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16 - The Oakville Beaver, Friday November 28, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Youths here and in Africa are leading the change H ello from Halla! Elephants help each other, and people help each other. I just learned that Consol Homes of Malawi in only eight years has grown to 107 child care centres serving more than 30,000 children, with more than 500 community volunteers covering 1,200 villages. Our herd only has 15 elephants. One of hundreds of grassroots organizations funded by the Stephen Lewis Foundation in 15 subSaharan African countries, Consol Homes offers feeding and school fee support for school-age orphans and participation in the Orphan Affairs Unit (OAU). The OAU is an astonishing and transformative experiment where young people gain tremendously in confidence, skill, and optimism. Each community-based child care centre elects one `member of parliament' aged 10 to 18, boys and girls equally, to identify problems and bring them to the attention of larger, orphan-run meetings. The youngsters are so another, raising money for school fees and uniforms, helping to build homes and tend gardens for grannies, identifying cases of sexual abuse and promoting skills training. Today, more grandmothers are harvesting crops since Consol Homes began distributing fertilizer, 500 students have their high school fees paid, and 9,780 vulnerable children are regularly given food to take home. proud of their autonomy I am thrilled to tell you that they push themselves to that Consol Homes was one achievement after awarded the 2008 Red Ribbon Award by UNAIDS. Young people in Oakville are empowering themselves as well. Oomama, part of the Stephen Lewis Foundation Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign, has been conducting numerous workshops in New Central Public School this fall, and now the New Central Public School is hosting a pancake breakfast in aid of World Aids Day. Denny's and Jubilee Fruit Market are sponsoring a hearty breakfast of pancakes, sausages, and freshly squeezed orange juice. Tickets cost $5 per breakfast or $20 for a family of four or more. I hope you will be able to attend on Monday, Dec. 1 between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. You might see me eating branches on the trees outside, though with the cold weather, I'm more likely to be eating in Africa. Just a few days later, on Friday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m., Canada's own Allison Lynn and Gerald Flemming are providing an evening of uplifting music at St. Luke Church in Palermo, at 3114 Dundas St. W. (a block west of Bronte Road). It is another event to help Oakville support the Stephen Lewis Foundation's Turning The Tide Campaign. Halla is a 12-year-old female African Savannah elephant working with $Million or More Oakville ($MOMO) to support the Stephen Lewis Foundation and the fight against AIDS in Africa. For more information, visit www.millionormoreslf.ca or phone 905469-6415. -- Submitted by $Million or More Oakville