South Africa Vision Trip
       *Additional Vision Trip Resources below: PURPOSE: Partner with Loving South Africa (LSA) and travel to the AIDS epicenter of the world, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. While on the ground, trip participants will experience firsthand the work LSA's strategic partners are doing to combat the AIDS pandemic by addressing needs in the following areas: spiritual development, prevention, testing, treatment, orphan care and hospice. Extensive pre and post trip involvement will enable you to expand upon this experience to help advocate and be a solution to the worst pandemic in history. WHERE: Kwazulu Natal, South Africa WHEN: There are two trip opportunities:
*Requests will not be evaluated or approved until one month prior to trip departure date. This financial assistance opportunity is intended to supplement trip participant's active engagement in sacrificial giving, fundraising efforts and faithful prayer for financial provision. The submission of this financial assistance request does not guarantee the receipt of funds and each request will go through a review process. For resources on fundraising for Common Ground Vision Trips, see below. REQUIREMENTS:
COUNTRY INFORMATION: Dutch traders landed at the southern tip of modern day South Africa in 1652 and established a stopover point on the spice route between the Netherlands and the Far East, founding the city of Cape Town. After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many of the Dutch settlers (the Boers) trekked north to found their own republics. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) spurred wealth and immigration and intensified the subjugation of the native inhabitants. The Boers resisted British encroachments but were defeated in the Boer War (1899-1902); however, the British and the Afrikaners, as the Boers became known, ruled together beginning in 1910 under the Union of South Africa, which became a republic in 1961 after a whites-only referendum. In 1948, the National Party was voted into power and instituted a policy of apartheid - the separate development of the races - which favored the white minority at the expense of the black majority. The African National Congress (ANC) led the opposition to apartheid and many top ANC leaders, such as Nelson MANDELA, spent decades in South Africa's prisons. Internal protests and insurgency, as well as boycotts by some Western nations and institutions, led to the regime's eventual willingness to negotiate a peaceful transition to majority rule. The first multi-racial elections in 1994 brought an end to apartheid and ushered in majority rule under an ANC-led government. South Africa since then has struggled to address apartheid-era imbalances in decent housing, education, and health care. ANC infighting, which has grown in recent years, came to a head in September 2008 when President Thabo MBEKI resigned, and Kgalema MOTLANTHE, the party's General-Secretary, succeeded him as interim president. Jacob ZUMA became president after the ANC won general elections in April 2009. (source: CIA - The World Fact Book) HISTORY: Common Ground has partnered with LSA since 2008. Multiple people from Common Ground have participated in trips with LSA and from these past trips, two people have gone on to do internships with LSA in South Africa. HOW DO I APPLY: Trip applications can be downloaded here. *For questions or additional information, email Vision Trip Resources
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