Equip African Teens to Succeed

Elsina, born in Alexandra township, is a shining example of the persistence our Net Buddies possess.  In 2013, Elsina failed her first year of college which meant she lost her scholarship. No longer able to afford attend college, so she had to drop out. Feeling lost, she turned to her Video Mentor, Alicia, for guidance. Alicia pushed Elsina not to give up and to find a way to continue her studies.

“I realized that I could not let challenges defeat me. I realized I had to find ways around solving problems,” Elsina reflected. 

And she did! She found a job at a brewery and worked from morning until night, 12 hours a day, every day. Driven to become an electrical engineer, Elsina worked until she had saved enough to put herself through college. As the first in her family to go to college, she finished her level 6 qualification at the end of 2016.  In 2017, she was working multiple jobs in Alexandra and looking for an electrical engineering internship that would allow her to complete her degree. Even as month after month went by, Elsina committed herself to stick with her search and finish her degree.

In October, Elsina’s prayers were answered by Neil Webb who heard her story as part of Classic FM 1027’s interview of Founder Amy Stokes. Neil’s company, Isinyithi Cathotic Protection, just happened to be looking for an electrical engineer and he believed that someone with Elsina’s persistence and commitment might be just what they needed.  He picked up the phone and left Amy a voice mail.  Soon, Elsina was interviewing for the position and we are thrilled to share that she will be starting at Isinyithi on January 2!

South Africa will soon benefit from a talented young lady’s skills and Elsina is on her way to building a better life for herself, her mother and her siblings. 

Thank you to our global donors and mentors for your support! As Elsina has shown, success is not achieved overnight and requires the long, life-changing relationship video mentoring brings. Your support motivates our South African students to persist in their mission to build better futures for themselves. Because of your generosity, Infinite Family has been able to connect 28 more Net Buddies in life-changing video mentorships since September 1^st, 2017. That makes 65 new matches for 2017. We look forward to sharing more of our Net Buddy success stories in 2018.

Thank you!