Camp Mukundi: Where Health Education Met People Where They Are

Camp Mukundi, random session

I have attended and led a number of camps from 2019 to date, but Camp Mukundi was exceptional in a number of ways. It was different by design. It emphasised meeting people where they are, listening before teaching, and making learning practical and participatory. Unlike many health camps we have organised in Zimbabwe, which tend to follow a more formal model dominated by slides and presentations, Camp Mukundi created space for conversation, practical learning, reflection, recreation, peer connection, and—most importantly—the voices of the people actually living with these conditions.

As one of the camp co-leads, one of the things I particularly appreciated was the approach we took before any session with an invited speaker or facilitator. We first asked participants what they wanted to learn, what they wanted to be told or advised on, what questions they had, and what they expected from the camp. Their responses were documented and used to guide facilitators. This meant that facilitators were not simply delivering what they had planned beforehand; they were also responding to what the audience had explicitly told us they needed. We were not teaching at people. We were teaching with them.

Random session

Five Days. Three Conditions. One Community.

Camp Mukundi ran from 17–21 August 2026 in Masvingo Province as an integrated PEN-Plus non-communicable disease camp, bringing together 60 young people living with chronic conditions, affectionately referred to as Warriors: 40 people living with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D), 10 living with rheumatic heart disease/congenital heart disease (RHD/CHD), and 10 living with sickle cell disease (SCD). Caregivers also participated for younger children, particularly those under the age of 12.

The camp brought together a powerful partnership comprising SolidarMed, the host and PEN-Plus implementing partner; NCDI Poverty Network; the Ministry of Health and Child Care of Zimbabwe; Lili Grace Foundation; Sonia Nabeta Foundation; and Midlands Diabetes Interest Group.

Breakout session

But Camp Mukundi was not simply about bringing three disease communities into the same physical space. It was about recognising that while T1D, SCD and RHD/CHD are different conditions, many of the challenges experienced by the people living with them overlap: stigma, missed school, financial pressure, access to medicines, navigating healthcare systems, mental health challenges, misconceptions, and the constant responsibility of managing a chronic condition.

Day One: Setting the Tone

The first day focused on orientation, welcoming participants, caregivers, facilitators, healthcare professionals, and the wider camp team. Participants were introduced to the house rules, code of conduct, programme structure, expectations, and what the five days would look like.

One detail immediately stood out to me: everyone had a role, and everyone could be identified.

Caregivers, healthcare professionals, counsellors, facilitators, and other members of the camp team wore different colours, making it easy for participants to know who was who. It may sound like a small logistical detail, but it was brilliant. People should never have to guess who they can approach for help. Clear identification should be the norm at camps of this nature.

It was a small reflection of what was clearly exquisite planning behind the scenes.

Knowledge Is Power

On 18 August, the focus was on helping participants better understand their conditions.

The underlying message was simple: knowledge is power.

Participants engaged with healthcare professionals and other experts to better understand their conditions, treatment, warning signs, prevention, self-management, and how to navigate their health more confidently.

The sessions were not limited to presentations. Questions, discussions, practical explanations, and peer experiences were actively encouraged.

Mind, Body and Wellbeing

The second major theme, covered on 19 August, was Mind, Body & Wellbeing.

Living with a chronic condition is not simply a medical experience. It affects how young people think, feel, learn, interact with others, and see their future.

Healthcare professionals and facilitators created space to discuss mental health, emotional wellbeing, physical activity, nutrition, relationships, resilience, and the realities of living with a lifelong condition.

The presence of both professionals and people living with the conditions themselves was particularly powerful. Clinical expertise explained the condition; lived experience explained the life around it.

Speak Up. Stand Tall. Advocate.

On 20 August, the emphasis shifted from understanding the conditions to understanding the power of the individual.

Participants explored advocacy—what it means, why it matters, and how young people can use their voices to influence change.

Advocacy session

The session moved beyond the traditional definition of advocacy and challenged participants to think practically:

• What do you want?
• Why do you want it?
• Who has the power to make it happen?

Participants worked in groups, developed advocacy case studies, presented their ideas, and discussed how they could move from simply identifying problems to taking action.

They were also introduced to examples of significant changes that have emerged from advocacy and engagement, including the Zimbabwe HIV and AIDS Levy, demonstrating that policy change does not simply happen—it can be influenced by people who are willing to organise, speak, engage, and persist.

Every participant then wrote a personal advocacy pledge on a sticky note, beginning with the commitment to use their voice to create change.

That was the moment advocacy stopped being a concept and became personal.

Health and Safety Were Non-Negotiable

Another feature of Camp Mukundi that deserves significant recognition was the level of medical preparedness.

There was a designated medical corner as well as a dedicated emergency room, with 24-hour medical cover throughout the camp. An established referral pathway to Masvingo Provincial Hospital, located nearby, was also in place.

This was next level.

For a camp involving young people living with conditions that can require urgent medical attention, preparedness cannot be an afterthought. It has to be built into the architecture of the programme.

Each day also began with a dedicated health check, followed by regular monitoring approximately every 2.5 hours, continuing through the day and into the night. Additional midnight health checks were undertaken for participants living with diabetes who required them.

