Partners
Africa Foundation
The Africa Foundation was formed in 1992 to support Beyond lodge group. We work extensively with 17 villages neighbouring the Sabi Sand Wildtuin, based on a model of stakeholder engagement, local champions and community contribution.
The Foundation targets social upliftment, integrating high-end tourism and communities to their mutual benefit and has earned widespread credibility and trust among both community and government.
Africa Foundation has thus far built over 200 classrooms and runs a bursary programme to facilitate tertiary education that has hitherto supported close to 230 learners. We also respond to the immediate and vital needs of the communities by creating infrastructure to tackle dire water shortages in this area.
Buffelshoek Trust
The mission of the Buffelshoek Trust is “upliftment through education”. Working together with our partners in government and the private sector, the Trust has provided ongoing support to 3 crèches, 7 primary schools and 2 high schools in villages bordering the northern region of the Sabi Sand Wildtuin. The Trust’s work includes building classrooms, electrifying schools, installing water systems and vegetable gardens and supporting sports, literacy and leadership development in schools. The Trust has also built a 12 hour Primary Health Care Clinic and Community Bakery to support healthcare and economic development. To learn more about our work, please visit our website.
Chitwa Trust
The Chitwa Trust Fund was founded in 2008 with the objective of contributing to the welfare of the people of Dixie, the village from where most of the Chitwa Chitwa staff are from. Dixie and Chitwa Chitwa share a history over the last two decades and the Trust Fund was initiated to formalise our commitment to support local communities. In May 2013, Maria Brink inaugurated the classroom built by the Chitwa Trust Fund – it was a great joy for us to accomplish this target, which is proving a huge benefit to the Wisani School children. We continue our monthly food programme to the students and children of Wisani School at Dixie.
Dulini
The esiDulini Trust is a closely-knit organisation committed to realising meaningful upliftment. They have identified three strategic areas – Youth in Trouble, Adult Education and Health – which they target by actively supporting high-impact programmes within the communities for sustained success.
The esiDulini Trust has partnered with the Sabi Sand Pfunanani Trust to support a number of projects in eleven neighbouring communities.
In 2013, the Trust invested in the future of 5 communities through development of youth and leadership. They sponsored 60 youths and 15 educators, who in turn have implemented their own youth-driven programmes within their schools and communities.
Since then the esiDulini trust has continued to support local projects including Columba Leadership, Justicia Digital Learning Centre, Pfunanani Enterprise Development Project, Project Dignity, Kurula High School and others
Good Work Foundation
On a mission to bring “digital” to rural Africa
Good Work Foundation (GWF) is a registered NGO that has been working with grassroots education in Africa since 2003.
From building its first preschool in Philippolis in the Free State ten years ago, GWF’s vision has grown so that today the model focuses on delivering ‘digital-era’ literacy education and career training via digital learning centres of excellence.
Each of the four centres (three in Mpumalanga and one in the Free State) delivers state-of-the-art information technology and high-speed internet access to rural communities, enabling learners to access the same information and knowledge as learners in first-world settings.
GWF’s vision is to grow each ‘centre’ into a ‘campus’ made up of academies. With digital-era literacy education at the core, career-training programmes will expand to include teacher training, nursing, music and more.
Leopard Hills
Leopard Hills has undertaken the responsibility of looking after and building a day care centre/ crèche for under privileged children and orphans.
Through the help and support of our guests we have been able to raise enough funding to build this facility in the local village. Through additional donations of books, clothing, writing materials and blankets we have gone a long way to improving the lives of these children.
Leopard Hills continues to supply all its excess food to the centre and through additional donations, in conjunction with our partners in this project, aim to continually make a difference.
Lion Sands
One of the pillars of our eco-tourism business is to partner with local communities to ensure that the benefits that the landscape provides are shared amongst all.
Core to our philosophy is embodied in the proverb “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime” which is why we focus our efforts towards educating and skills development.
Lion Sands in partnership with the More Family, its many generous guests and local corporates have been able to create and sustain a daycare center for 40 babies; a pre-school of 180 children and a HIV clinic.
