What better way to start the month of LOVE than with a newsletter full of gratitude.  Our hearts are bursting with all the good things we have to celebrate at the start of 2023 and here are three of the most important.

Stellar Matric Results!

It’s this time, every year, when the final Grade 12 “Matric” exam results are posted, that we get to see exactly how much our Net Buddies have to be thankful for.  All the High School semesters they’ve spent working hard … all the obstacles they’ve overcome to stay in school … and all the invaluable interactions they’ve had with their Video Mentors are reflected in the results they achieve. We are proud and thankful to share that the cohort of 2022 performed superbly!

Expectations of our Net Buddies never wavers.  We know what these determined and resilient South African teens are capable of but, in their first post-Covid year back in the classroom, their study time had also been badly compromised by “loadshedding” (rolling electricity blackouts).  Yet, as the lights went out in their schools and their homes, they continued to shine on, as we knew they would. 

Qualifying for college is a stretch-goal for most teens in South Africa’s state education system but since 2008, 99% of those in Infinite Family’s mentorship program have earned Matric passes to do so.  This year, an impressive 85% passed well enough to qualify for top-tier universities!

Keeping Our Net Buddies' Powered Up

For young South Africans, having no electricity doesn’t just mean having no lights to study by.  It also means no access to the internet and, though that’s the worst thing most first world kids can imagine, in township communities no power poses added risks to our Net Buddies’ personal safety. 

So we are grateful beyond words to all the wonderful people at our long-time partner, Pick ‘n Pay, and Solar MD for supplying and installing inverters and back-up batteries at our LaunchPad computer labs in Alexandra, Khayelitsha and Soweto.

Special thanks go to Pick ‘n Pay Director of Transformation, Vaughn Pierce for gifting the power equipment and for linking us with Solar MD CEO Kayolan Dimov, who organised installation (at wholesale prices) through his network of sub-contractors.  Plus a huge thank you to the teams on the ground who gave their time and expertise to make it happen: Anri Scholtz and Roelof Roos (A2 Renewable Services), Tshepo Mangwane, Fair Ndou, Thabang Nkale (TM Modern Solutions) and James Dalrymple (Blue Sky Solar).  

Video Mentors Make the Difference

January was National Mentoring Month but, since this is the month in which the fruits of your dedication and support are most tangible, we think it’s more appropriate to celebrate you all now!  Through your one-on-one interactions with our Net Buddies – in a total of 3,026 mentorship sessions last year! - you appreciate their struggles better than most.  And the time you share with them – shooting the breeze, helping with  schoolwork, chewing over challenges, sharing experiences and providing guidance  – is often their sole opportunity to engage with an adult who has their interests and future at heart. 

We know you do not do what you do for thanks but it is our joy to celebrate the difference you make in the lives of the young people on our Infinite Family program who, you can be sure, will be forever enriched by the time you’ve spent with them. 

With love and thanks to all of you!

Thank you for being our Infinite Family

"They say there are no role models to look up to, but we do have one, which is our Video Mentor!" ~Net Buddy Apology