Dec 27, 2007 8:30 pm US/Central
Texan With Character: Haley Pharo
Teen Singer Raises Awareness About African Orphans
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
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Sudanese children at Abu Shouk refugee camp, Al-Fasher, Darfur region, Sudan
AP
It's not your typical teenager's Christmas vacation, but one local teenager is spending her holidays raising awareness about African orphans through song.
Her name is Haley Pharo, and she is a young woman with big dreams - not only for herself but for children across the world.
"I've always had a heart for Africa," she said. "I started saving up my quarters when I was 12-years-old because I wanted to irrigate Africa."
Now the 19-year-old has found a different currency: her voice.
Compassion drove the North Dallas native to pen her latest single, "Reach Out." It is a plea to give aid to the forgotten children in Uganda.
"How do you put that emotion, of seeing a kid starving to death for no reason, just because they can't afford food, into words?"
It's a plight she has now witnessed. Haley and her family just returned from a trip to Africa to meet the children and to shoot her video with an African children's orchestra.
"I think I walked away gaining more than they did, because they taught me so much," she said. "They're happier than most anyone I've ever seen with nothing."
Haley counts on her resume collaboration with some big names, including Timberland and Will.I.Am from the Black Eyed Peas. Now she hopes to enlist their help to make her single global.
"The song is just all about reaching out to these people and these kids and these beautiful, beautiful children," she said.
Haley hopes to have her "Reach Out" single released next month. She's also planning a trip back to Africa in the spring.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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