Looking forward we hope to continue our role in partnering with Government to enhance the educational facilities in the local communities and at the same time look to develop a skills development center to best equip our community members to either join our Lodge operation or to go out and add value to our economy creating long-term sustainability for all.
Pride ‘n Purpose
Pride ‘n Purpose is Ulusaba’s charitable arm and all the expenses are covered by Virgin Unite (www.virginunite.com) – the Virgin Group’s non-profit foundation – and Virgin Limited Edition (www.virginlimitededition.com ) so 100% of donations go directly toward much needed projects.
Working on a non-profit basis, Pride ‘n Purpose is committed to helping disadvantaged communities living near the Sabi Sand Reserve, our main focus being sustainable development initiatives and improving access to food, water, health services and improving education on all levels. We believe that people are most effectively helped if they are empowered to help themselves.
Sabi Sabi
It is one of Sabi Sabi’s core philosophies that in order for conservation to be successful in Africa, there needs to be an integral and participatory relationship between tourism operations and the neighbouring local communities.
The reserve strives to promote ‘People and Parks’ issues by integrating conservation and community development as much as possible and Community Based Natural Resource Management is increasingly becoming a priority in the Sabi Sabi management policies. Many of Sabi Sabi’s staff live in the neighbouring communities and an ongoing internal training programme is in place that promotes and encourages skills development.
Over the past several years, Sabi Sabi has been a major contributor to the Teach The Teachers and Reach And Teach Education programmes and supports the Lillydale Environmental Education Centre, which serves as a multifunctional environmental education centre.
Savanna
Savanna Private Game Reserve is dedicated to helping the local community to secure a better future. To help the most vulnerable people within the area, Savanna is supporting the Tiyimiseleni Centre.
The Tiyimiseleni Centre is a Home Based Care Centre in the village of Mabarhule, where every day 250 orphans and vulnerable children (age 3-17 years) are provided with a free lunch.
Savanna’s support to this Centre includes: weekly purchase of dry goods, fresh fruit, vegetables and leftover food from the lodge kitchen, providing gas and electricity as well as delivering the donations from guests (clothing, blankets, toys and stationery).
Singita
Communities close to Singita reserves are key role-players in preserving the integrity of wilderness area and their wildlife. It is therefore important that they understand and benefit from the existence of the reserves.
Singita’s long-term, broad community development objective is therefore to assist communities to thrive, both economically and socially.
Singita employs local staff and maximises monthly purchases from local enterprises. In this way, Singita plays a role in strengthening the local economy. In addition, the Community Development teams on each property co-ordinate active support for development initiatives.
Community development programmes have 4 main objectives: well educated children; the development of small enterprises; assisting government in providing clean drinking water; and an enhanced awareness of conservation and sustainable daily living practices among community members.
The Thornybush Collection
The Simbambili Game Lodge has resurrected the vegetable garden at Manyagana high school from its previous state of disrepair, restoring it to productivity through the installation of irrigation systems and other necessities. In partnership with Mobile Agricultural Skills Training and Development (MASTD), 12 community members were mentored in order that the garden become a sustainable feature in community life.
The vision of this project is to supply the surrounding lodges with fresh produce and sow the earnings back into the garden, as well as grow excess vegetables with the purpose of supplying local schools and families. In the future we would like to roll this out to a further 4 communities. The Thornybush Collection and Simbambili Lodge underwrite this project with the financial support of Nedbank, Buffelshoek Trust, Empowers Africa, Avis Fleet Service and Thornybush Collection guests.
Tracker Academy
The Tracker Academy is a training division of the SA College for Tourism which operates under the auspices of the Peace Parks Foundation. As a not-for-profit entity, we offer bursaries to and train 16 disadvantaged rural people in traditional skills of tracking per annum.
The Tracker Academy is the first specialist tracker training school to have its training programme accredited by CATHSSETA. Our tracker certificates are also endorsed by FGASA. The intensive 1-year curriculum includes subjects such as tracking skills, wildlife monitoring, nature guiding and wildlife knowledge theory. Some 90% of our tracker graduates have found permanent employment in the eco-tourism, anti-poaching and wildlife monitoring sectors of the conservation industry. Our training bases are situated at Londolozi Game Reserve in the Sabi Sands and Samara Game Reserve in the Karoo.
