School Camps
.preview.JPG "Ridgeway College learners 2008 working Tshulu style")
Tshulu Trust has a number of programmes that form the basis of School Camps. Some schools follow a formal programme moulded to specific aspects of the syllabus, other camps are extra-curricular and aim to widen the experience of learners in a more informal manner.
Our flagship formal camp addresses the Citizenship Education module (Learning Outcome 2) of the Grade 11 Life Orientation syllabus.Learners spend four days in Hamakuya: half in Tshulu Camp and half in the homes of Hamakuya residents. Trained guides take small groups of learners through a series of research tasks and activities that help them gain an understanding of the environmental, social, and cultural nature of life in rural Venda. Learners are encouraged to think about how daily life in Hamakuya is similar to, and different from, life in their own homes. For instance: where does water come from if there are no taps? How does one managed without electricity? How do people entertain themselves without television and the internet? How do they make use of the natural resources around them? Are there kinds of poverty and kinds of wealth that do not relate directly to money? In what ways might life be richer and poorer in a rural Venda village than in the learner’s own neighbourhood?
Tshulu has also hosted a science and environment camp run by SAEON (South African Environmental Observation Network), and hopes to offer more such opportunities for learners in the future.