Education South Africa Project #61336

Prepare South African Teens to Succeed in School

by Infinite Family

Prepare South African Teens to Succeed in School

Project Report | May 13, 2024
The Long Road to Freedom

By Amy Stokes | Founder, President and CEO

Mbalentle Starting his Bachelors Degree in Medecin

Resilience is one of the earliest skills our Net Buddies learn to develop. Along with making the discovery that every obstacle they meet on the way to achieving their goals (no matter how painful or frustrating) can be an opportunity for them to grow.

It’s certainly been a useful life skill for our 2023 cohort of Grade 12 graduates to draw on as they begin their college/university careers. For them, qualifying for tertiary study and earning a place on a degree course has been both the start of a bright new chapter... and a fresh set of challenges!

Thankfully, after a couple of stressful months, they have all finally settled into their classes at universities across South Africa including:

Univ. of Stellenbosch (7 students!),
Univ. of Fort Hare,
Univ. of Pretoria,
Univ. of Western Cape,
North West University,
University of Free State, and
Cape Peninsula Univ. of Technology (2 students).

They will be studying for Bachelors Degrees in:

Civil Engineering,
Electrical Engineering,
Forestry and Natural Resources,
Law,
Medicine,
Agricultural Economics,
Agriculture – Gentry,
Psychology,
Occupational Therapy,
Education, and
Public Relations, and
3-year Diplomas in ICT.

We’re not the only ones who are proud. When we shared this information with our corporate partners, Vaughan Pierce from Pick n Pay responded: “These stats are phenomenal! Well done to you and your team as well. We can all share this success. These students are also going to great tertiary institutions to study a myriad of specialty areas, all of which are much needed in this beautiful country of ours.”

Your gifts boldly invest in teens growing up in the most difficult circumstances and prove they can all succeed. Thank you for strengthening South African teens, families and communities.

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Jan 15, 2024
Your Impact for South African Teens in 2023

By Amy Stokes | Founder, President and CEO

Net Buddy Step-Up Ceremony, Khayelitsha, Cape Town

Happy New Year, everyone! We’re anticipating another year full of new ideas, new opportunities, and, of course, a few challenges, and we are very happy to have you taking this journey with us. Before we rush headlong into what lies ahead, let’s take a moment to look back at what your support for South Africa's teens achieved in 2023.

While we’re so disbursed around the planet, it can be hard to get a sense of what our efforts accomplish. Putting some numbers to the work we do always helps to make things more tangible … and serves as an important reminder that every single gift you make contributes to a meaningful difference in the lives of our Net Buddies.

Your Impact in 2023

232 Teens strengthened weekly in 3 marginalized communities;
Mentors provided support from 21 Countries and 39 US States;
4,100 Mentoring Sessions;
9,300 Teen-initiated activities to build English, education, and employment skills; and
4,800 Hours of Homework, research and skills development.

Above and beyond the numbers related to life-changing opportunities that you create for South African teens, you also leave a positive, and permanent imprint on all of our Mentors' lives too. I’ve seen Mentors who photoshop their Net Buddies into their family photos for proud display in their homes and know Mentors whose Net Buddies are still in their lives – 16 years after they met! We were reminded in December how important these relationships are to both parties in the comments made by Video Mentor Angela at the Step-Up Ceremony for her Net Buddy Lesedi.

Like all your mentors, I’m so grateful to Infinite Family for bringing Lesedi and me together and for showing us all that, no matter the differences between us - in age and race and circumstance – the thing we have in common, the thing that matters more than anything, is our shared humanity. Lesedi and I are just two women, from different worlds, who found a connection. The world needs more of it.

Read Angela’s entire speech here

We are deeply grateful that you share our belief that relationships are the key to keeping teens on track and making good decisions. You are the reason that Lesedi and Angela were able to support each other (yes, I said support each other as you will see in the full text) for more than three years.

Thank you for keeping our Net Buddies in your lives and steadfastly being part of our Infinite Family.

Net Buddy Step-Up Ceremony, Alexandra, Cape Town

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