Aspiring to inspire: Local youths form team to create culture exchange with Africa

By: GARY WARTH - Staff Writer | Saturday, March 3, 2007 7:12 PM PST ∞

Dina Reh has known struggles in her life. She has used a wheelchair for 17 of her 29 years. She has endured kidney disease and lost some of her closest childhood friends while in the hospital.

The drugs she took for the pain from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis stunted her growth to just short of 5 feet.

Reh is now turning to the community for help, but not for herself. By May, she and a team of friends plan to be in South Africa to help children struggling with disease and other dire conditions in their country.

"I constantly get asked, 'Why you?' " said Reh, a Carlsbad resident since 1992. "There's a lot of challenges to me going. But there's more to my life than my circumstances. God gave me a great love for kids."

She and four other young people in a team called Love Africa have a plan to connect children in Africa with children here. One of the first steps was teaching local youths in their church, Calvary Chapel, about the plight of children in Africa.

The children at the church made soft-foam picture frames and quilt squares with messages about God and love for Reh and her team to bring to Africa.

In turn, the team plans to videotape their visit so other American children can learn more about children in Africa.

"Our vision is to show them that both worlds are praying for each other and loving one another," she said.

Reh and the team plan to work with an orphanage for children who are affected by the AIDS epidemic or who have disabilities, are poor or were victimized by sex trafficking, she wrote in a letter describing her goals.

The idea for the trip was sparked two years ago when Reh saw a documentary about Uganda called "Invisible Children." The film, made by fellow students at UC San Diego, reignited a lifelong interest in Africa for Reh, who began telling other friends that she hoped to go there someday to help children.

Still, the idea seemed a distant reality for a young woman with a disability and little financial means to make the trip.

Then one day, an acquaintance from church gave her a check for $2,500 and said she should not put off her dream, but find a way to do it.

Since then, her team has held three garage sales and two benefit concerts. Along with donations to their Web site and through other appeals, they have collected about $4,000 but would like to raise $8,000 more.

Among her team members is Reh's closest friend, Brandon Jones, 22, of Vista.

"The idea is to just broaden their world view," Jones said about how he hopes the three-week trip to Africa will change children in both countries.

Jones said that by sharing cultures rather than just financial assistance, a lasting connection may be made that will continue to grow.

By showing that a young woman with a disability and some college students with few resources are able to create such a project, Jones said, they also hope to set an inspiring example for others.

"A lot of people think you have to have gained a certain status in life before you can do something," he said. "It just takes your free time. We're all just college students, and we're dirt poor."

Reh said she also hopes to inspire people to get involved in their own communities and to make whatever difference they can locally.

To learn more about the Love Africa project, visit the Web site www.BecomeUndignified.com or www.myspace.com/soundoffafrica. Contributions to the team's trip can be made by writing to Love Africa, P.O. Box 105-256, 6965 El Camino Real, Carlsbad, CA 92009 or e-mailing enticingeyes@gmail.com.

Contact staff writer Gary Warth at gwarth@nctimes.com or (760) 740-5410.