A mother-daughter trip to Africa spurred Coconut Creek-based Joanne Roy-Young and Brittany Young to launch a Spring of Hope (ASOH) that digs wells in South Africa.
In 2005, Joanne Roy-Young took her 14-year-old daughter, Brittany Young, on a once-in-a-lifetime African safari. In an effort to illustrate “how privileged we were to live in the US,” Joanne also set up a visit to South Africa’s Beretta Primary School. There, the mother and daughter witnessed bone-dry fields, tattered classrooms, and a lack of running water, an image that forever changed their lives.
The start of ASOH
Upon their return, a determined Brittany held a fundraiser at her own school, North Broward Preparatory School, in order to build a well at Beretta. When Brittany and Joanne went back to South Africa the following year to see the progress first-hand, they say the school was “completely transformed”—running water had led to bountiful gardens, rich soil, and healthy children.
“At that point, for me, it would have been nonsensical to not continue this work.”
In the 10 years since that first well was dug, Brittany and Joanne’s efforts have resulted in partnerships with 27 schools in South Africa’s poverty-stricken Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces. Because of the running water, “the school’s gardens expanded exponentially,” explains Brittany.
“The most substantive meal many of these students will receive is at school, so it’s pivotal those meals are nutritious. It’s not likely that they’ll go home and have better food.”
As ASOH grew and new schools were added, much of the focus expanded to teaching children and local citizens about agriculture, permaculture, and leadership—skills that could literally change their future. Simultaneously, Brittany educated herself on the non-governmental organization (NGO) strategies and operations while majoring in African studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
A new perspective for ASOH
Brittany explained that she decided to reformulate the organisation’s mission by viewing the project from what she considers a holistic perspective.
“I became very sensitive to the historical and political context of the place.”
That informed approach, combined with listening to the needs of the communities, is truly what sets ASOH apart.
“Now as an NGO, we are recognized as a group that listens to schools and starts with water, but then branches out and thinks about the growth of communities as a whole.”
ASOH’s impact is also amplified by the lasting partnerships the group creates with the schools it helps. Beretta Primary’s principal, Lynette Sithole, for instance, now hosts seminars and permaculture training, further spreading ASOH’s progress.
“These teachers don’t want where their students have been born to determine the quality of their education and the trajectory of the rest of their lives.”
ASOH receives support from USA
Back home, ASOH receives immense support from its local South Florida community, from the Youngs’ family and friends as well as local schools. Many people who donated have visited the South African schools themselves, and Brittany’s schoolmates even filmed a documentary about the process, Water: A Spring of Hope Story, which she hopes to release soon.
New partnerships with the Miami-based Irie Foundation (which has committed to building five wells) as well as Plantation-based South African Airways (the company will be donating a percentage of travel package sales to ASOH) ensure this group is headed for continued success. Brittany and Joanne even met with the US ambassador to South Africa to discuss future plans, and the speaker at ASOH’s The Power of Hope gala in March at St. Andrews Country Club in Boca Raton was none other than Maki Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s daughter.
Launch of new US organisation
But the women aren’t stopping there. ASOH has initiated a US-based water education program entitled A Drop in the Bucket, and Brittany is headed to Berkeley in the fall to pursue her PhD in geography. Ironically, she has grave concerns about America’s misuse of the exact privilege they are fighting for in Africa, specifically our dependence on bottled water.
“When you buy bottled water, it’s a vote that says, ‘I don’t believe in our government to provide clean water for me. My hope is that other countries don’t end up mismanaging resources as we have.”