Loadshedding Silver Lining

Three years back, it would have been hard to conceive how adaptable, agile and resilient humans could be in a pandemic that shut down the world.    Aside from all the advances in science and technology, and the ‘pivots’ in education and the workplace, we’ve all learned a ton about what we can do when things seem impossible.

It’s a lesson our Net Buddies were already familiar with and one that has helped them navigate the fear and uncertainty around Covid.  Not to mention the gross inconvenience, discomfort - and sometimes danger – that comes with loadshedding.  Last week Amy and Zoleka were in Cape Town, visiting our LaunchPads in Khayelitsha, and – along with the expected stories of hardship – they got a life lesson in resilience as our teens shared their perspectives on some of the negative - and positive - aspects of life in the dark.  

Small Gifts Give a Big Lift!

Resilience, grit, persistence, whatever you call it, it’s one of the biggest lifts our Infinite Family helps our Net Buddies find in themselves. Pioneer Net Buddy, Andrew, explained how this works to us when he was looking back on his time as a Net Buddy. “We grew up with limited resources – we watched numerous people fail and fail again, so there’s no reason to take a chance. That is one thing that has changed about me, I’ve come to be surrounded by people who failed but tried again. Through my Mentor, I’ve met people who failed more than once and are very, very successful today.” Andrew was a Net Buddy for nine years, improving his English, learning to set and achieve goals with his grades, coming to understand that it’s not the failing that defines someone, it’s the mustering the courage to take another shot, and another and another. Today, Andrew has his MBA and is working in New York City.

Without our Infinite Family, Andrew would never have met his Mentor Mitchell, or had access to computers and the internet to learn about ideas, jobs and opportunities that motivated him to work hard in school.

Our Infinite Family includes generous donors in 18 countries, many of whom take advantage of GlobalGiving’s matching campaigns, like Little by Little that starts today. GlobalGiving connects trusted, community-led organisations (like Infinite Family) with generous donors worldwide to make our world a better place. They believe in the power of small gifts creating big lifts and put their money where it matters: Matching your gifts up to $50 starting now! 

If you make a donation this week, it gets a boost

And so do our Net Buddies!

Every day this week, we’ll bring you news of some of the ways – big and small – that your invaluable support helps the teens in our Infinite Family build a bigger, brighter future for themselves.

Please click here if you’re able to make a small donation. We can promise it’ll have an outsize impact. Thank you.

Temptations, Temptations, Temptations

Resilience, along with Responsibility and Resourcefulness, is among the core learnings on our Infinite Family Program.  Another is knowing how to Make Tough Decisions.  Cape Town threw Amy and Zoleka an unexpected opportunity to model this for our teens when Avis offered them an upgrade on their rental car … to a BMW.  Much as they’d have loved to drive to the LaunchPads in luxury wheels for a change, the locations they visit it make it an unwise choice.  So – to the amazement of the Avis team – they made the call to decline in favor of something more “fit for purpose”!  

Here's Amy collecting the keys to her alternative, also generously upgraded, Avis car (a brand new Nissan SUV) and remembering that, sometimes, adulting can feel as tough as being a teen!

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

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

Thank you for being our Infinite Family

"Young kids love hanging around with adults!"     ~Net Buddy Nthando