TREE OF LIFE ARTS CAMP IN SOUTH AFRICA
Vernon Bush and Marybeth Tereszkiewicz, co-founders of Tree of Life Cross-Cultural Arts Camp teamed up for the first time with the David Rattray Foundation in early 2012 to create an incredible yearly 2-3 week summer program for children in the small school communities of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. The camp consisted of some 80 young people from all over the region where they participated in the VOICE CHURCH brand of singing, dancing and visual arts and ultimately took a big role in the monumental creation of the Tree of Life Arts mural.
VOICE CHURCH is also presently in the process of working on a new album of empowering songs and a music video ("I Am Somebody") that was written entirely by Vernon. It was inspired by all the young learners / students at the camps and will be released Winter 2020.
Below are short films of The Tree of Life Arts camp (Isihlahla Sempillo) that give more detail about this project. As the program grows, VOICE CHURCH is looking forward to expanding to other regions in the world where this type of camp and arts instruction can be a benefit and inspiration to other young people.
TREE OF LIFE Film Clips
In the two clips below, Vernon & Marybeth explain some of the inner workings of the camps. Teachers and students from the Tree of Life Arts Camp were interviewed shortly after their final camp presentations and reflected on their personal experiences at the camp.
VOICE CHURCH TREE OF LIFE ARTS CAMP in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa
Photos by Martha B. McCord Photography & Hamilton Stills
