Global Development Ambassadors Trip, South Africa

Ambassadors have returned from their adventure with very positive feedback and are eager to share their first-hand experience in Manyeleti with you.

Join us on our next trip!  More information available here.

After a long flight we finally arrived to Nelspruit. After one night of rest, we were ready to drive to Uta, a village in the Manyeleti community.

The first image that we had there was of happiness and warmth among the people. Many came outside upon our arrival to greet us with hugs and smiles.

The kids were especially excited to play with us and show us their village. We lent them our cameras and they immediately start taking pictures of their friends.

The next day was themed "Sports & Social Change". We had the opportunity to visit sports fields built by The Buffelshoek Trust, FUNDaFIELD and Think Impact and met with another group, Dreamfields, about future opportunities. We discussed the importance of these projects in the community and the long term impact among the youth.

We visited several schools in the area to become fully updated on Think Impact projects and learn more about education in Manyeleti. We visited crèches (preschools), elementary and high schools. We met with numerous teachers and principals to understood the impact of the different projects Think Impact has implemented in the past. We also spent some time learning about other community needs for future internships.

We spent an entire day visiting clinics that are currently running in Lilydale and Uta and we met with local social entrepreneurs that are investing in Health and Infrastructure. It was very interesting learning about HIV issues and the stigmas with testing and prevention.

One of the nights we went to visit Robert Ndlovu, a young entrepreneur from nearby Thlavakisa. Originally a community of refugees from Mozambique, Robert and his family have being living there for more than a decade. Community members danced and sang for us and shared their local food with us.

We also spent some time on a safari where we were lucky enough to see the "Big Five."

To finish up the trip, Think Impact organized for us to do an “EcoAdventrue” Zip Line. We ended our last day sliding through the mountains ove a most beautiful landscape.