Tomorrow Trust continues to help learners even with the challenges of Covid-19

If single-family units found it difficult to adjust to life under lockdown, one can only imagine the enormity of the task that awaited South Africa’s non-profits.

With so many lives dependent on their operations, these organisations were not only required to adapt their models to satisfy the existing need but had to do so under exceptionally trying economic circumstances. It required instant and innovative thinking to meet the considerable challenges.

Despite the overwhelming odds stacked against them, organisations such as the Tomorrow Trust, which since 2005 has mobilised investors to reduce the inequality of educational opportunities faced by orphaned and vulnerable children, excelled.

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The Trust currently supports 1 100 children through its Holiday and Saturday School Programme in Gauteng and the Western Cape, and a further 120 youth in various universities and colleges throughout South Africa in its Tertiary Programme.

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It also provides additional holistic support to just less than 100 youth and youth professionals through its YES initiative partnerships, Work Readiness and Wellness Programmes.

With some clever manoeuvring by the board, the organisation was able to reduce its budget by 13 per cent and still render exceptional services to beneficiaries, particularly from an education and social welfare perspective.

The organisation also aligned with other prominent South African NGOs to build a National Teacher Platform supported by the LEGO Foundation.

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This tool, known as Teacher Connect, will give the Department of Basic Education a dedicated line to communicate its focus areas and advise the broader education community.

“During lockdown, our students have continued to have full-time access to a psychologist, and our sessions with them have been split between managing their online learning process and their various personal challenges, often mentally and emotionally related,” said Donald.

In the week prior to the implementation of the lockdown, the Trust delivered some 377 food parcels and sanitiser to its learner communities.

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Furthermore, by partnering with other NGOs such as Afrika Tikkun, Lunchbox Fund, Human Doings, and TLT, it was able to deliver 11 721 food parcels and vouchers and 11 784 masks to beneficiary households.

The overall effect of these interventions both inside and outside the classroom was immense.

“As we continue to navigate Covid-19, reinforcing educational programmes will be necessary to build our economy and future workforce. The Tomorrow Trust believes in supporting the educational needs of the orphaned and vulnerable. This is a sustainable way of achieving economic freedom and self-sustainability,” Donald concluded.

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