4H

Miekie asked what 4H is and I had to think how to explain it.  It is a United States youth development program run through the USDA.  It started out as primarily a program for farm youth, to teach them new farming techniques, but it has branched out.  I looked it up. Here's a quote from the 4H web site.

Head, Heart, Hands, and Health are the four Hs in 4-H, and they are the four values members work on through fun and engaging programs.
Head - Managing, Thinking
Heart - Relating, Caring
Hands - Giving, Working
Health - Being, Living
4-H’ers participate in fun, hands-on learning activities supported by the latest research of land-grant universities that are focused on three areas: healthy living, citizenship, science. Youth can experience 4-H by becoming a member of a 4-H club, attending a 4-H camp, or joining school-based or after-school 4-H programs. 4-Hers can compete with their projects in contests at the local, state, regional or national levels and also attend conferences and events.
Today, 4-H has an expansive reach, serving youth in rural, urban, and suburban communities in every state across the nation. Youth currently in 4-H are tackling the nation’s top issues, from global food security, climate change and sustainable energy to childhood obesity and food safety. 4-H out-of-school programming, in-school enrichment programs, clubs and camps also offer a wide variety of science, engineering, technology and applied math educational opportunities – from agricultural and animal sciences to rocketry, robotics, environmental protection and computer science – to improve the nation’s ability to compete in key scientific fields and take on the leading challenges of the 21^st century.  4-H also has an expanded global presence through the development of the International Farm Youth Exchange. The Exchange helped to develop similar 4-H programs in more than 80 countries throughout the world. 

Our family got involved in 4H initially because I was looking for things for the kids to do that were free.  Someone mentioned 4H and I looked into it.  We joined the small pets club first and it was great,  then the following year, we took woodworking classes, then art classes, then science classes and this year, we're doing home economics.  It's a good supplement to our homeschool program. 

Sorry, Miekie, it's not in South Africa yet. :-(