MINOOKA - Until last summer, Maki didn't have a pair of shoes that fit. Her feet were too big.

The 13-year-old girl wore a woman's size 12, something that simply couldn't be found at Botshobello, a mountaintop orphanage in rural South Africa's Garankuwa Township. She made do with flip-flops that were too small.

Then she met Jennifer Fleming of Minooka, 29, one of the forces behind Building A Global Community, a not-for-profit group that makes yearly trips to South Africa to help the poor, the sick and the hungry.

Fleming and Angela DeCraene, 26, also of Minooka, began the project nine years ago.

Like Maki, Fleming wears a size 12. When she heard the story last summer, Fleming simply took off her shoes and gave them to Maki.

On July 29, Fleming, DeCraene and 15 others again will fly to South Africa, where they will spend 18 days planting gardens, rehabbing schools and distributing food, diapers, clothing and toothbrushes to needy people, particularly the residents of Botshobello and another orphanage.

Sarah Correa, 29, of Chicago, an executive assistant for CARE USA, will travel with them for the first time. For her, it will be a mini version of the Peace Corps, a group she has long wanted to join. "I work at a nonprofit but I don't get to go out in the field and help the people we help," she said. "This experience is going to be really special for me because I'll be able to do it, hands-on."

Last year, on the second day of the trip, Fleming and the others went to Botshobello to begin working. As they discussed the job, a director from the orphanage appeared with some bad news: a dangerous brush fire had started on the mountain and was burning in a circle around the buildings.

"Before she even finished talking - I was so proud - our team dropped everything: cameras, all their supplies, and started running up the mountain. We pulled the children out of their homes and sent them down to the school, where it was safer," Fleming remembered.

They grabbed pieces of clothing, drenched them with water and began beating out the flames by hand. It took hours, and at one point, the pants worn by DeCraene caught fire.

"We had to beat it out," Fleming said. "But we got it under control, and all the children were safe."