Fest for South Africa

The chief beneficiaries of last Saturday’s performance by Oscar’s Mad and Katie and Jessica, weren’t the bands - they were students in South Africa.

The event, sponsored by Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) raised money for a school in Lesotho, South Africa where a group of EMU students are participating in a semester-long cross-cultural experience. The recipient school presently consists of little more than four walls and floods with each rainfall. Admission to the concert went directly to the creation of a safer environment for students at the African school.

The bands that performed at the benefit were locally known, especially on campus as they consisted of EMU students. Oscar’s Mad, a rock band with an eclectic collection of instruments including electric, acoustic and bass guitars, a cello and a variety of percussion sounds, and Katie and Jessica, a folk duo, combined to provide a small audience of adults and students with nearly three hours of musical entertainment. Both groups provided their talents free of charge in order allow all of the proceeds of the evening to go directly to the South African school.

SIFE is an international, non-profit organization that works to improve the quality of life around the world. Founded in 1975, over 1500 college campuses in nearly 40 countries have opened sections of SIFE. EMU’s division of SIFE strives to provide information to and support students and local businesses, as well as international interests. Recent projects of SIFE include the Common Grounds coffee shop, a cell phone collection, and numerous seminars.

The activities and fundraisers that SIFE sponsors are popular around the EMU campus and the Harrisonburg community. Saturday’s benefit concert is just one example of their concern for local and global communities.