In the 1980s, America was reminded of the famine suffered by residents of some African countries thanks to the hit song "We are the world." Even though the song helped raise more than $30 million in aid for the starving, people in Africa are still in need of financial help almost two decades later.
Jacob Lief, 24, was very young when he heard "We are the World." The song stuck with him. Growing up in South Orange, N.J., he knew little about Africa, but while a student at the University of Pennsylvania, he enrolled in a study abroad program for one semester in South Africa.
"I felt South Africa would be a learning experience," Lief said during an interview last week.
When he arrived at Port Elizabeth, South Africa for the first time almost three years ago, he was surprised to see the poor living conditions the people endured.
"It was depressing to see so much poverty," he said.
When he returned to the States, he raised money to send back to South Africa to help provide food and other supplies to the families he had met. Eventually, he graduated from school, and then hooked up with civic leaders in South Africa to form the Ubuntu Education Fund.
The word ubuntu comes from a South African dialect meaning the feeling of unity. It describes a bond between human beings that encourages them to help one another, Lief said.
After a year of looking for office space, Lief managed to find a spot for his non-profit organization on Monroe Street in Hoboken. Lief and his small staff currently spend most of their time contacting large businesses for their support and setting up informative lectures at local schools.
"We want to tell people about us and educate them about South Africa," Lief said last week.
The goal of all Ubuntu endeavors is to self-sustain education projects that create jobs in order to help the communities in South Africa, according to Lief. Lief and his staff focus on the construction of computer centers, AIDS education, library support and sport and art development.
"We feel these are the areas where we can help people the most," Lief said. "Ubuntu is dedicated to assisting the young people of South Africa."
So far, Ubuntu has been able to construct four state-of-the-art, self-sustaining computer centers in the South African schools, reached over 20,000 children in 22 schools and thousands of adults through an AIDS education program, successfully lobbied South African officials to build the first-ever school in Joe Slovo Township, and established a lunch program to feed the school’s more than 300 malnourished children.
"The school is important to me," Lief said. "I’m happy we at Ubuntu were able to create a place for kids to learn."
In addition, Ubuntu has also begun building a library and community literacy center at Emfundeweni Primary School and supplied two schools with basic supplies.
Lief has been able to raise more than $10,000 with Ubuntu, but he is still working hard to recruit donors to build another school and to continue to improve the libraries and community centers where children spend the majority of their time.
Ubuntu’s operations manager, Jordan S. Levy, said he believes strongly in the group’s mission.
"We all need to work to bridge the gap between the haves and have-nots," Levy said. "Poverty-stricken regions produce discontent and desperation."
Since everyone’s attention has been focused on the terrible attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, according to Lief, now is the time we should focus on both homeland and global issues and be ambassadors of peace worldwide.
The Ubuntu Education Fund is located on 720 Monroe St., Suite C-305. For more information, their telephone number is 656-3600 or check them out on the web at www.ubuntufund.org.