Youth In Action from Mabarhule, South Africa is an inspiring story of awesome talent amidst a simple community of austere existence. The Beginnings
Last year my family and I made my 4th trip to Africa. Kruger Park is about 350 NM East of Johannesburg. It is an area larger than Vermont and contains all the animals native to South Africa in an environment that is free from human intervention. It tr
uly is survival of the fittest. No drugging, feeding or culling of herds. For me it is like going to "The Garden of Eden" every time I travel there. I met a Youth Choir last year when they came to our Safari Camp to entertain us. They sang to a friend of mine and his wife for their 20th Anniversary. The kids were fun and enthusiastic. I learned that they write their own music. they use all the funds earned by their sessions to support the choir in their effort to keep practicing and to buy materials to make their costumes and to provide funds to do good works for members of their community. They volunteer as aids for the pre-school, with the elderly in the community providing food and visitations and entertainment for activities throughout the community of Mabarhule. The Choir Needs A Home
The choir has access to a piece of property of about 1/2 acre. They would like a building in which to help the choir and their activities grow. I did some research and found that a building that would meet their needs would cost about $35,000 to construct. After talking to the choir and getting a commitment from them for all manual labor for the project and discussing the potential of providing the funds through a friend who runs one of the private Safari Camps in the area, I am committing 5 years to raise funds and construct the Youth Center for Youth-In-Action. I will collect the funds from friends. I will travel with the funds to insure "ALL" funds go directly to purchase materials and labor needed for the project. This year my good friends visited the kids and we decided to take on this project. This choir is engaged with their community and we feel we can help them continue their good works.
