About MylifE

The Organization
The Cape Town based non-profit organisation MylifE was founded by former film producer Linzi Thomas in 2002 and set up as a section 21 company. In 2006 it was decided to establish the MylifE Foundation. The organization is governed by the Trust which was set up by BOE and is under the management of Dieter Schwindinger from Old Mutual. Donations are fully tax deductible (section 18a).

The Mission
MylifE is in the business of social change through the empowerment of our youth and children. Our mandate is to facilitate positive change in society by giving marginalized youth and children hope, developing their skills and empowering them to be the caregivers of the future.

The Organization
A decade of hard-won experience on the streets has taught MylifE that if you want to assist young people off the streets – you need to work with transformed Youth Leaders as role models. These pioneers have turned their backs on the street life and been reintegrated into mainstream society as positive, productive youth icons. MylifE takes a holistic approach to sustainable community development by empowering participants through physical rehabilitation, emotional healing, skills development and job creation. In close co-operation with our Youth Leaders, MylifE has developed a unique three-stage holistic healing program that builds on the African concept of UBUNTU – it takes a village to raise a child.

The Achievements
MylifE has taken 52 hardened street youth out of a “cycle of destruction” that trapped them into a life of addiction, crime, gangsterism and disease. Their courageous journey off the streets assisted us in creating the MylifE Healing and Transformation program. The MylifE leadership are poised to “pay it forward” to the young people still living in hopelessness. Therefore, MylifE has created a sustainable system that will see more marginalized youth become emotionally, socially and economically independent young leaders.

The Future
The United Nations has estimated a 433% increase in the number of children living on the streets in the next ten years – 800 million by 2020. In South Africa alone, 6000 children are orphaned each day.
The next step in MylifE’s local response to this global catastrophe is the Healing Village project – a pilot model for ecological development which will skill youth to be caregivers of the future. The launch of the village is planned for January 2009. These villages, along with MylifE’s outreach and awareness-building campaigns, will ensure that our vision is realized: a future where all street children are cared for, loved and respected.

The Mentors
MylifE has been recognized by Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela, The Premiere of the Western Cape, representative of the Dalai Lama, local Minister for National Government and a host of others as an extremely important venture with global implications and applications.