Second annual 'Raft for Africa' weekend June 25-28

ALLENTOWN — Four intrepid community members will spend 72 hours on a raft in Mill Pond next week.

Villages in Partnership (VIP) will host its second annual "Raft for Africa" weekend June 25-28 at the Mill Pond in Allentown. Founded in 2008 by members of the Allentown Presbyterian Church, VIP is bringing together churches, schools, businesses and individuals to address the problem of extreme poverty in Malawi, Africa.

In an effort to raise awareness and interest in the community for the work VIP is doing in Africa, four volunteers will raft in the middle of the lake during the weekend of events in support of VIP. This year, rafting teams from the local school district and other churches will join the VIP rafters on the lake as well.

VIP has scheduled a weekend of fun and informative activities around the rafting event, and the community is invited to participate. An information booth will be set up in Sensi Park where area residents can learn more about VIP and its work, or make a donation to support its efforts.

A launch party has been planned for 6 p.m. June 25 that will feature a cookout and music as the rafts set sail.

A "Water Walk" will take place at 2 p.m. June 27 in order to educate locals about the daily struggle those in Malawi experience to get clean water. Those who would like to participate should bring a bucket, as walkers will meet in Sensi Park and walk to the firehouse to fill the buckets and then walk back to the park. Walkers can be sponsored with donations to the VIP.

From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on June 27, Sensi Park will be filled with family activities such as live music, food, a dunk tank and a moonbounce. At 7 p.m., a family camp out and movie night will begin in Heritage Park. The campout will feature a bonfire, and movies including "Madagascar."

To sign up for the campout, visit www.villagesinpartnership.com.

The events on June 28 will kick off with a 7 a.m. sunrise service and breakfast for campers and others who would like to show support for the rafters. The rafters will return to shore at 7 p.m. that night.

VIP began when members of the Allentown Presbyterian Church partnered with Sakata, an area in Africa comprised of 16 small villages with a population of approximately 7,000, and Mbayani, an urban slum village on the outskirts of the city of Blantyre, Africa. In Sakata, nearly all of the villagers are subsistence farmers, with little if any income. According to VIP, the people in Sakata struggle with a staggering number of orphans and child-led households and a lack of access to clean water, adequate medical

care and education.

In Mbayani, where most residents migrated from rural areas in search of work, there is an unemployment rate of 70 percent and a scarcity of land for growing crops. This combined with lack of adequate sanitation and access to health care means that many are locked in a daily struggle to survive there, according to VIP.

One of the core principles of VIP is not to be a benefactor sending handouts from afar, but to send people to Malawi to get to know the people there and understand their circumstances while working alongside them to further their goals. Since the VIP was established, members have helped build and supply a new preschool/clinic in Sakata, financed the badly needed repairs of major bridges in Sakata, provided mosquito nets for 200 people vulnerable to malaria in Sakata, provided training in agricultural development to poor farmers and provided supplies for the volunteer preschools in Mbayani.

VIP is currently seeking volunteers and donations to address the problems of water supply in the villages, to provide materials for vocational training of teens in Mbayani, to purchase improved hybrid seed to improve crop yields in the next growing season and to purchase livestock allowing people to feed their families and provide income through breeding.

Those who cannot go to Malawi on a friendship trip with the VIP can support the group's efforts financially by making a taxdeductible contribution to Villages in Partnership, P.O. Box 122, Allentown, NJ 08501.

Since VIP is a volunteer organization, 100 percent of the financial support it receives from outside donors goes to Africa. Of the money sent to Africa, approximately 90 percent directly supports the partner villages, helping them address the root causes of the extreme poverty there. VIP works with development professionals in the Blantyre Synod Development Commission as well as local leaders in each partner village in Malawi.

For more information about going on a friendship trip, donating to VIP or learning more about its programs, fundraisers and volunteer opportunities, email info@villagesinpartnership. org.