Nutrition and hydration were equally considered. Beyond breakfast, lunch, and dinner, snacks were distributed throughout the programme, with water readily available.

The message was clear: the health of the Warriors came first.

The Power of a Multidisciplinary Team

Camp Mukundi brought together healthcare professionals with diverse areas of expertise, including paediatricians, mental health specialists, dietitians, general practitioners, public health experts, nurses, counsellors, diabetes educators, and other facilitators.

The strength of the team was not simply the number of professionals present, but the balance of expertise.

Participants were able to move from clinical questions to nutrition, from mental health to public health, and from treatment to advocacy—without having to view their health through a single lens.

At the same time, people living with T1D, SCD and RHD/CHD were not treated merely as recipients of information. Their lived experiences were part of the curriculum.

Conversations Over Lectures

One of the biggest differences at Camp Mukundi was the deliberate creation of space for conversation.

Breakout sessions were organised according to age groups and disease conditions, allowing participants to discuss issues in environments where they felt comfortable.

There was also plenty of free time, as determined by the camp coordinators, giving participants opportunities to relax, interact, build friendships, and simply be young people.

Art Therapy session

There was no labelling of participants by their conditions. Everyone had a name tag to assist with identification, but the camp did not reduce anyone to a diagnosis.

Perhaps this is why, by the end of the camp, participants were expressing that they wished the programme could continue for another week. They had more questions, more conversations to have, and more connections they wanted to build.

Behind the Scenes: The Staff Huddle

One of the most important processes happened away from the participants.

At the end of each day from 18–20 August, the camp team held a staff huddle and debrief.

We compared what we had planned with what had actually happened.

• What worked?
• What didn't?
• What did we need to change?
• Who needed additional support?
• What should we expect the following day?
• What had we learned?

These conversations allowed the team to continuously adapt the camp rather than rigidly following a programme simply because it had been printed on paper.

We also paid attention to participants demonstrating leadership potential. Some young people naturally emerged as organisers, communicators, peer supporters, and problem-solvers.

These are exactly the kinds of individuals who should be considered for future advocacy and leadership training—people who can eventually contribute to programme planning, community follow-up, peer counselling, and support for others living with the same conditions.

If we want sustainable programmes, people living with these conditions must not only participate in them. They must increasingly help design, deliver, evaluate, and lead them.

Measuring More Than Attendance

Camp Mukundi also incorporated monitoring and evaluation throughout the programme.

Participants completed pre- and post-camp surveys, allowing the team to understand what participants expected to learn and what they felt they had learned by the end of the camp.

The M&E team collected this information alongside participants' health-check data, creating an opportunity to assess not only participation but also learning and health-related outcomes.

This matters because a successful camp should not simply be measured by how many people attended.

We should also be asking:

• What did they learn?
• What changed?
• What did they take home?
• What will they do differently?

And Then Came the Fun

Because health camps should not feel like five days in a hospital.

The Warriors rehearsed for a talent show, and the creativity on display was extraordinary.

Talent show in session

There were poems, music, instrumental performances, individual acts, and group performances. Because participants were seated in groups of six, each group also prepared an item for the talent show, turning the activity into a celebration of teamwork.

There were prizes, laughter, cheering, and plenty of unforgettable moments.

And then came a particularly moving drama involving Warriors, caregivers, and healthcare professionals.

The performance portrayed the painful realities many people living with chronic conditions continue to face because of misconceptions, ignorance, stigma, and lack of knowledge.

It was entertainment, but it was also education.

Sometimes a stage can communicate what a presentation slide never could.

Camp Mukundi Was About People

Perhaps the greatest lesson I took from Camp Mukundi is that people do not come to health programmes as diagnoses.

They come as children.
As teenagers.
As young adults.
As parents.
As caregivers.
As friends.
As future professionals.
As leaders.
As people with dreams.

They happen to live with T1D, SCD, or RHD/CHD—but their conditions are only one part of who they are.

Participants' concerns/expectations

That is why meeting people where they are matters.

• It means listening before speaking.
• It means asking before assuming.
• It means making programmes flexible enough to respond to real needs.
• It means creating room for laughter alongside serious conversations.
• It means recognising lived experience as expertise.

And it means giving young people the opportunity not only to learn about their health, but to speak about it, advocate for it, and eventually lead the change they want to see.

Change Starts With Us

Camp Mukundi reminded me that the future of chronic disease care cannot be built exclusively around hospitals and consultation rooms.

It must also be built in communities.
In schools.
In families.
Among peers.
At camps.
And increasingly, with young people themselves at the table.

The Warriors did not simply leave with information. They left with new connections, practical knowledge, shared experiences, advocacy tools, memories, and—hopefully—a stronger belief in their own ability to influence what happens next.

• That is the kind of health camp we should be building.
• Not simply camps for people living with chronic conditions.
• But camps with them.

Camp co-lead: Dr. N. M. Garakasha

Because when we meet people where they are, listen to what they need, equip them with knowledge, create safe spaces for connection, and give them the confidence to use their voices, something powerful happens.

They stop being passive recipients of healthcare.

They become Warriors.

They become advocates.

They become leaders.

And change starts with them.