Our Story

It all started with a dream of a foundation as leaving a legacy to uplift in the education and awareness space. It was accelerated and birthed in COVID lockdown on the 13th June 2020, much sooner than anticipated. The Empowerment of women, youth and children is the core business of Mizpah Foundation. This organization was developed in the midst of the Covid 19 Pandemic, where going into and working in the heart of our communities became impossible.

Mizpah Foundation had to find alternate means of reaching our beneficiaries and therefore we decided to present our programmes virtually on whatever social media platform is available to the communities we are reaching out to.

It was quite important for our name to be routed in a spiritual foundation.

What does Mizpah mean - it is a name from the bible. It’s first usage was in Genesis 31:45-50 which referred to it as a pillar of stones set up by Jacob and Laban. The pillar of stones acted as a witness to the bond between the two men. As Laban said “The Lord watch between you and me, when we are absent one from the other…. Remember, God is a witness between you and me. It is for this reason that Mizpah has often been interpreted as signifying an emotional bond between people who are separated, either physically by distance or by death.”

This is encapsulated in our logo which has pillars supporting and bridging the gap between people and their circumstances. Our logo “Helping YOU to Help YOURSELF" sets out our motto, this is to provide a helping hand to our fellow women and youth and children in our communities.

Our Mission

We seek to empower women, young people and children in our communities to achieve sustainable life goals through learning and development to economically empower themselves and others within their circle of influence.

Pillar 1 - Education & Awareness (including life skills, entrepreneurship)

Pillar 2 - Women Building Women

Pillar 3 - Youth - Finding yourself

Pillar 4 - Housing/Economic Impact

At Mizpah Foundation, our vision is that as a non-profit organization we would:-

- Motivate and inspire people to help themselves

- Provide education and awareness through our community developed programs

- Building self-sustainable communities

- Building the bridge in the gaps in our communities

- Being the bridge to enabling women, young people and children to take the next step.

- Being the trigger for change

Mizpah-Foundation wants to add value and make a difference in the community.

Pillar 1 - Education & Awareness

In several areas along life's journey we find communities, young adults, school learners and our women, with a gap to knowledge.

We aim to raise awareness in these gaps to support those in need to gain access to valuable skills to support and bridge the gap into the next chapter of their lives.

These include programs in relation to mentoring/tutoring; entrepreneurship; financial literacy; basic soft skills and social skill support.

We highlight one example of how we have done this is through the programmes we have initiated.

WCED/Sponsor Tutor Support Program for Matriculants - Mathematics/Accounting

Amidst COVID one such program run as part of our outsourced CSI support was in relation to a Joint Venture between a sponsor and the Western Cape Education Department for matriculants.

Due to the lack of classroom support we facilitated a tutoring/mentoring support for our matriculants in the weeks leading up to the exams. This was to close the gaps in Mathematics and Accounting for the most vulnerable of learners, those that don't typically get extra tuition at no cost to them or their parents. The program was targeted at learners achieving between 40% to 50% in tests/examinations across the first two terms of the year. Our sponsor provided tutors for the program and Mizpah facilitated the communication between the schools, WCED, learners and their parents in order for the tutors to focus on the one on one time that the learners needed. Through this partnership many of these learners were able to get that extra edge to allow them access to a tertiary facility due to better results in these key subjects.

Leaving a legacy of support is what we aim to do through these programs

Pillar 3 - Youth - Finding Yourself

The Bridge the Gap programme is focused on youth aged between 18 and 24 either in matriculated and indecisive about their future career choices.

Mizpah Foundation helps the youth zone in on their own skills and aptitudes and is designed to guide them focus on a self-developed goal plan for their future.

The 12 week course covers the following topics

Week 1 – Knowing Yourself

Week 2 – Interpersonal Skills

Week 3 – Personal Financial Literacy

Week 4 – Ethics and Values

Week 5 – Problem Solving and Decision Making

Week 6 – CV Writing

Week 7 – Effective Communication

Week 8 – Introduction to Entrepreneurship/Employability

Week 9 – Design Thinking Workshop

Week 10 – Leadership – What is it?

Week 11 – Planning the Next step – Education, Employability, Entrepreneurship

Week 12 – The 3 C’s Celebration, Certification, Collaboration

Pillar 4 - Housing/Economic Impact