Our Story

The story of World Camp is really a story about what we can achieve if we follow our passion. Sometimes our families and the world for the matter seem to actually discourage us from feeling like we can achieve certain things without the right prerequisites. The story of World Camp is the story of how each of us can do our part, we can donate our resources, we can donate our voice and speak on behalf of the powerless, or we can give our time and devote our passion to the change we wish to see in the world.

World Camp was founded in 2000 by a group of college students attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill following their travels throughout southern Africa. They were an adventurous group with no prior aid-work experience that believed they could build an international non-profit that would demonstrate how peer education could reinforce active learning by and among young people. Relying on the support of friends and family, the founders of World Camp were able to raise funds to cover program costs for the first World Camp programs in Africa.

In 2001 the original World Camp team would travel through southern Africa in a Volkswagen mini-bus, living out of tents, and testing their newly developed curriculum to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS in twenty one primary schools. Seeing firsthand the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS and the challenges it placed on children and their communities, these students would meet with various ministries of education in order to establish contacts and evaluate specific country and regional needs.

As young people they had identified a passion and the knowledge gained from living among the AIDS pandemic was their inspiration. They would embark on a journey to develop a program that would empower others to lead the changes needed in their own communities and they knew that if they could provide others with education then they too would be inspired just as they were.

Here the story of World Camp became a part of the story about AIDS and poverty in the world. World Camp became a part of the stories about neglect, a part of the stories about dignity, stories about injustice, BUT World Camp also became a part of the stories about hope, stories about courage and stories about optimism. World Camp became a part of the stories about the way the world is and what young people can do to bring about change.

Since 2000, more than 450 passionate individuals have joined this adventure on three continents providing education, food, support and outreach to thousands of deserving children, families and communities. We encourage you to ask yourself… what if you could do something to change the future? What if you could improve some aspect of your local community or the global community, would you do it? Today World Camp is over ten years old and our family spans the globe and should be seen as a testament to the power of people who are inspired and follow their passion to bring about change.

Join the adventure. Become a World Camp volunteer.