Thursday, August 30, 2012

South Africa and Changing the World...Please Help!

HEY GUYS!,

As you know, my name is Gabrielle Gibson, and I am a student at Roger Williams University in the College Unbound program. I am participating in a trip to South Africa this Fall from October 7, 2012 to October 18, 2012 to volunteer with the non-profit organization, Emthonjeni.  As a Community Development major, this is an excellent opportunity to actualize my passion for service and utilize my skills and talent to impact to those in need. It is also a chance to partake in a comprehensive and life changing learning experience. I also expect it to be extremely beneficial to the development of a global perspective.

While immersed in the South African culture, I will be working hands on as a community developer. This will be a wonderful opportunity to build experiences that can be beneficially translated into the work I currently do in the community, and help further my future goal of developing an academic and arts based non-profit.

 Emthonjeni is a non-profit that provides an array of services that promote health, education, and a prosperous community. Some services include:

·         Annual health fairs (where a medical team provides medical care for the community)
·         VCT testing and aid with HIV treatment
·          A community garden (which provides a healthy diet and potential income)
·         An after school program that feeds more than 250 children daily, give them school uniforms, clothes, food, homework assistance and computer training skills
Orphan and Vulnerable Children (OVC) program, which consists of 10 fully furnished houses that provide a loving homes for orphaned children from the surrounding settlement with a caring foster parent. This community is supported through a number of social services including access to primary preventative health care, food assistance, educational tutorials, spiritual, emotional and mental care.

I am working hard to prepare and take full advantage of this amazing opportunity to do what I love: changing lives by serving others. However, I still need the support of anyone willing to provide it. The time of travel is rapidly approaching. I thank you for any donation that you may be able to offer.  I am looking for donations to cover the travel, food and lodging. Airfare will be approximately $1600, and additional expenses will cost approximately $260. Again, I thank you for your help, and if you cannot donate personally I appreciate any suggestion that you may have for me.

Donations can be made by check, cash or to my PayPal Account (link is on the side of the blog)


Please feel free to email me about any questions you may have at tgibson120@hawks.rwu.edu or Ms.Gibson721@gmail.com


Appreciatively,

Gabrielle S. Gibson

 

A PHOTO FROM HAITI:
 

The only picture I have left from Haiti...the others were deleted :(
This is Javelin! A girl whose heart utterly melted mine. Javelin and her brother pretty much fend for themselves. When we gave out food to the kids in the community, she packaged hers to try and take it home to share with her family...sometimes it never even makes it there because people take advantage of these kids. She was about 5-6 in this picture.

A PHOTO FROM NICARAGUA:
 

This is a picture of kids in el campo (the rural area) in Nicaragua. They were so excited to receive shoes that we were giving out, in addition to soap and teddy bears. Most don't even own one single pair of shoes. The little girl on the right has the biggest smile and the brightest personality. I knew as soon as I saw those red shoes that they were made for her....they fit her perfectly!

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