Following the shoe drops we were anxious to visit two other groups in Soweto. Among those was the DD Dliwayo school in Soweto, the school where the choir that recorded with us a year ago was from. Their school program is stunning, teaching kids to read and write with an effective method in 6 weeks. Still the school is underfunded, with kids breaking pencils in half to share and teachers sharing chalk. During our visit to the school we sang for the entire group and enjoyed learning about their methods. It is a moving program, and when we left we knew we needed to do more to help. Our friend and photographer who joined us had an amazing idea to tell people about the school on his blog and offer a 30 dollar tshirt as a benny for people to donate money to the school, with the goal that we could give the school something before leaving the country. After a rapid in flux of interest from our combined efforts (our fans efforts) $15,000 was donated to the school!!! That's tuition for the majority of the school for a year. It blows my mind still.

One of the moving events during our trip was seeing the effects of the song Great Divide, through the amazing doctors we helped fund at the Perinatal HIV Research Unit in Soweto. Through the funds raised from the song Great Divide and the GD tshirt, HIVSA (the hospital's non-profit) funded a grass roots program to empower children & youth in poor areas to learn about the issues of HIV and establish safe havens for counselling and education within their communites -- places like Kliptown within Soweto, where they have no plumbing or electricity infrastructure and HIV/AIDS and poverty is rampant.

We accompanied reps from HIVSA on a visit to one of several programs going on that day in Kliptown. The area is deeply depressed, with a hopelessness surrounding the entire area, trash and waste scattered across the streets. Still bright-faced people and children walk the streets. We pulled up to one of the better residences where the back patio and outer buildings were being used for the program, which was currently in progress. Kids aged from 5 to 12 or 13 were gathered. Knowing they are in a safe place, being educated on how to be empowered to stop the cylce of death in their communites and being invited just to play and be with other kids for a short while. We joined in and heard feedback from kids on their understanding of these issues and the gratitude they have for this program-- they sang for us and we returned the favor. We could see the tangible impact of a 99 cent song. More than 2 thousand kids educated and empowered in several impoverished communities, brighter futures as a result lay ahead. We were a little extra choked up when we were about to leave and saw our names on the pamphlets that were handed out -- supported by HANSON. We hugged many of the kids in thanks before leaving. So many different experiences on this trip stopped us in our tracks, but all of it only further fuels that imperative that we have to continue.

---Taylor H