NGO

South Africa

10+

Website

Footprints Foundation is a national Non-Profit Organisation duly registered by the South African Department of Social Development and working on social impact programmes with a reach of over 30 000 learner-beneficiaries annually. The Foundation’s main focal areas are the following:
• Education - which includes Early Childhood Development, Youth Engagement and Participation, Quality and System Strengthening, and Further Education and Training.
• Health - which includes Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Menstrual Health and Hygiene and Psychosocial Support as part of Mental Health.
• Skills and Development - particularly for young people, which includes collaborating for the creation of skills development opportunities, capacity building and pathways from learning to earning.
• Community Development and Engagement – which includes poverty alleviation programmes, food schemes for food security, dialogue promotion on social issues such as Gender-Based Violence, Domestic Abusea and Healthy Parenting among other topics.

ALIGNMENT WITH THE MBSM CHARITIES PROGRAMME
The Constitution of Footprints Foundation, which is a founding document of the organisation puts a lot of emphasis on the achievement of higher learning opportunities for disadvantaged youth. Clause 2 of the Foundation’s Constitution states that one of the organization’s objectives is to offer training and bursary opportunities to girls and boys in South Africa. The Foundation also implements various educational programmes including the Always Keeping Girls in School (AKGIS) which focuses on combatting period-poverty by promoting Menstrual Health education to girls across South African schools. The Foundation also implements career guidance, vision creation and motivational programmes for learners in school. Additionally, the Foundation has implemented a number of infrastructural development programmes and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programmes in schools.

THE FOOTPRINTS FOUNDATION’S PROGRAMME ON EDUCATION: EDU-CHAMPIONS PROGRAMME
The Edu-Champions Programme is an educational initiative that aims to provide access to fund for higher learning for deserving South African Youth. The advent of the Fees Must Fall Movement in 2015, where South African students fought for free higher education marked the conceptualisation of this programme.

Access to higher learning opportunities is still a bottleneck for many South Africans and through the Edu-Champions Programme, the Foundation seeks to lobby for sponsorships for at least 30 students every year. With the right partnerships, such as that with MBSM, this is an achievable goal. Students would be sponsored across various study fields and realise their dreams.