Friday, June 28th - Chatsworth YC, WC giveaway lotus

It's Friday and we found out when we woke up and got on the computer that one of our key speakers is not coming...has to go to a funeral in Johannesburg. We already had his gift with his name engraved on it and Anne Maree who is in charge of the whole thing, was pretty stressed. Just another day in Africa...ha. We put together a meeting with Lisa Chetty from Lotus FM at 2 pm and a meeting with the director of the youth centre after that. We picked up the group from the area office at 12:00 and got their luggage, packed up the car and squeezed five people in the car and headed for the mission office to pick up some items.

A lady that sells bags she makes was there and everyone was glad to visit with the Murdocks, so it was hard getting them all in the car again to head to Lotus FM and our meeting with Lisa. We actually got there on time and talked to her about our final wheelchair giveaway on August 10th, right before the David Glen Hatch Concert and expressed our thanks for how well the recent wheelchair giveaway event went. Lisa and Roberta are very nice people and we are lucky to have friends at Lotus FM. We spoke to them about advertising the concert on air and they promised to talk to the appropriate people at the station. We gave her some DGH Cds and flyers for the events.

We then headed for the Chatsworth Youth Center to meet with the director and show Sean Donnelly what we are dealing with. He thought the place was quite nice, but wanted to keep our costs down. The draping thing really had him worried, as the sound guy said to keep from having an echo in the cavernous hall, we would need something to absorb the sound, like draping and carpet runners.

Chatsworth Youth Centre – a centre built by the Nelson Mandela Foundation. The Centre was built for the youth, after the Throb Nightclub Tragedy claimed the lives of 13 teenagers – one as young as nine-years-old – on March 24th, 2000. The 13 youngsters were tragically killed in a stampede after a teargas canister was thrown on the dance-floor of the packed night-club by a rival club owner at an end-of-term matinee. Following this tragedy, it became apparent that there was a lack of a recreational venue for the youth to become gainfully involved, develop social skills and stay away from the social ills that plague that community. In 2003 the Chatsworth Youth Centre was opened by former President Nelson Mandela as a haven for the youth of Chatsworth who would otherwise have to resort to roaming the streets or going to nightclubs. We found a place just outside the hall where Manela's photo is painted and a mosaic honoring the 13 teens that were killed. It needs some work, but we are ready to do a helping hand project.

Entrance to Mandela's Youth Center

When we spoke to the director, he said that there was a business that was going to get the place professionally painted, but he would not say when. He hinted that because Mandela was at death's door, they want to clean it up and use it as a place to bring flowers, etc. when Mandela passes. We just hope he means it and that it will be done before our concert on August 10th. He seems to want us to hold off, so this other party can take care of it, but we are nervous that it will not get done in time. As you can see, it is in desperate need for paint and spray wash.


We got home and fixed some leftover Mexican food which was well received by all. Sipho was still scrambling to find a replacement speaker. Elder Kyle told him to relax...that all would work out. I collected cookies from the seniors and we had a nice visit with the gang.