Emily Young is a lass with a mission. Emily, who currently lives in Cardiff, grew up in Lamphey, but has her sights set on helping some of the millions of AIDs/HIV victims to be found in the far off land of South Aftica. "There are 35 million people living with AIDS/HIV around the world with 6.1 million of those in South Africa," she told Rob James, Pastor of Westgate Chapel Pembroke, where Emily attended as a teenager. "In fact, it is the country with the highest number of AIDs/HIV victims in the world. I will be based in KwaZulu-Natal region which is on the east coast where more than a third of the people were calculated to be affected by HIV in 2011. I will be living in a town called Empangeni, a thriving town set in hilly countryside, near mpangeni river, an hour-and-a-half north of Durban and 30 minutes from Richards Bay." Emily will be working with the Christian charity Musawenkosi (a Zulu word that means 'God's Grace'). "The charity was established in 2001," she explained. "It seeks to help children and orphans whose lives had been affected by this dreadful disease. Initially the projects were community-based seeking to help orphans and their guardians in their homesteads. They did this by educating and assisting the guardians on how to get their grants, supplying food parcels and blankets to help an already battling grandparent to look after their grandchildren. "After time, the community saw how the orphans were being helped and given a brighter future, and so it approached the organisation and asked if it could help by building a home for them. The community had tried their best to help, but the problem was growing bigger everyday and the children needed parents in their lives. So in December 2004, through calculated coordination and generous donations, the first home was built at Entoweni." Emily will make use her training and experience (she is a qualified teacher) by focusing on four main areas: children's homes, feeding schemes as well as school and Sunday school support and expects to be home again before Christmas. "Emily is an inspiration," said Rob James. "She is taking her faith seriously and grounding it in daily reality. Real Christianity is all about walking the walk and not just talking the talk. I am sure this trip will bring her a lot of lasting fulfilment but even more importantly it may well make all the difference in the world for some of the needy folk of KwaZulu Natal. I wish my wife and I were going with her I am sure it will prove the experience of a lifetime."