ONE Member Jake Back from South Africa
July 31st, 2007 at 12:13 pm | posted by Virginia Simmons
My wife and I recently traveled to Mamelodi, South Africa (30 minutes outside Pretoria) with 300 other volunteers from Crossroads Church in Cincinnati, OH. I wasn’t sure what to expect, since I had never been to Africa before, but I was very excited to experience the culture and develop relationships with the people there. I was amazed at the love, joy and hope that seemed to radiate from the townships despite the fact that most people we met were either unemployed (80%), had HIV/AIDS (40%) or did not know where their next meal would come from.
While we were there we built 10 homes, planted over 250 sustainable vegetable gardens, provided a library full of 7,000 donated books and had a children’s camp each day for over 1,000 kids! While all that is definitely an accomplishment, the most fulfilling part of our trip was the amazing friendships we developed with the South Africans. I was so encouraged by their ambition and hope for the future — something that we, as Americans, have in common.
While I was there I wore my ONE bracelet every day just like I have for the past 4 months since I got it. On my last day, I took my ONE bracelet off and gave it to an awesome kid named Kevin—who I developed a good relationship with and who seemed to like me as he was by my side every time I turned around.
The experiences I had in South Africa will last a lifetime and it has encouraged me to become more involved in the ONE Campaign and try harder to get other people involved to help make a positive difference in Africa. ONE can have a tremendous impact on people living in poverty and I believe it’s my responsibility to help support ONE’s efforts.
-Jake Armentrout, ONE Member, Cincinnati, OH
July 31st, 2007 at 4:01 pm
Jake! It was an amazing trip and I’m so glad we were on a team together! It’s so encouraging to see you taking our experience and letting the world know that ONE person can make a world of difference and I know you did in Kevin’s life. Keep in touch bro.
August 1st, 2007 at 2:52 am
I’m a South african and i would like to know where you got your 80% unemployment as well as the 40% HIV/AIDS rates from. If you don’t mind, please provide me with a link to a website or something. If you can’t, i would suggest you refrain from making wild statements like these without providing proof.
August 1st, 2007 at 9:44 am
Good stuff, and would love work with you. The sustainable veg. gardens excite me. Quite promising for their future. Are the houses built out of the resources available in the region? Are there people being taught how to build so that they can continue on their own?
August 1st, 2007 at 11:15 am
Nice post, Jake! We are so glad you’re are back though:)
August 3rd, 2007 at 4:33 am
One more time. Where do you get these fugures of 80% Unemployment and 40% HIV/AIDS?????
I have you have the guts to give me an answer this time around.
August 19th, 2007 at 11:11 am
Kabelo,
These statistics were provided by the Pastor of the Church that we partner with. As you may notice in the article it references the people I met with and worked with in a small part of South Africa, not the entire country. Sorry for the confusion. In the place we worked these were the numbers.
Latria,
We did “American” style construction, which is A-framed wooden houses. There’s not much wood available there for the people to work with so they use brick and stone, which is much more difficult and time consuming to build with. We are teaching people in Mamelodi how to build these types of houses and the long-term goal is to have a team of South Africans who can build the houses and we can ship material over to them. Also, we are helping start small businesses and providing job skills training like basic computer skills, interviewing skills, etc.
October 5th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
Member of ONE