Coastside children’s talent show benefits African orphans

Touched by stories of the lives of youngsters half a world away, a group of Coastside children wanted to help.  The result is a talent show on Friday, June 2nd at 7 p.m. at Mariner’s Community Church in Half Moon Bay featuring music, dance, and acrobatic performances. The show will be followed by a teen dance showcasing the Rockidztra rock band.  Proceeds from the event will go to Keeping Hope Alive, that pays for the schooling of a group of 200 orphans in Kenya, Africa. 

The talent show organizers first heard of Keeping Hope Alive in 2003 when founder Natasha Martin made a presentation to a local group of homeschoolers about her work in Africa.  She described how one day several years ago she came across a large group of children lingering under a tree in the remote district of Butula, Kenya.  She asked villagers why the children weren’t in school.  She was told that they were orphans whose parents had died of AIDS and that they couldn’t afford the fees required to go to school. 

Martin said, “That’s not right,” and after learning how little was required to send a child to elementary school, made a commitment to pay for the kids’ education. “What I didn’t count on, however,” says Martin, “was the dramatically increased cost of moving on to high school.”  Costs for high school—mostly boarding schools—run into hundreds of dollars per student.  Soon Martin found herself overwhelmed by her financial commitment.

After listening to Martin’s presentation, viewing photos and reading poems written by some of the 200 orphans, the local homeschoolers told Martin that they wanted to help.  Their first efforts were three bake sales that yielded hundreds of dollars—enough money to make a real difference in Kenya.  Next, the kids held a community garage sale that raised several more hundreds of dollars. The kids wanted to do more and came up with the idea of a talent show.  Last year they presented the talent show to a sold-out audience and raised over $2,000.  This year they were determined to do it again. 

“The fun thing about working on this show,” says director Leslie Robertson, “is that the kids are so motivated and do so much of the work themselves.”  In addition to the dozen or so acts, the kids, who range in age from 7 to 17, run the stage crew and lights and sound. 

Tickets for this year’s show can be purchased at the door (suggested donation $20).  Donations can be made online at graceusa.org; GRACE is the non-profit organization that manages Keeping Hope Alive.  For more information call Charles Nelson at 726-6559.

    Event:  Coastside Homeschoolers Talent Show

    When:  7:00 p.m. Friday, June 2nd

    Where: Mariner’s Church 225 S. Cabrillo Hwy., Half Moon Bay

    Cost:  $20 (Suggested Donation)

    Information: 650-726-6559

Press Contact:  Charles Nelson 650-726-6559 Natasha Martin 650-712-0561

Webpage:  http://www.graceusa.org/mainpages/ourwork/ourwork_education.html