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LINKS BUILD SCHOOLS IN SOUTH AFRICA – COMMEMORATE 10 YEARS OF
EDUCATION ACROSS THE MILES
(Washington, DC – May 27, 2007). An entourage
of one-hundred-twelve members of The Links, Incorporated recently
returned from South Africa where they visited six of the more than
fifty schools the organization built and/or renovated during the
past ten years. “This has been a trip of discovery,” said Dr.
Gwendolyn B. Lee, the National President of The Links, Inc. “We
came to see the schools, meet the educators and the students, and
to make a determination on what next steps we take toward furthering
our original goal of improving the quality of life in the
disadvantaged rural areas of South Africa through the provision of
basic education facilities.
In 1996, under the leadership of Patricia
Russell McCloud, the 11th National President, The
Links initiated a program called Education Across the
Miles—Building Schools for the Children of Africa to provide
educational opportunities in rural South Africa. Today, the women of
this 12,000 member group, determined to build on their legacy of
service, journeyed to Durban and Soweto, SA to commemorate the 10th
Anniversary of Education Across The Miles and
to witness, first hand, the fruits of their labor.
In addition, The Links also celebrated the 5th
Anniversary of the South Africa chapter with members who reside in
Gauteng, Durban, and Cape Town.
While in South Africa, The Links, Inc. visited
the Motsoaledi Pre-Primary School in Soweto, in the Gauteng
Providence; this school, sponsored by the Atlanta (GA) Cluster
Chapters of The Links, was completed in 2002. Other schools visited
in the township of Umlazi included the Ntwela Primary School
sponsored by the Buffalo Chapter; the Ngilosi Primary School
sponsored by the Oklahoma City Chapter; the Zwelesithembiso School
sponsored by the North Texas Cluster Chapters; and the Umgijimi J.P.
School sponsored by the Austin & Town Lake Chapter. The largest
school visited was the Esizibeni High School sponsored by the
Keystone (Philadelphia) Cluster Chapters which was completed in
1999. This secondary school has grown from 150 students to an
enrollment of 1427 students, fifty educators and 5 department
heads. Principal M.S. Gumbi, who credits the school’s growth
with community cooperation, government partnerships and an active
school governing board, says “My vision for Esizibeni is to develop
this school into a full comprehensive and technical school using
highly educated and dedicated teachers.”
The Kliptown Community Center in Soweto,
the first stop on The Links schedule, received a special monetary
gift from The Links Foundation, Inc. and the Capital City
(Washington, DC) Chapter for school supplies. Another site on the
tour schedule was the Gladys Gary Vaughn Library, named in
honor of the 13th National President of The Links,
Incorporated, and organized and supported by the Links Chapter in
South Africa. The library is located in Lotus Home, a part of
the Good Hope Community Center in Mabopane. The “Cool
Girls,” a major part of the welcoming presentation for The Links at
the Good Hope Center, is a pen-pal group of female teenage orphans
organized and supported by the Magnolia Chapter (Atlanta) of The
Links.
“Our people continue to struggle with unprecedented challenges on
both the domestic and international fronts; and, therefore, as
Links, we believe our international focus must stay on the course we
established ten years ago. We must also do more. We must do more
in the inner-cities where we live and see children struggle for
survival every day. At the same time, we must do more in rural
Africa to improve the quality of life,” said Dr. Lee.
During the ten-year history of this project,
The Links have contributed more than $615,000 toward the building
and renovation of primary and secondary schools in Africa. At the
request of the government of South Africa, the “Schools for Africa”
program focuses on the poorest provinces of the country. Currently
these schools operate through an association with the International
Foundation of Education and Self-Help (IFESH) and the Department of
Public Works in South Africa. Education Across The Miles is
an on-going program of The Links, Incorporated funded by The Links
Foundation, Inc. During this ten day journey to meet the educators
of their schools, The Links Foundation, and members of The Links,
gave unrestricted cash donations of more than $20,000 and other
specials gift to each school, to the Kliptown Community Center, and
the Good Hope Community Center. The Southern Area of The Links
presented a check in the amount of $6,000 to the University of
Zululand to start a Links endowment at that institution. More
importantly, however, was the promise made by The Links to continue
supporting the South African schools and community centers. Dr. Lee
added, “Even though we leave you, we will keep you in our hearts;
and we will return.”
The Links, Incorporated,
founded in 1946, is one of the oldest and largest volunteer service
organizations of women who are committed to enriching, sustaining
and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans
and other persons of African ancestry. The Links, Inc. has a
membership of nearly 12,000 professional women of color serving in
273 chapters in 42 states, the District of Columbia, Germany, South
Africa and the Bahamas. Through its philanthropic arm, The Links
Foundation, Incorporated, the organization has contributed more than
22 million dollars to charitable causes since its founding. In
2006, members contributed more than 500,000 documented hours of
hands-on service hours to assist communities throughout the United
States, Africa and in developing countries. Washington, DC is the
site of the national headquarters. To learn more about The Links,
Incorporated, visit the website at
www.linksinc.org.
Click here for a copy of the press release.
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