Welcome to The BYU Young Ambassadors 2012

The BYU Young Ambassadors arrive.  Africa has been preparing for this event for over a year.  So much planning and organizing!

Friends from the Area Office came to celebrate, and they really put on a show.  They danced and
sang, and did the African trill which delighted our American friends.  Red sweater is Moiponi Tshabalala and she is married to the Yellow tie guy, Dominic.  He is the National Public Affairs Director for South Africa.  Front and center is his Mom really decked out in African costume and beside her is Thoba Karl-Halla, an assistant in our office.

One very important part of the YA tour is to do outreaches every-
where they went.  The first one was in Roodopoort at the
Sparrow's Nest Orphanage.  The parents have aids so the children are
soon left behind.  These pods house a family unit of adults and
children.  As the parents die, the adults assume the role as a
parent and care for the children left behind.

The teens joined together and came to the center area singing with
some YA's close behind.

The BYU students spread out into small groups to talk and
play with the children.

They put on a short program everywhere they went.

The children are happy, clean, and it was very evident that they
were well cared for.  The is a lot of love for the children in Africa.

Then they passed out a bag of toys and treats to every child.
They were so excited and appreciative.  

This young man was deaf but he responded to Elder Grandpa's
love and friendship.

The first show was at a small theater in Roodoport.  This is Eric
and he is an incredible dancer which often included back flips.
As he landed one of the first back-flips, he bounced right off the
wall at the edge of the stage.  The audience gasped as it was
painful to watch.  But, the show must go on.  They took him to
the ER, stitched him up, and he performed in the next show.

They would interact with the college kids and Young Single Adults. 
This workshop was run at the University of Johannesburg.

Go Grandpa!!

Another outreach--a private housing unit for children that had been
burned (often from riots or unrest in their countries) and they had
no money for treatments.  This lady started her own facility
and has helped hundreds of children who were suffering.

Some of the children that have been helped and the multiple countries that they have serviced.