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Non-profit seeks ICT mentors for orphans

Regina Pazvakavambwa
By Regina Pazvakavambwa, ITWeb portals journalist.
Johannesburg, 08 Dec 2016
Mentors help the children bridge the digital divide that separates youth who live in isolated communities, says Infinite Family's Amy Conrad Stokes.
Mentors help the children bridge the digital divide that separates youth who live in isolated communities, says Infinite Family's Amy Conrad Stokes.

A non-profit which connects South African children with online mentors, Infinite Family, is looking for ICT mentors for 500 orphaned teens for 2017.

Started in 2006, Infinite Family uses the Internet to connect children who have been affected by HIV/AIDS, with volunteer mentors globally. The non-profit says currently 90% of the mentors reside in the US. Matching occurs in February to May, August to September and October, to accommodate the school terms in SA, says Infinite Family.

According to founder and CEO Amy Conrad Stokes, the programme aims to give orphaned South African children the benefits of First World technology, improve their life skills, make them self-reliant and not vulnerable to external bad influences, as well as keep them in school to pass matric - then assist them in getting jobs or moving to tertiary education.

Mentors should be at least 21 and are trained in how to help the kids, says Stokes. They go through a screening process, criminal background check, personal video interview, online training for about five hours and then a 90-minute webinar with the Infinite Family staff. These relationships develop over time and are checked on a regular basis by Infinite Family senior staff, notes Stokes.

"Using cutting-edge communications technologies, we bridge the digital divide that separates youth who live in communities isolated by a lack of access and opportunity from the rest of the world. We help them develop the real-time skills they need to move beyond their circumstances and live as independent adults. At the moment, there are 500 South African teens waiting to start 2017 with mentors of their own."

The non-profit says it has placed fully-fitted video labs at participating high schools in townships and rural villages. Each young person has a scheduled weekly session with their mentor, held online in private booths, it says. The fully supervised labs are fitted with laptops and are available to teens after school and on Saturday, adds Infinite Family.

The non-profit says all of Infinite Family's mentored students are affected by HIV/AIDS and poverty and "live life day-to-day, amid uncertainty and fear, with little or no adult guidance and support". It points out the children grow into young adulthood under-educated and ill-equipped to participate in a society that is moving forward rapidly and without them.

"Our global video mentors are role models who help their Net Buddy mentees break these patterns and build a better life. To a teen without enough adults in her life, you are life-changing role model.

"Mentoring is a perfect vehicle for large and small organisations to involve their staff. Employee Resource Programmes are very popular as community benefit projects and we invite both corporates and individuals to step up and make a difference."

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