GIFT explains why it is proud to support The Lotus Flower
What the Lotus Flower’s key supporters say about the organisation.
Gift at minute 4’40
News
Surfers Not Street Children – feedback from 3 weeks volunteering work with the NGO
Summary of my trip to volunteer for Surfers Not Street Children
My trip to Surfers Not Street Children took place this summer between July 5th and July 23rd 2022. I had the chance to visit the program and meet the people that make this association an amazing one. Tom Hewitt is a much-respected person in Durban and in the world of surfing. He manages the organisation in a very good and healthy way. He has a good relationship with the whole crew and every single child that takes part in the project. The surf house is in a very good state and the children can access internet with the computers. They receive meals daily.
I also had the opportunity to go on a sponsored trip by Dry Robe to Jeffreys-bay with 12 children of the program. The logistic and organisation was very good and thank to Tom the kids had the opportunity to meet famous surfers and spend time with them. The kids were able to surf one of the best waves in the world and this experience gave them even more motivation to stay on the right track.
One of the two social worker Eugene gave me the opportunity to see the backgrounds of the organisation by taking me to different townships and schools. I was able to see what was really going on and how Surfers Not Street Children is changing young people’s life.
Mini the Mozambique director was also in Durban and explained me how the program in Mozambique works. I have not yet had the chance to go there but it looks like the staff and the whole association is on point there too.
Something that surprised me is that many children had the opportunity to travel to many countries and continents thanks to SNSC. It is an amazing chance for them to see new things and enlarge their horizon.
When arriving in Durban I did not really know what to expect but from what I can tell and after speaking with different children I can say for sure that Surfers Not Street Children is a life changing organisation. If I had to summarize this association with a few words, I would say that the association is under good hands, that it uses its money wisely, that it continues to help children and people that are not in the program anymore and lastly that it is a much-respected association worldwide.
Max Pelka
Switzerland
August 2022
Article in the Gender Lens Initiative for Switzerland’s report
GIFT endorses the GLIS for its efforts in channeling for women and girls and for promoting the agenda of SDG5.
Please find the link to the full report: please access this LinkedIn post or https://lnkd.in/etkjHb2B
An evening with the Lotus Flower takes place in London on September 21st 2022
A great evening with the Lotus Flower where GIFT thanked the founder, Taban Soresh, for being such an incredibly impactful organisation. A privilege to have the Lotus Flower in our portfolio of organisations.
Read the Blog from the Lotus Flower
GIFT to speak on a panel about “Smart Philanthropy” at the Skoll World Forum, April 8 2022
What is Smart Philanthropy?
Event Information
Our expert panel will explore the urgent need to make giving smarter and ways in which NGOs can maximise the impact generated by funding
About this event
In this panel on ‘smart philanthropy’, the Lotus Flower will be joined by two inspiring guests from the world of charitable giving: Atalanti Moquette, the founder of Giving Women, and Sophie Pelka, co-creator of the Give It Forward Trust (GIFT).
As part of the Skoll World Forum’s Ecosystem Events, the panel will see Atalanti discussing the growing need to help charities with capacity-building, learning, mentoring and community-building ideas. Meanwhile, Sophie will explore the difference between “heart” and “impact” philanthropy, and present a case for unrestricted and multi-year funding.
The panel chair is Taban Shoresh, CEO of the Lotus Flower, which has to date impacted on 40,000 women and girls through three project pillars aligned to the 2030 SDGs. Representing the on-the-ground community, the Lotus Flower’s Regional Director Vian Ahmed will also discuss the benefits of flexible giving for maximum impacts.
The 60-minute panel will also welcome comments and questions on the topic of smart philanthropy.
CAMFED, the Campaign for Female Education, is the 2021 recipient of the Hilton Humanitarian Prize
GIFT is very proud to be a donor to CAMFED Tanzania.
CAMFED was awarded the 2021 Hilton Humanitarian Prize showing once more its durable social impact on the lives of girls and young women in rural Africa. CAMFED has revolutionized how girls’ education is delivered, tapping into local expertise in a way that is sustainable and scalable.
Update on GIFT
It has been a busy few months at The Give It Forward Trust. Here is a short update on our progress to date:
Event speaking
- I was invited to speak about our philanthropic initiative and approach to an offsite organised by Swiss Philanthropy Foundation and WISE (philanthropic advisor) in Verbier end of August.
- I also was invited to speak about GIFT and our vision at a philanthropic masterclass which I had attended the previous year, held in Geneva.
Due Diligence:
we are currently in the final stages of due diligence with the following organisations:
- The Lotus Flower – this organisation provides women and girls impacted by conflict and displacement with the tools and opportunities they need to rebuild their lives. https://thelotusflower.org
- Edulution – Edulution has developed an innovative learning platform to enable marginalised primary school children in Africa to catch up on their numeracy and literacy learning. It uses a unique mix of technology, enterprising coaches and evidence-based analytics to effectively deliver these courses in Zambia, Namibia and South Africa. https://www.edulution.org
we are starting due diligence with the following organisation:
- Surfers Not Street Children in South Africa. The SNSC’s model fuses surfing, mentorship and mental health services to empower street children to transform their lives. https://www.surfnotstreets.org
Pipeline & News
- I continue to attend as many seminars as I can on philanthropy where each time i discover potential impactful organisations.
- I have spoken to a few large foundations with similar missions in order to share ideas and funding opportunities.
- I am currently creating a list of potential NGOs to due diligence.
- I am refining our due diligence process as well as our monitoring and evaluation process.
- I am still discussing with Epic foundations on ways to share their philanthropic knowledge with GIFT.
Monitoring & Evaluation
- CAMFED commitment of USD83,000 over three years- despite the difficult conditions in Tanzania under Covid, the CAMFED project of providing school support to 366 marginalised girls in rural Tanzania is on track. The project delivers exceptional results both in terms of school attendance (92%) and results (94% of girls supported in lower secondary school either progressed to the next form of education or completed their lower secondary school and joined the alumni CAMA network).
We launch GIVE IT FORWARD TRUST – GIFT
The Pelka and de Lint families are proud to announce the launch of GIVE IT FORWARD TRUST – GIFT.
After many years of committing to good causes on an individual basis, many discovered during our travels, we want to be more systematic, to scale up to commit more meaningfully and to launch a proper fund to do good, better.
We feel we were born “winning the lottery”, born in countries with high standards of living and peace, having choices early on in life, being able to influence our lifestyle, choose our education, choose where we live and even travel for fun.
We believe in giving back some of this “good luck” to less fortunate children and teenagers. We aim to sustainably transform their lives and empower them to lead a self-directed, meaningful existence.
We have partnered with Swiss Philanthropy Foundation (SPF) as our umbrella foundation. This will allow us to focus on the giving side while having an institutional setup and adhering to best practice on the governance side.
We are very excited to be able to Give It Today and hopefully one day Forward. As for us, we receive today, through the joy of sharing. Come and join us. Help others and discover the benefit of giving and why it makes you happier.
Sophie & Roman, Christel & Christiaan