Meet Our Newest Director

You know as well as we do, that the commitment to working with teens to improve their life outcomes is a long game.  So, we could not feel more proud (or more vindicated) at the wonderful news that one of our early Net Buddies, Elsina Mmaphori Bokaba has accepted an invitation to join our Board of Directors! 

Like many of the teens in our program, Elsina faced more than her share of knocks during her school years, but with real resilience and determination, she pursued her studies as Cathotic Protection Technician and realized her dream of financial independence for herself and her family.  She has always been a strong advocate for Infinite Family and now we’re delighted she will be adding her unique perspective and experience to help guide our work in the future.  

Congratulations, Elsina, and welcome to the Board!  We are so fortunate to have you.

Human Rights Day

The shadow cast during the apartheid era is long and 21 March is the date on which South Africans commemorate Human Rights Day to remember the many sacrifices made in the struggle to attain democracy.  There’s no day in the calendar more symbolic of the rich diversity that exists across the country and, as a tribute to its unique melting pot of cultures, people wear traditional dress, bringing Nelson Mandela’s dream of a ‘rainbow nation’ to life!  

Amy's First SA Visit in 2023

If you’ve attended an Infinite Family webinar, you’ll know our founder, Amy, is usually rooted to her desk in New York State, surrounded by much-loved African art and books that leave us in no doubt about where her heart lies.  And when she’s not in her own home, she’s in her adopted land of South Africa, dashing around the country with Infinite Family’s Program Manager, Zoleka, visiting our LaunchPads, engaging with our Net Buddies and Net Blazers, as well as forging and renewing links with local donors, politicians and supporters.  

The indefatigable pair have just completed a road trip that took them from the Infinite Family office in Johannesburg, all the way up to Limpopo (near the Zimbabwe border) to visit an exciting rural school and community cultural project, then right down to the tip of Africa, to our LaunchPad in Cape Town’s Khayelitsha township.

As always, it’s been a high-octane trip.  Full of all the usual highs (at seeing the meaningful steps our teens are taking towards achieving their educational and life goals) and lows (at the enormity of the work still to be done).  It’s been exciting, uplifting, energizing and exhausting!  This photo was taken at William Themeli Secondary School in Thohoyandou and, once Amy has had time to unpack and draw breath, she’ll be giving us a full report.  

GlobalGiving Awards

With all the fakery out there, it can be hard to figure out what’s authentic and what’s not.  For an NPO like ours, credibility is everything, so the endorsements we receive from organisations like GlobalGiving are (quite literally) gold!

In its 21-year history, crowdfund co-ordinator, Global Giving, has facilitated donations of $750 million to 33 000 charitable projects in 175 countries – making it one of the most successful donation platforms in the world. We’re very proud to be one of their partners, since 2014, and consistently rated among the top ten percent of all NGOs on the platform. 

Every year, we are awarded GlobalGiving endorsement badges that help to position us as a trusted organization doing valuable work and stimulate many, very welcome donations.  If you’ve visited our website lately, you’ve seen these four latest endorsements which, we’re hoping will also help to drive donations for their upcoming GlobalGiving Little By Littlecampaign!  (This annual matching campaign takes place from 3 – 7 April and Amy will be in touch with more details real soon.) 

Net Buddies and Video Mentors are the heart of our Infinite Family

Click here to see the Mentorship and Member Anniversaries we celebrate in March.

Thank you for being our Infinite Family

"We are all humans and we all make mistakes. It's when we learn from our mistakes that we grow." ~Net Buddy Abelina