UBA Committee:

Doni Belau, Nancy Gernert, Kathryn O’Rourke, Gianna Palminterri, Rochelle Rosenberg, Lori Tayar and Carolyn Tenney

Sleepy Hollow Country Club   •   Scarborough, New York

June 1, 2012

Sponsorship and Tickets!

On Friday, the first of June, 2012, Ubuntu Africa will host a Blue Jean Ball to celebrate five years of service to HIV+ children in South Africa. The celebration is being held at the picturesque Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Scarborough, New York.

Beginning at 7:00pm, blue jean-clad guests will enjoy cocktails and hors d’oeuvres on the terrace with sweeping views of the Hudson River, followed by a South African-inspired buffet dinner and dancing to the music from the rockin’ band, “A Current Affair.” Guests will hear from Ubuntu Africa Founder, Whitney Johnson, and will have the opportunity to participate in select live and silent auctions.

We hope that you will join us for a rollicking evening to support the children of Ubuntu Africa and honor the accomplishments of the organization’s founder, its Board of Trustees, and supporters who have worked so hard to help South Africa’s HIV+ children live healthy, safe and enriched lives.

Sponsorship opportunities are available and range from $15,000 to $1,000. Tickets are $250 per person.

Click here to view the Blue Jean Ball invitation. For sponsorship opportunities and inquiries, please contact Sara at sara.garlick@ubafrica.org

Thanks to an anonymous challenge grant, all donations received by May 31st will be matched! Join us in supporting UBA and make an impact today!

For this event, Ubuntu Africa Child Healthcare welcomed young professionals from the Cape Town area, including representatives from the international NGOs Grassroot Soccer and Mothers2Mothers.

More than 200 raffle rickets were sold thanks to the following generous sponsors:

• Dodge City Diner
• Dear Me
• Addis in Cape
• Casa Labia
• &Union

The amount raised during this evening will go towards the newly established Child Material Aid Fund. This fund will ensure that all of our children will go back to school with the adequate shoes, uniforms, and school supplies in January 2012.

Thank you to all of those who attended this event and for your continued support! We look forward to many more events in Cape Town to further expand the reach of our organization in support of the HIV-positive children of Khayelitsha.

Buy your tickets here.

When I arrived in Cape Town, I distinctly remember driving over the highway for the first time and seeing the sea of shanty homes engulfing the horizons beside me. My initial reaction was shock and horror. From my American, suburban perspective, this way of living was incomprehensible, and I felt an immediate sense of sadness.

Thinking about the way I felt that first day, a short three months later, seems very distant. My feelings and views on life in townships have changed quickly and dramatically, and much of that is due to my direct involvement and work with Ubuntu Africa in Khayelitsha.

Part of what drew me to study abroad in Cape Town was the opportunity to volunteer and give back to the community that would be my home for the semester. I knew, even before I knew anything else about South Africa, that I wanted to feel like I would be studying and living here for a reason other than a simple travel and study experience. Ubuntu Africa is helping me do that in a way that I could have never imagined.

Although I only come to the office two days a week, there is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of the smiling faces I see here and the positive direction that their lives are headed. Though I am fully aware of the kids’ home lives and positive HIV status, in no way does this define their identity for me. Instead, I look forward to Wednesday afternoons because I get to hear the laughter and see the joy of a large group of genuinely happy and extremely lucky children.

The work at Ubuntu Africa is inspiring, to say the least. The staff is fully engaged in maintaining and improving the lives of each of their children. Each person working in the office is always available to lend a hand, and take on someone else’s role in order to help and run a smooth operation. Some mothers of the children have even come in to cook for the children when the regular cook could not make it.

Now when I think of Khayelitsha, I think of a strong community of individuals. The kids I have met and interact with on a weekly basis are full of smiles and fun. They are beautiful, grateful, and engaging children who have bright futures ahead of them. Thanks to Ubuntu Africa, these kids will have the education and care that they need to live the lives they are destined to live, without letting any obstacles get in their way.

Take a moment to read her fascinating blog here!

Anything Is Better Than Doing Nothing At All

By Martha Handler

Every week I write an inspirational quote on our kitchen blackboard, hop- ing my kids will ponder the wise words of famous individuals, because they mostly ignore my own sage advice. Recently, the quote was: “Imagine what you can do, if you don’t know you can’t.” A few days later, my 16-year-old son asked, “What does that mean?” As I thought about how to answer him, the face of Whitney Johnson floated before my eyes.

