the colour of your tribe.
Hat and sunscreen
Costume and towel
Flip Flops for the shower (if desired).
Bedding - each young person will need to come with bedding, blankets and pillows.
Snacks - while food is available for the entirety of camp young people can bring snacks for their dorms.
A small amount of money can be brought for the tuckshop provided
We encourage young people to leave valuables at home as there is no secure storage available. Items need to be kept on your person.
Mobile phones are accepted with the acknowledgement that they are a young person’s responsibility and to be used appropriately following our behavioural expectations. Charging capacity is limited.
We reserve the right to check all bags for safety or behaviour management requirements.
Tribes:
Saints (Blue) - Grade 7, 9 & 11
Royals (Black) - Grade 8, 10 & 12
What activities are happening at camp?
There are many planned activities on camp, each one run according to safety planning and a risk assessment. Activities will include a range of sports (volleyball, football, handball, touch rugby etc) as well as pre-planned, risk-approved Tribal Wars. Tribal Wars are all in games where we split our youth camp up into two teams and each team competes through a series of challenges similar to an age-appropriate obstacle course. This is a highlight for students who dress the part and make a whole lot of noise!
Parents should be aware that we believe that on camp students flourish when extending themselves within their limits and learning new skills. This is an age-appropriate developmental step. We also are very aware of the effect of peer pressure and being away from home. We control this by maximising fun rather than winning, celebrating students where they are at, matching young people with other young people of the same ability and size as much as possible, explaining game rules and we address rough play quickly.
Catering
All meals over the duration of camp are catered for in an approved facility with a well-thought-out menu. All young people will have access to full meals as well as snacks, water and juice available between meals to ensure everyone is well-fed. Parents of young people with allergies may like to provide their own food or may want to view our camp menu, in either case, please contact the local Youth Director.
Photography
Photographic images and video will be taken on camp and may be used for promotional purposes. Either a young person or their parent may request for this not to occur and this will be honoured. If any concerns with photography and privacy please contact your local Youth Director.
Behaviour Expectations
Calvary Youth Camp is drug and alcohol free, and we have zero tolerance for violence, privacy breaches, sexual harassment, bullying and pornography on camp. We ask and expect each young person to treat others and their property with respect and kindness. While we are excited to have fun on this camp we do have a schedule for camp and guidelines around bedtime, joining in and respecting the authority of over 18 youth leaders. In an event of a young person disregarding camp rules, a parent will be contacted and in the event of serious issues, a parent will be required to collect their child from camp. We will report to legal authorities all requirements under law.
Who can I contact?
We know that sometimes there is a family emergency that requires a phone call to camp. We also know that there may be other questions you need answered for example if there was a weather event. We have two contact numbers of our team for you to call – see below and the camp site also has a direct line. Additionally, we are in the process of setting up a WhatsApp group for parents to join to receive daily updates on what the young people are doing that day. We will have more details on this soon.
Also check out other Sports events in Mdantsane, Workshops in Mdantsane.
