Township birthday bash for US guest

AN impoverished settlement in Addo served as the backdrop for an American tourist's surprise 60th birthday party.

Nomathamsanqa Township, where the residents are mostly unemployed and live in dire conditions, erupted in song, dance and cheer on Monday last week, when Cindy "Nontsika" Cummings- Neprash celebrated her 60th.

Martha "Nobuntu" Cummings, 55, threw the surprise bash for her older sibling. She chose Nomathamsanqa because of the spirit and grace of its residents, she said.

Cummings first came to Addo in 2008. The Rhode Island resident visited the small tourist town on her 50th birthday to experience its renowned elephant park but little did she know its "other side" would touch her.

"My intention was to go on a short safari at Addo Elephant National Park in 2008 and then return to Cape Town to donate money to a school outside the Mother City. But when I saw the conditions in Nomathamsanqa, everything changed," Cummings, who owns a tutoring business in the US, said.

She was so moved by the poverty she came across that in 2011 she started Universal Promise, a charity dedicated to improving the plight of Addo's disadvantaged.

Through the organisation, Cummings has transformed the face of Vusumzi Higher Primary School's building from a drab, dilapidated structure into one that is conducive to learning.

"When we bring children into this world we should provide them with a few guaranteed freedoms and rights: fresh water, healthcare, a decent home and education."

The visitors left South Africa to return home yesterday.

Speaking about Monday's surprise bash, Muffy "Thandi" Miller, who is involved in community upliftment initiatives in Addo, said it was a joy to watch individuals across the societal spectrum socialising with each other.

For more information about Universal Promise, visit: www.universalpromise.org.