The ASAP Foundation (African Solutions to African Problems) was founded in 2004 in response to the devastation of HIV and extreme poverty on children’s lives in remote, rural communities in South Africa. ASAP is a small, well-established organisation that delivers a big impact by partnering with proactive rural women and youth to uplift themselves, transform their communities and bring hope to their orphans and vulnerable children. We benefit from fundraising arms in the UK and US, and operate in the Alfred Nzo district, Eastern Cape: South Africa’s poorest municipality (IRR 2019) and part of the world’s hardest-hit HIV area.
Our Vision: Thriving, resilient rural communities where all children develop optimally.
Our Mission: to connect rural community members, particularly women and youth, to their own power to identify challenges and create positive change towards poverty alleviation in their communities.
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Recognising the significant inadequacies in the township educational system, our ASP aims to bridge these gaps. We provide supplementary education and developmental activities that enhance learners' academic, creative, and social skills, ensuring they receive a holistic education. The programme also includes Vocational Skills Training for high school learners, giving them a glimpse into potential career paths post-graduation.
At our Centre in Sybrand Park, Athlone, we run the YSD and Entrepreneurship Programme. This initiative targets unemployed youth, primarily aged 18-35, offering them essential skills training to improve their employability and entrepreneurial capabilities. The Foundation offers programmes like Sewing & Design, Beauty & Wellness, Technical & Handyman, and Hospitality with a focus on Front and Back of House Training. Our target for YSD is 150 learners per quarter.
Our extensive database boasts 3 042 learners, a testament to our reach and influence within these communities. We have successfully placed 1 790 participants in internships, learnerships, and employment opportunities, demonstrating our commitment to tangible outcomes. Moreover, our programme has facilitated the creation of 231 new businesses, highlighting our role in fostering entrepreneurship and economic growth. 79% of our beneficiaries are female.
The Trust plays a pivotal role in the success of our YSD programme. Their support enables us to offer comprehensive training and development opportunities, furthering our mission to reduce unemployment and uplift our communities.
Our approach is holistic and pragmatic. We carefully select proactive grassroots groups, predominantly women, and work with them in their villages over several years, developing their capacity to identify and solve their biggest problems, with basic human rights, financial literacy and Gender Based Violence (GBV) as cross-themes:
Through our OVC & Youth Development programme, we currently contribute to the development of 900 rural orphans and vulnerable children to reach their full potential towards becoming educated, healthy and contributing members of society. Through provision of nutrition, ensuring adequate shelter, access to healthcare, access to education and abuse intervention with psychosocial support, the children develop optimally and recover from trauma. Adolescents benefit from personal development and are equipped to become change drivers who positively impact their communities.
Assets Based Community Development entails ASAP strengthening four rural, women-led CBOs through holistic and long-term capacity building and funding partnerships to become change agents in their villages, reaching 1076 vulnerable households with a special focus on child development, and the safety and rights of women and children (Gender Based Violence).
The Food Security & Livelihoods programme developed eight new community food garden enterprises in 2022 to address food insecurity. It aims to sustainably reduce hunger for 1563 vulnerable persons through locally available, affordable produce, whilst providing food production, financial skills and social enterprise training as well as entrepreneurial opportunities with continued mentorship and development support for 49 rural women and youth.
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