Making a difference in our community

Inspired by Mike and Jill’s passion to “give back”, our team wanted to find a way to help our community. Close to our offices in Kloof, we located The Neema Foundation, where we knew immediately that we could add value and impact children’s lives positively.

The Neema Foundation Trust was born out of a passion and vision to meet specific needs of the community. Afternoons at Neema are structured so that teachers can provide one-on-one literacy and numeracy tuition to underprivileged children. The programme currently supports twenty one children and the Neema team say that there is scope for this number to be increased, as more volunteers make themselves available. The positive impact and effect of Neema on these children is enormous and helps to give them a chance at making a success of life.

This quarter our team were able to donate several much-needed items, including: sports equipment, stationary and office consumables. We thought you would enjoy reading one of the children’s stories.

Thabo’s Story: (Fictitious name to protect learner’s identity)

Thabo is an intelligent grade 6 learner struggling to reach his full potential at school because of an attention deficit disorder. His parents are domestic workers in Kloof, Durban, and are unable to afford the remedial help he needs in a special class at school. The remedial teacher at  this school felt that Neema would be “his only hope” educationally. For about a term now he has been coming to lessons where he follows a program with 3 different teachers, catering for his specific need. Last week, after the exam results came out, we were all very excited to hear from his teacher that he has made considerable progress in various areas. Well done Thabo! You are such a pleasure to work with and we’re proud of you.

What does Thabo’s mother think about Neema? I am so pleased with Neema because it helps children like my son and is making a real difference in his life!