Murfreesboro Breakfast Rotary Announces Plans for Jabulani Celebration to benefit Jabulani Self Help Centre, Saturday October 11, 2008
At 6 pm. Saturday, October 11, 2008 at 3341 Lascassas Pike in Murfreesboro, the Murfreesboro Breakfast Rotary will host their second annual Jabulani Celebration, a traditional African Braai (or barbecue) dinner to benefit the Jabulani Self Help Centre in South Africa. Tickets are $125 per person and all the funds will go towards several charitable projects of the Westville, South Africa Rotary, including The Jabulani Self Help Centre, St. Thomas Orphanage, and Streetwise Program for Kids Off the Street. This fundraiser is part of the Murfreesboro Breakfast Rotary Club’s international outreach efforts.

“Jabulani” literally means happiness or a place of happiness. This is an appropriate name for the Self-Help Centre situated on the outskirts of Pinetown, a township some thirty miles outside of Durban, South Africa. The Centre was started over twenty years ago by the Marianhill Monastery with Sister Marko, a very enthusiastic and competent Franciscan nun at the helm. Sister Marko has dedicated her life to helping others lead a better and more fruitful life. She has been such an example and inspiration for Rotarians in the area that they sponsor not just the Jabulani Centre, but several other programs aimed at helping alleviate the suffering of victims of aids and extreme poverty in the Durban area.

At Jabulani, destitute South Africans learn job skills that enable them to earn money, not for themselves, but to keep the Centre’s feeding and learning programs running. The Centre feeds 360 workers and their families and cares for an additional 200 children in after school programs every day. Members work at manufacturing candles, clothing, toys, jewelry and other saleable items. They also work to grow vegetables, bake bread and cook porridge. All of these activities help the Centre to operate without any government support whatsoever. The Centre relies on grants and outside funds for equipment, major infrastructure maintenance and materials.

At The St. Thomas Orphanage, sixty young children who have lost their parents due to aids or other fatal diseases are cared for and raised with self-sufficiency as a goal for each child. At the Streetwise Program for kids off the street, older children and teenagers who are literally living on the streets can get guidance, a safe place to spend time and the opportunity to participate in programs that will help them find gainful employment.

The Jabulani Celebration was conceived by a group of Murfreesboro Breakfast Rotarians who visited South Africa in spring, 2007 and were so moved by all the projects they saw South African Rotarians involved in, they had to share these stories of hope and try to help. These Rotarians decided to hold the Celebration and last year raised enough money to purchase several new sewing machines and new learning materials for the kids at the Jabulanti Centre-in turn providing more opportunities for the workers and their families. In addition, a washing machine for the Streetwise Program was also purchased.

Sponsors of the Jabulani Celebration, who are making it possible for all the ticket money to go directly to the cause, are: Stones River Total Beverages, Mafiaoza’s and Corrieri’s Formaggeria, and the Murfreesboro Breakfast Rotary Club.

Rotary is a worldwide organization of business and professional men and women who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards and help build goodwill and peace in the world. In addition to its international projects, Murfreesboro Breakfast Rotary Club also provides support for many local charities and projects. In the recent past, the Club has provided significant support to charities such as the Tennessee School for the Blind, The Domestic Violence Shelter, Salvation Army, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Nashville’s Table and Meals on Wheels.

For More Information, Please Contact Greg Tidwell at 893-9162