Infinite Family provides Black unemployed and undereducated young adults a new way to complete high school and obtain college and university degrees in the townships where they live. Sponsoring young adults to study online in our LaunchPads: 1. Reverses the legacy of racist apartheid-era laws, e 2. Eliminates transport and remote living costs, and 3. Makes it easier and more feasible for students to succeed and obtain or create new job opportunities for themselves.
25 years after apartheid, most South African teens still grow up attending substandard schools, with no or only intermittent electricity to study, and no safe, dependable public transportation to other options. Only 14 in every 100 students complete high school and qualify for college/university. Only a couple will finish college. Without better education, they are limited to unpredictable, back-breaking daily labor and are unable to break this cycle or succeed in the 21st century workplace.
Nelson Mandela said, "Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world." Education is also the most sure way to escape the poverty cycle. Staying in high school doubles a person's lifetime earnings. Getting a college degree increases earning power by 500% and provides stability and economic independence. Using technology to create new education solutions right where students live dramatically increases their chance to succeed and their options to earn higher income.
Every Black South African student who achieves advanced education and a good job supports up to fifteen (15) siblings and extended family members. Giving young adults more flexibility and ways to obtain qualified skills and knowledge makes opportunities available that were previously not due to racist apartheid laws. Black adults with good, stable jobs then become role models for younger students to finish school and replace the cycle of poverty with success and self-reliance.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
