CHESTER - Casey Nelson and Annie Carl of Chester are making the most of summer vacation by raising money for the Sharing to Learn Program to benefit residents in the Makuleke village in South Africa. The two high schoolers are focused to raise money that will be used to build a community center and library in Makuleke. The girls hope to raise $1,500 for the project by the end of the fall season.

One way the two are going about their fundraising endeavors is to set up a stand at the weekly Ivoryton Farmers Market. Over the past two Saturdays, the girls have successfully raised more than $150 in donations from market visitors. They are currently working to also become a permanent fixture at the Chester Farmers Market.

"We just want to say thank you to Dave and Rosa Sousa and Chris Shane for giving us the opportunity to have a stand at the Ivoryton Farmers Market and providing us with everything we need," said Carl.

The girls have plans to expand their fundraising activities to also include teen coffee house events and concerts in the future.

Nelson, who will be a high school senior at Mercy High School this year, has been visiting the Makuleke village for the past several years with her family and braved the long journey alone for the first time this year at the end of the school year.

"Makuleke is the most amazing place, and the people are all so wonderful. I want to do everything I can to help them," said Nelson.

Nelson's family has built a hut in Makuleke next to the hut of Denise Ortiz, the founder and director of the Sharing to Learn program. Ortiz visited Chester Elementary School several years ago spreading the word about her organization and promoting multicultural learning. It was then that Nelson's mother heard about the program and Makuleke and knew she wanted to be part of helping that village.

"Now my mom has passed her passion to help down to me, and it's what I know I want to do with the rest of my life," said Nelson, who helped to build a village kitchen that is now used by orphans. "This summer I worked with Denise at the schools, which was an amazing experience."

The Makuleke community has a population of approximately 1,000. Most of the men work in Johannesburg, and some of the women work as domestic workers in nearby towns. The families are very poor, and some have no cash income. Children walk to a school that's up to three miles away from home and in poor condition; only five percent of the population has access to electricity, explained Nelson.

Carl, who will be a junior at Valley Regional High School, is a CCD teacher at St. Joseph's Church in Chester, which is where she met Nelson's father and first got involved with the Sharing to Learn program. She has not yet had the opportunity to visit the Makuleke village, but has plans to travel there with Nelson next spring.

"They just seem like such kind, caring, and grateful people, I can't wait to actually visit the village and the people, in person, who we are raising these funds for," said Carl.

"I have completely fallen in love with the people from this village, and they have changed my life. They have nothing and they are so happy. It's amazing, and I think that they deserve to have a good education, to have a library, to have school supplies and for us to help them," said Nelson.

"We went one year and brought 10 soccer balls. When we returned the kids were all still playing with those soccer balls and they were falling apart, but they were still so happy to just have them, so we brought more soccer balls. The kids were so happy. It was amazing to see."

For most kids in Makuleke their toys come from inventions they create using leftover garbage from the local dump. A favorite toy is a wire car they make themselves.

"They are so smart and so imaginative and they make do with what they have and don't complain. It really is the happiest place I have ever been; that's why I keep going back, and why I am working so hard to raise money to make their lives a little easier and a little better," Nelson said.

For more information about the Sharing to Learn program, visit www.sharingtolearn.org.