Jenman African Safaris received the most incredible Pack for a Purpose donation that was conceived and organised by a young girl from Wisconsin in the United States. The girl’s family was planning a holiday to Africa. She, being someone with a caring heart, decided to do some research before the time to see how they can make a difference while visiting.
In her search, she found the Pack for a Purpose page on the Jenman African Safaris website and decided this was a worthy cause she would like to support. After sharing her idea with her parents they encouraged her to take it even further. Her mother was busy studying for her MBA and this enterprising young woman bravely created and then gave a presentation to her mother’s MBA class about Pack for a Purpose and her goal of helping schoolchildren in Africa, which was very well received.
As you can imagine, there were some well-connected members of that MBA class who were able to give generously, business owners who were able to utilise their funds and connections to make considerable donations to her cause. In total, the family brought 68 kgs of school supplies along with them on their journey, 5 big suitcases of donations! Among the items they donated where flashcards, calculators, crayons, magazines, glue sticks, exercise books, rulers, balls, backpacks, dictionaries, English grammar books and so much more – it really is an amazing collection of items!
We find it incredibly inspirational that the young girl took the initiative herself, did the necessary research and then facilitated such a large donation drive. This was all possible because the Pack for a Purpose page was displayed on the Jenman African Safaris website. As participants of Pack for a Purpose we always encourage guests to leave a little space in their luggage for some simple but much-need school supplies, however this donation was really above and beyond.
Jenman African Safaris CEO, Katja Quasdorf, met with the family in Cape Town to receive the donation as well as personally thank them. She was especially impressed with the young girl’s motivation and dedication. She brought along a Grow Africa Foundation t-shirt for them to wear with pride. The items were all delivered to Dingani Primary School in Zimbabwe. This rural school of just over 300 pupils has very limited resources and items such as exercise books, glue stick, and rulers that most people take for granted are far out of their reach. Donations like these go a very long way in assisting the learners with their education and in turn giving them a chance at improving their future.
Jenman African Safaris and its Grow Africa Foundation have a few strategic initiatives running at Dingani Primary School, such as sponsoring and Early Childhood Development Teacher and raising funds for student scholarships. The Pack for a Purpose donations allow us to assist the learners of Dingani, and in turn the community with much needed school supplies while also being able to give full focus to our other projects at the school, ensuring that as many needs as possible are addressed.