Our paths first crossed in 2006, when Whitney was 22. My friend, Doni Belau, had heard Whitney speak at St. Matthew’s Church in Bedford for an event titled “Teen AIDS Awareness Day.” She phoned me later to say, “There’s an extraordinary girl that you have to meet.” Soon Whitney was in my home, keeping me spellbound with her tale. She was (and is) gorgeous, with long blond tresses and luminous green eyes. She is also poised and fiercely impassioned – a heady combination for a 22-year-old.

While she was a psychology student at Colorado College, the Bedford resident spent a year abroad at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. During that time, she volunteered in an orphanage in Khayelitsha – a severely impoverished township out- side of Cape Town that is home to around 1.5 million people living in shacks made of tin, wood and cardboard. The children, most of whom were HIV-infected, pulled her heartstrings, and when she left, she vowed that she’d return to help them.

After graduation, Whitney moved back to WestchesterCounty and began to spread the word about the children in Khayelitsha. Her dream was to start a nonprofit organization called Ubuntu Af- rica, whose mission would be to care for these children.

Whitney explained: “The combination of HIV and poverty has had a devastating impact on the children of South Africa. There are around 330,000 HIV-positive children living in South Africa and many live in extreme poverty, are malnourished, unable to access treatment, have been orphaned and have little social support. While issues surrounding HIV treatment and access to ARVs (HIV treatment) have come to the forefront of global-health policies, the very real challenges faced by HIV-positive children have been overlooked and many children are not receiving the care they need to survive.”

I asked her what the word “Ubuntu” meant and exactly what services she envisioned providing.

“Nelson Mandela explains that Ubuntu is ‘the profound African sense that we are human only through the humanity of other human beings,’” she said. “After witnessing the deaths of so many young people due to AIDS, I am not able to walk away and ignore the situation. For me, the Ubuntu is a call to compassionate action – an act of acknowledging that we are all connected.

Whitney Johnson with some of her young charges at Ubuntu Africa.

“Ubuntu Africa’s mission is to help HIV-positive children live long, healthy and happy lives. Children require more than sim- ply access to ARVs. They require comprehensive support and early interventions to improve their clinical situation and reduce risk factors associated with HIV infection. Ubuntu Africa will provide HIV-positive children and teenagers with health and support services and much needed love.”

When asked if she felt over-whelmed by their dire circumstances and multitude of needs, she shook her head.

“I understand that I can’t solve the entire HIV/AIDS crisis,” said Whitney, who had been a Red Cross volunteer and a medic for the nonprofit Nature’s Classroom. “But I do know that I can bring more love and caring into a very desperate situation and make an immediate difference in the lives of HIV-positive children. Anything is better than doing nothing at all.”

I wanted to argue with her, ex- plain how the odds were stacked against her, especially given her lack of experience and funds. But the confidence and determination she exuded made me feel certain that if anyone could make her dreams come true, it was Whitney.

Flash forward five years. Ubuntu Africa is running a successful HIV Care Program for children in Khayelitsha and has a staff of 12, including a new development director, a nurse and a social worker. The organization serves 186 children and their families and is poised to double in size over the next year.

Ubuntu Africa also plans to build a large facility in Khayelitsha to accommodate more children and meet the large and growing demand for its services. The organization has come a long way from its humble beginnings when it operated out of a tiny one-room container with no bathroom and 10 kids in its care.

Whitney, who lives in Cape Town, has fully embodied the word Ubuntu. Through her humanity of other human beings – and loads of determination and perseverance – she’s been able to achieve her dreams, enabling the

HIV-positive children Ubuntu Africa serves to attain health and happiness. It’s truly amazing what you can do when you don’t know you can’t.

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Photograph by Rod Spicer

Whitney Johnson will be back in Westchester May 14 for Ubuntu Africa’s annual spring fundraising event. The fundraiser, which will take place at the Harvey School Arts Center in Katonah, honors singer-actress Vanessa Williams, a Chappaqua resident and supporter of Ubuntu Africa, who has visited its HIV Care Program.

For more details about the event or to purchase tickets, contact bgolde@ginnel.com. For more information on Ubuntu Africa, visit ubafrica.org.

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