Wonderful Element Eden Advocate Ishle Park is off teaching guitar lessons to the Zulu children of Indigo Skate Camp in South Africa!! With this amazing place being so dear to our hearts, it’s lovely to see the photos but…. WE WISH WE WERE THERE TOO!!!

Send our love Ishle and thanks for the pics

On October 1st, Element Eden Advocate Amy Purdy, along with Element and TOMS staff, hopped on a plane to South Africa to deliver skateboards and shoes to children in need – the fulfillment of the “One for One” campaign that began earlier this year. While the project is still in motion, we wanted to share photos and updates from Africa, from Amy’s point-of-view:

DAY 1-2
Wow, I have been meaning to blog everyday while here in Africa, but do to the lack of internet connection, I have not been able to. So now that I that I found one have a few minutes to give an update on what we have done so far while in South Africa with TOMS and Element Skateboards. First of I have to say that I am so honored to be a part of such a giving driven faimly. Element is amazing and I am honored to represent the company. TOMS have inspired me to no end, I am so motivated to continue to be involved with the comapany and help to make difference in our world. Also, many more photos to come to illustrate some of the things I write about in this blog.

First of all Africa is amazing!! I’m In love with it! It’s so crazy how my thoughts have changed over the last few days. I absolutely could live here! It’s so interesting, there is such a dichotomy here. On one hand, there is a major percentage of people who are in poverty, 30% are said to have AIDS, 1 in 5 newborns die, 1-3 children are malnourished, the unemployment rate is 49%. On the other hand this place is absolutely gorgeous, the doctors are some of the best in the world, I would have no fear going into a private hospital if needed, the tap water is said to be cleaner then any other water in the world, the people are so nice and welcoming even in the villages or the store or wherever, they are all so excited to meet us and the food is amazing!

Day One Of the shoe drop we went to the Indigo Skate Camp that was founded by Dallas Oberholzer. He has absolutely created a haven for the village kids. The first thing I noticed about the village was just how beautiful it is. Although you are in a very very poor village where people live in mud houses and have zero running water and electricity, the area is absolutely beautiful, clean and manicured. The people are so beautiful and welcoming and there is a very strong sense of community there. We fit approximately 200 kids with shoes that day. The highlight of my day was when the kids got on their skateboards after they got there new TOMS. They were all skating the ramps, it was so beautiful to see and they are pretty sick skaters as well! A few of the village children then did a traditional dance and chant for us in their garments. These kids love to sing and dance! As soon as we would give one of them a pair of shoes, they would stand up and do a dance.

We then helped to plant an organic garden with the children. They basically eat corn and beans I believe. Which is not much nutrition, so Dallas has created a wonderful garden where we all planted spinach and lettuce and other herbs.

The camp was so beautiful I am going to find a way to help it in anyway I can. The Zulu people are are so loving and happy and I think all of us walked away wanting to bring the children with us. Their smiles were infectious!

I am so blessed that I have had this experience. We are not just doing “tourist” stuff, we are actually down in the villages and spending our days with the children. This is a life changing experience to say the least. I know when I leave here I will be leaving a big piece of my heart!

MORE TO COME…………………

The Indigo Youth Movement is a non-profit organization that provides an educational after-school feeding program and organic garden to the village of Isithumba in South Africa. The Indigo Youth Movement is run in conjunction with the Indigo Skate Camp and is sponsored by The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.

In a very special fundraising effort, Indigo Youth Movement founder Dallas Oberholzer has joined forces with award-winning artist Miya Ando to raise money to purchase much needed art supplies, books and educational materials for the children of Isithumba.

Known for creating meditative works on steel, Miya Ando has donated a series of prints on aluminum. Her only limited edition work created in 2009, every piece is signed and numbered. Only 50 prints of each size will be created. 100% of all sales of this edition go towards purchasing school supplies for the children at Indigo Skate Camp.

If you would like to contribute to this very special project, visit the Kickstarter website and purchase your very own print!