|
The
Phelophepa Train
 South
Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu is Honorary
Chairman of the Phelophepa Train Dinner, where the
Humanitarian Awards are presented.
The
Phelophepa Train is actually a mobile medical unit
that criss-crosses by rail South Africa throughout
the year, stopping at 36 rural areas through the
country for five days at a time providing free
medical and dental care to all in the region.
The medical program is funded by the Transnet
Foundation of South Africa. In rural areas of
South Africa there is approximately one doctor for
every 5,000 people. In some areas there is no
health care available at all beyond the annual stop
by the Phelophepa Train. The Phelophepa
(pronounced Pay-lo-pay-pa) train represents social
healing and reconciliation for what was a racially
torn nation. Like the democratic nation of
South Africa itself, the Phelophepa Train was
founded in 1994.
For
the past four years, the American Friends of the
Phelophepa Train have presented a gala dinner in
aid of the train's travels throughout South
Africa. At the dinners, global business and
social leaders, who share the goals and have made
significant contributions are recognized, not only
for support of the causes represented by the
Phelphepa Train, but also for their efforts to
improve the economic conditions in South Africa and
the lives of its people.
About
SA:
South
Africa Story
Grand
Tour Edition
Author's
Bio
General
Motors, which recently returned to South Africa
after a long hiatus during the period of the
apartheid policy, is already playing a major role
in the country's economic development and in new
job creation. The company chose to leave
South Africa during the time of the brutal
apartheid period, but was welcomed back into South
Africa after Nelson Mandela became the
democratically elected President of South Africa in
1994.
In
addition to Wagoner, Maureen Kempston Darkes, GM
Group Vice President for Latin America, Africa and
the Middle East will also be a General Motors
recipient. Through its example, other
American corporations are beginning to reinvest in
the South African economy.
The
Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), for which Hayes
is President and Executive Director, represents 190
US companies investing in Africa.
Collectively the companies represent more than
eighty percent of all US private investment in
Africa. CCA's economic development program
has generated more than $400 million (US) of
transactions for new black and women-owned small
South African businesses, and has created 8,000 new
jobs in South Africa. South African
Ambassador to the United States, Barbara Masekela,
has called the CCA program "the most
important economic development program now in
existence between the United States and South
Africa."
CCA
also was one of the leaders of the successful
movement of the passage by Congress of the Africa
Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), called by many
as the most important acts of the American
government in the history of US-Africa relations.
According to the South African government, AGOA has
created more than ninety thousand (90,000) new jobs
in South Africa.
Hayes
also serves as President of the Board of the
Coalition for AIDS Relief in Africa (CARA), the
organization responsible for moving legislation
through Congress that allocated $15 Billion for
support of AIDS programs in Africa. CARA, a
coalition of many organizations working on the AIDS
issue, is housed in the offices of CCA. CARA
is co-chaired by former Congresspersons Ron
Dellums, Richard Armey, Eva Clayton and JC
Watts.
|
.
.
