Pride ‘n Purpose as a charitable arm if Virgin Limited Edition committed to helping disadvantaged communities living adjacent to the Sabi Sand Reserve. Originally established in 2003 by members of the Ulusaba family, all the charity’s running expenses are covered by Virgin Limited Edition and Virgin Unite, the Virgin Group’s non-profit foundation. 100% of donations go directly toward much-needed projects. We estimate that Pride ‘n Purpose now benefits over 35,000 people across six communities. Our philosophy is that people are most effectively helped if they are empowered to help themselves, so the emphasis is most definitely on sustainable initiatives.
Access to clean and safe water
Beyond the reserve in the local communities reliable water supplies are not always available, therefore Pride ‘n Purpose has invested in the purchase of two ‘FunPumps’ installed near an underground borehole. The FunPump functions like a merry-go-round you would find in any playground around the world, and as the children play, clean water is pumped directly from the borehole to a water harvester for use by the wider community. We have also drilled 4 boreholes and installed 29 water storage tanks.
Education at all levels
Pride ‘n Purpose has a particular focus on pre-school and primary school education, and we have helped build and successfully run 12 pre-schools benefiting over 500 children. Emphasis is on good quality and safe education through our teacher training programs helped by the provision of highly nutritious porridge for all children. All schools are fully kitted out with educational materials and the educators are trained to use them correctly to build the essential foundations for learning.
We have also constructed 3 literacy centres and are partnering with the Good Work Foundation to build the DDLC (Dumphries Digital Learning Centre) – a digital learning centre that will benefit the wider Dumphries area.
The three focus areas are:
- maths, English and digital literacy for grades 4-7
- a bridging course to prepare school leavers for the workplace
- tertiary courses in IT, conservation and hospitality
Extracurricular activities for children
We have partnered with Food and Trees for Africa, a South African non-governmental organisation, and more recently Foundations for Farming to get more food gardens up and running in the communities and at the schools.
We recently had our first, hugely successful, training workshop with Foundations for Farming where 20 local farmers from Dumfries were trained in the sustainable farming methods and we’re planning more workshops like it for the schools and other villages. The project includes on-going training and support for the schools and pupils to set up and cultivate healthy, fresh vegetables. Mahluhluvana School’s garden even won a national award for two years running for being the best school feeding garden! Each garden produces food for 700 pupils with the surplus being sold in the village.
Support for local entrepreneurs
Ulusaba is a major source of employment in the region, and it is estimated that the wages of each employee supports up to an additional 10 members of their household. Despite this, there is a distinct lack of accessible jobs available for many of the village’s adults, which is why Pride ‘n Purpose is attempting to address this issue with support for local entrepreneurial schemes.
Pride ‘n Purpose also helps budding businessmen and women starting ventures tap into new income sources via our Entrepreneur Scheme.
One of our big projects at the moment (we’re still fundraising) is setting up Ku-Humelela – a rural African lifestyle centre which will have a craft workshop, curio shop, café, PnP office, PnP show and tell area and a functional food garden. We are estimating that this project will create between 40-50 jobs!
Safari-goers looking to make a lasting difference can join a tour at any time to the local village of Dumphries, where they can roll up their sleeves to personally plant a tree for ZAR500, or one can be planted on their behalf for ZAR250.
Planting a tree is a wonderful way to keep the memories of Ulusaba alive, and the team will share regular growth updates and news from the local community long after the plane home has departed.
Ulusaba is located in the Sabi Sand Reserve in South Africa and offers unrivalled game-watching with some of the most experienced Rangers and Trackers in the country. Guests can enjoy twice-daily game drives, stunning views and unlimited food and drink during their stay.
For bookings please call T: 0800 056 343 (toll free). Alternatively e-mail enquiries@virginlimitededition.co.za
To learn more go to: https://www.virginlimitededition.com/en/ulusaba/pride#what-we-do
This piece was prepared online by Panuruji Kenta, Publisher, SEVENSEAS Media