MRULE grant to aid Africa center

Abused children in South Africa might have a new place to stay for the night because of a $5,000 grant given to an MSU group.

MSU’s Multi-Racial Unity Living Experience, or MRULE, earned the grant from the Clinton Global Initiative University. MRULE supports Vumunzuku Bya-Vana — “Our Children’s Future” (VVOCF), a center for children orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS in Zonkizizwe, South Africa. The center now provides after-school support for the children, but with the support from the grant, new facilities will be built where abused children will be able to stay overnight.

MRULE director Jeanne Gazel, who is leading a study abroad program in South Africa, said she did not know details about the grant and how it would be used.

Raven Lewis, a biochemistry and molecular biology senior and a member of MRULE, visited the center while on study abroad last summer.

“It’s basically a center where (children) come … after school Monday, Wednesday and Friday,” she said.

Lewis said the center received its only financial support from MRULE.

“This community is too overwhelmed (to provide services),” she said. “It’s basically a shanty town. Basic needs are just met.”

The center provides tutoring, HIV awareness classes and arts and crafts for the children, she said. Some children also participate in a pen-pal program with MSU students.

Lewis said the grant will allow the center to provide shelter for children exposed to abuse and alcoholism at home.

Jove Oliver, a Clinton Global Initiative University spokesman, said money for the grant came from the Pat Tillman Foundation, which sponsors student projects. MRULE’s grant is one of 78 student projects that received funding of $1,000 to $10,000. The grants were announced June 3.

“We hope it will be valuable to the youth utilizing the services and provide them with leadership opportunities at a young age,” Oliver said. “We also hope it will be a valuable experience for university students who are engaging with the local communities.”

Joseph Robele, a psychology junior and member of MRULE, said Gazel helped found the center, and MSU students helped to build it during a summer 2007 study abroad trip.

Lewis said MRULE started raising money later that year. Since then, it has held two dodgeball tournaments, a talent show at Harper’s Restaurant & Brewpub, 131 Albert Ave., and worked on other fundraisers with SCOUT BANANA, a student group that raises money for health care in Africa.

The group also had received a grant from the Clinton Global Initiative University last year.

“The first grant of $2,500 is being used to support the feeding program at VVOCF,” Gazel said in an e-mail.

MRULE will continue to support the center, Lewis said.

“I think the potential is unlimited with VVOCF,” she said. “We’ll raise the money, we’ll be the manpower. The people there don’t consider it MRULE helping (them), they consider it MSU, and they love MSU.”