We Love These Kinds of Voice Notes!

Everyone needs a lift from time to time and our South African team is still riding high from a voice note they got last week. As you may know, South African students in Grade 12 (Matric) are required to take the National Benchmarking Tests (NBTs) for admission to certain university courses. Because it’s not a universal requirement, it’s not coordinated by the Education Department, so it’s up to each student to make their own plans to sit the tests, which take place over the weekends.  

Being an organised and enthusiastic learner, our Net Buddy (who is considering applying for Dentistry) made plans ahead of time to write her NBTs remotely at the LaunchPad in Alexandra, Johannesburg. However, at the last minute she realised they were on a Saturday - not Friday as she’d thought – and she was very anxious she’d miss her tests as school protocols made it problematic to get into the LaunchPad. Infinite Family’s Zoleka and Johannes were quick to come to the rescue and our Net Buddy and her classmates were able to write as planned. She was so grateful that, afterwards, she sent them a beautiful and emotional voice note to express her thanks.  

We get plenty of positive feedback from the teens on our program, but it’s usually in the form of smiles and hard work, so it was a delight to receive a sunny message of gratitude that we can play on repeat when we need to!  

Cape Town Net Buddies Are Awake to Opportunity

Speaking of hard work, two more Matric students showed huge enthusiasm for the opportunities Infinite Family has opened up for them, this time, in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. After generous donors Kathleen Casey and Karen Sharman kitted out their LaunchPad with new computers, and after they had received their bright and beautiful Matric sweaters, they felt so motivated to do well in their exams that they asked for permission to study in the LaunchPads overnight. It’s the only place in their community with reliable access to electricity and internet! Sadly, safety issues mean it isn’t an idea we can implement. (Not to mention the fact that sleep is an essential study strategy!) So, while Zinzo had to reluctantly decline their request, we’ve all been heartened by the lengths our teens are prepared to go in order to secure better futures for themselves.

In-House Team Gets it Done

It’s understandably difficult for our Mentors and Donors to fathom that many of the resources you take for granted are simply not available in other parts of the world. For our Net Buddies in South Africa, that includes access to centralised information on bursaries and scholarships, which is vital if they’re to take up the offers they get to study at universities in South Africa and around the world. So a huge shout out to our Infinite Family team in SA who have built an in-house bursary database that not only cross-references lots of invaluable information, but also teaches our Net Buddies how to search for funding sources, make and format their applications, and (importantly) meet deadlines.  It’s been a labour of love and It’s already making a huge difference.

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

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

Thank you for being our Infinite Family

"It's never too late to try something new unless, of course, you are lazy."    ~Phumlani