Malaak Compton-Rock, is the Founder and Director of The Angel Rock Project. Wife of comedian Chris Rock, and brainchild of Journey For Change: Empowering Youth Through Global Service, an organization that provided 30 at-risk teenagers ages 12-15 years of age from Bushwick in Brooklyn, an opportunity to go to Johannesburg, South Africa and provide service to the children who live in the shanty towns of Diepsloot and Soweto. The teenagers made daily visits to the towns and volunteered in schools, homes and clinics. The teenagers asked what the children needed for school supplies, food and other necessities and then went to the market place and shopped for them. In addition, they painted and fixed buildings.
The 30 teenagers were encouraged after each day to journal their experiences and to write on CNN's blog outlining the days activities and to express their feelings about what they had experienced. They also attended the Apartheid Museum, the Hector Peterson Museum, and went on a safari in Sun City.
I certainly enjoyed this segment of Black In America 2 with Soledad O'Brien. I would love for our children here in Los Angeles, California to be able to experience such a trip. I am positive the 30 teenagers who went on this trip of servitude have found their innerselves and hopefully will use the experience in South Africa to uplift and motivate their lives and the lives of others.
To learn more about the Journey For Change: Empowering Youth Through Global Service, visit the website: http://www.angelrockproject.com
