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News
January 1, 2019

Net4kids working in South Africa

Together with our local project partners, we strive for an effective investment in child support. When choosing a new local project partner and selecting the projects in our portfolio, the Net4kids Pyramid of Care (based on Maslow's needs pyramid) is taken as the starting point, on the condition that a thorough investment request has been made. In the choice of project countries where Net4kids is active, we take into account the economic opportunities in the country for the kids in our projects. Are there sufficient opportunities for them to further develop themselves and to build an independent and independent existence? For example, we do not work with project partners in fragile states (World Bank index) and we opt for partners in specific countries who also appeal to our supporters, the business community in the Netherlands, and where we can make a sustainable and scalable difference for vulnerable kids.

Local partner Rhiza Foundation had already crossed our path a number of years ago and it actually already fitted seamlessly into our portfolio, but our financial space was limited. We were impressed by the vision of Rhiza's founder Alef Meulenberg and his direct results on projects in Ghana and South Africa. With his Rhiza Cycle, he ensures that communities become truly self-reliant. The contact remained and in 2018, after the application for the Philippi township project in Cape Town, all lights were finally turned green: we are going to work together in South Africa.

Our starting points for a partnership are solid, reliable and open management with regular feedback and transparent reporting. Important aspects of a project partner's profile include own efforts to secure financing, entrepreneurship, self-reliance and an innovative approach. The Rhiza Foundation takes the lead in all aspects of this. Another reason that we wanted to work with them is because they know how to reach and bind the local business community. An inspiring example for others.

Rhiza's goal is to help develop poor, disadvantaged communities into strong self-reliant communities. The Rhiza Cycle was developed to make a community self-reliant. Healthcare, entrepreneurship and education are central.
Net4kids will support nursery education in the Philippi community in South Africa in the coming years. Since the young children in these townships lack formal education and this immediately causes a development delay, Net4kids believes it is important to invest in this. For example, we have seen that the number of children at a school in another community has already doubled in the space of two years after investing in relevant teaching methods and teacher training. Now the school is self-reliant and no longer needs the help of our local partner.

Net4kids' belief is to really make a lasting difference for individuals or a community as a whole, we must invest in building a 'strong community'. The goal of this project is to develop the Philippi slum in a sustainable way towards self-reliance so that it is independent of external support within 5 years.

It has not gone unnoticed in our network that we are going to work in South Africa. Our ambassador Jaco Brussé's company, Visualfabriq, also has an office in South Africa, Johannesburg and was eager to make a social contribution with his company in South Africa as well. A visit to the townships was easily arranged, and Jaco and his employees were immediately enthusiastic about the projects aimed at young entrepreneurs in the region. In addition to a financial investment, Visualfabriq can also invest the time and expertise of their employees and create real added value for these young professionals.

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