Seven of us from the US (four from Metro) arrived safely in South Africa last Saturday. Audrey Matimelo (Executive Director) and Xolani Zondi (Development Director) of Zimele Wethu picked us up at the airport and immediately took us to a rural village. Since then, we have visited several villages around Kwazulu Natal, seeing firsthand the amazing work that Zimele Wethu is doing to help women and men deal with the root causes of poverty.

What makes Zimele Wethu so unique is how they empower women to be leaders of their community in every area of life. As a result, people are learning to save and manage money as a community, businesses are being launched, the sick are being cared for, orphans are being organically adopted by the women, so that they do not have to go to an orphanage and be institutionalized, the birth pre-schools are giving young children an opportunity to learn English so they can get a head start on their education.

Our US Group have been inspired and deeply touched. Hannah Kim from Metro said to me this morning: "Thank you for encouraging me to come." Sarah Choi from Metro shares with the group everyday that she does not want to leave South Africa. Pastor Alex Gee, from Foundation of Life Church, in Madison, Wisconsin wants to bring African American leaders from the US to Zimele Wethu annually to inspire and train them. It is hard to describe, but what God is doing here is special and our group is thankful that we got an opportunity to experience it firsthand.

We hope that you would consider going to the next Zimele Ambassador Trip in 2017. If you are interested please feel free to contact David HoSang at david.hosang@emetro.org.