S o u t h A f r i c a
Population: 51.2 Million
Total GDP: 419.925 Billion
GDP per person: $11,600
Orphans: 1.9 Million
Latest News from RetailROI South Africa Projects & Trips
A group of 9 of us just got back from the RetailROI Trip to Jeffrey's Bay, South Africa. This is the only area of the world where we have a continuity of opportunity from age 3 through to college and career. It also happens to be one of the most beautiful places in the world.
RetailROI's first project was helping to build a 10-room schoolhouse for a pre-school named Ithemba. It now houses 160 3-6yr old children for pre-school through kindergarten and then they have a tutoring program for 60 elementary school children in the afternoon.
I wish I counted how many times in the past month I wished we had an upcoming ROI group visit us in May or June of this year… So much has happened on either side of the Atlantic over the past months, that I am sure we would keep each other entertained for some time. The word that best describes the past season at GLA is “maturity”. I am sure in your own spheres you can testify to this. As a Non Profit, we have embraced this season of disruption and challenges, and I believe, that through the goodness of God and the hard work of many hands, we are able to give testimony of many great stories. Some of these stories I wish to share and highlight.
RetailROI has a strong relationship with a series of schools in South Africa ranging from age 3 to college age. In fact, through your contributions and support of SuperSaturday, we have more than 25 children progressing from the projects (townships) to a strong leadership high school experience and a few through college. In fact, in 2019 we had our first graduate from poor pre-school not only graduate from high school, but also college and starting as an accountant post college. see more
Jeffreys Bay, South Africa, has been in the news a lot over the last few days because of a recent shark attack there during a surfing competition. see more
My trip with ROI to South Africa is one of the most fantastic and memorable of my life. The travel arrangements by Greg and Chariss went smoothly, and the place at Jeffries Bay was gorgeous. see more
John journeyed to South Africa with the Retail Orphan Initiative. Together, with a team from Intel, the RetailROI group deployed a new tablet-based education system from Intel in an after-school program in an impoverished area of Jeffreys Bay, South Africa. John describes his experience: see more
Click on image to see more pics from various trips to South Africa.