Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of candle will never be shortened. Happiness never ceases by being shared.
—Chinese Proverb

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South Africa Programs

Malaak and Chris Rock, through The Angelrock Project (ARP), are currently partnering with HOPE worldwide South Africa and Rotarians for Fighting Aids (RFFA) Orphan Rescue Fund to bring much-needed support to the community of Diepsloot, a poverty-stricken shanty town in Johannesburg, South Africa and to the residents of Soweto, South Africa. Having first visited the area on an official UNICEF visit in December 2005, the Rock family made a second visit in 2006, solidifying their desire to effect change in the area. In this regard and after many more visits, they began their support by focusing on Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC) and granny-led households, specifically providing funds for educational assistance and by sending monthly in-kind donations of new and used goods for the residents. Recently, they increased their assistance by providing funding for many additional families in Diepsloot, but by also expanding their support to include such basic needs as food, rent, electricity, clothing, daycare and other necessities of life. This crucial change not only guarantees that every member of a family receives what they need regardless if they are in school or not, but also ensures that the children who are attending school, which is a major goal, have the essentials to successfully study and go to school.

The Angelrock Project is also pleased to work in conjunction with HOPE worldwide South Africa to develop and fund two additional programs as well. Responding to the needs of granny-led households, Malaak Compton-Rock organized a large donation of Liz Clairborne Inc. handbags to be used for an income-generating project for grannies living in Diepsloot and Soweto. Having arrived in Johannesburg in August, the handbags are being generously warehoused pro bono by The Rotary Club Bedfordview location in Johannesburg. The project is currently being coordinated in hopes of having the grannies begin to sell the handbags in December 2008. Additionally, through a partnership with The Food Gardens Foundation, The Angelrock Project is funding food gardens for members of the HOPE worldwide South Africa granny and HIV-AIDS support groups in Diepsloot for income-generating purposes and to provide food for families and at schools in Soweto to feed the OVC population.

An orphaned teenager taking care of her younger sibling and her own child in Soweto, South Africa. She is also caring for three additional children by herself after her mother died of AIDS. The visit took place in January, 08.

For more information on HOPE worldwide South Africa, please click here. To learn more about Rotarians for Fighting AIDS, please click here.

Please view photos from our trips to South Africa here.

Journey for Change: Empowering Youth Through Global Service is a volunteer program that recently took 30 at-risk youth from Bushwick, Brooklyn to Johannesburg, South Africa. Please click here to learn more. To support the year-long program, please click here.

To view a CNN.com video of the participants in South Africa, please click here.

To read Soledad O'Brien's Behind the Scenes: Out of Bushwick on CNN.com, please click here.

To read Journey for Change participant blogs on CNN.com, please click here.

To read the cover story on Journey for Change in Time For Kids Magazine, please click here

To view pictures taken by Journey for Change Participants on Timeforkids.com, please click here

To view Journey for Change photos, please click here.

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