We embrace the power of mobile connectivity to accelerate the delivery of education outcomes and achieve systemic change.

Making a difference in education.

The Ukufunda Virtual School was launched in partnership with the Department of Basic Education and Unicef in September 2014.

Ukufunda was modelled on schools that are regarded as centres of excellence and was developed to put the power of eLearning in the hands of every teacher, learner and parent in the country. They now have access to CAPS-aligned learning resources, counselling and safety services, a central communication hub and many other value-added services and programmes.

To date, over 140 000 learners, teachers and parents from more than 10 000 schools across the country have signed up for, and use Ukufunda.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN MATERNAL HEALTH.

Reach recognises that health is central to the global agenda of reducing poverty and has therefore prioritised health as one of its core focus areas. The Trust believes that mHealth has the potential to greatly benefit society.

Since 1990, the child mortality rate in South Africa has decreased by an average of 0.3 % per annum, from 60 to 57 deaths per 1 000 live births, while maternal mortality increased from 250 to 300 deaths per 100 000 live births.

BabyInfo on Mxit provides a customised daily message, based on the stage of the subscriber’s pregnancy. Feedback from users has been overwhelmingly positive as the service provides small amounts of highly relevant content to expecting mothers in need. 

MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT.

Groovy Adventurers on Mxit is an mHealth app that was developed in partnership with occupational therapists.

The mobile app provides daily activities to stimulate mental and physical development in the first 1 000 days of life. The activities were designed to be easy and affordable. Groovy Adventurers is unique because not only does it push daily activities to parents and carers, but also prompts them to send feedback regarding their child’s development.

While the key target market is parents who are unable to send their children to formal crèches, Reach is exploring how daycare practitioners utilise the app. The service was launched in March 2014 and already has over 10 000 registered profiles.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT.

Access to psychosocial support services by people living in under-resourced communities is limited. And, when these services are available, it's either oversubscribed or not accessed because of the stigma attached to visiting a counsellor.

Text-based counselling provides a discreet, affordable, convenient and anonymous way for people to get the help they need. The counselling apps address social problems such as gangsterism, drug abuse and teenage pregnancy.

LoveLife, one of South Africa’s foremost organisations focussing on HIV, utilises Mxit to provide powerful and discreet text-based counselling to highly vulnerable people. An innovative web-based platform allows trained counsellors to provide counselling sessions, and effectively monitor and evaluate the programme. More than 50 000 users access the LoveLife application every month.