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Showing posts from March, 2014

What does it take to be a Sugar Bay Counsellor?

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  What is a Sugar Bay counselor? If you've ever been to Sugar Bay before you will know that our counselors are probably the most amazing people out there. They have energy throughout the day, each and everyday, they are always positive and have smiles on their faces and most importantly, they know how to have fun and laugh at themselves. But here at camp we don't just let anyone walk through the door and put on that famous blue shirt! For those who are lucky enough to get accepted, they still need to go through a two week training course where they will learn the in's and out's of how camp runs. The selection process is very specific, after showing interest in the amazing opportunity to work with children everyday, they will send their CV's through to our Head Counselor, Tape. Applicants are then requested to send a motivational letter, and will also be contacted for an intense phone interview.   Once accepted, they will move onto the next stage, coming to train

Our energetic bunch of newbies!

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Oh sweet Wednesday, how we love thee! What an incredible, sunny week we have had here on the coast! This week has been SO much fun watching our counselors training the newbies. If there's one thing I've loved, it's their energy. When your kids come to camp, you want to know they are in safe hands and are going to have as much fun as possible, and well... let me tell you- this lot will not let you down! They have SO much energy and are so lively, giving 100% into everything they do. Yesterday morning we had a stunning sunrise on the beach, we gave them beach talks, and spoke all about the ocean, the tides, our beach activities, and even did a little rock exploring! (Gotta' love low tide!!) Of course, being the photographer, my favourite part was the way the morning rays from our beautiful Mr. Sun was hitting the water... Magnificient. It makes me even more excited for our holiday camps when we get to take the kids out for early morning beach activ

Sweet Sunshine

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Goooood morning Zinkwazi! I trust you are all having a fabulous week and soaking up this wonderful sun before the rain comes in again? But then again, dancing in the rain is just as fun as playing in the sun! It's Kodak here! It's been a while since I've had a chance to update you, and share all my colourful photos with you, so let's start with my favourite- the SUNRISE! Here in Zinkwazi we have had some beautiful weather and sunrises, here's one from yesterday!   I'm sure by now you have all seen my beautiful pup, Sunshine, here she is soaking up the beauty with me.. Look how big she has grown! You'll never guess what happened yesterday...... A little lady from Sacred Heart school BROKE OUR CRATE CLIMBING RECORD!!! With 24 crates!! Lula Pam-Grant, big up's to you! Other than that, we have been having so much fun fitting in every activity possible, and we're really going to miss these kids when they leave, th

Because I'm Happy

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Gru, Agnes, Edith, Margo and the MINIONS!!! Yes Sugar Bay is going yellow, and for what you may ask?? Despicable Me Week is coming to Sugar Bay this April Holiday! Probably the best animation film in a long time. It was even nominated for two Oscars at this years academy awards. Let's take a sneak peak into what awesome things I've got planned for this week! To start us off, all of camp is going to be split into two teams. The yellow and the purple team. These are going to represent the yellow good minions and the evil purple minions. These two teams will have opportunities to collect points throughout the week for the end of the week water balloon fight! This week at camp the fun is not going to stop. Campers will learn how to speak Minionese and they will even become their own mad scientists, just like Gru in the experiments evening where they can blow up things and make fun and creative experiments. In the middle of this week you as a camper will

Learning Without Walls

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What is Community Service Learning you ask? This is where an educational institution partakes in a program, working together with a community organization whereby the outcome is mutually beneficial to both parties. In our case Sugar Bay recently hosted two American International Schools, AIS Johannesburg and AIS Libreville, and both schools requested that their students were involved in Community Service Learning for some of their stay with us. We were very excited at the prospect and approached our local farm school, Bongimfundo, situated between Zinkwazi and Darnall. The Headmaster, Mr. Ramgathi welcomed us with open arms. The little school has 100 pupils, five classrooms and only four teachers and it is for this reason that the Gr R's and Gr 1's are together in one classroom, as are the Gr 2's and 3's, Gr 4's and 5's plus the Gr 6's and 7's. Bongimfundo barely manages on the rather limited government budget they receive and are therefore extremel