Our mission

Rural South Africans suffer from a cycle of despair. Migrants move to the city in search of jobs, leaving their children behind in the care of the elderly. But a lack of skills, and education limit their opportunities to low paying manual or domestic jobs with wages that barely sustain themselves and leave little to send home for the support and education of their children.  Without an education or skills, their children grow up to repeat the same cycle of despair modeled by their parents.

 

Our mission at Indawo Yethemba (Place of Hope) is to provide a Christian education that gives them the skills and abilities to break this cycle, to demonstrate in a family-like environment what loving relationships resemble, and to model the pursuit of excellence in all areas of their lives.

Our values

We believe that every person is designed for a purpose, adding value to society and that each person contributes to society in different ways.

  • Some express their contribution through the gifts of the heart: music, oratory, and literature.
  • Some express their contribution through the works of their hands: art, sports, farming
  • Some express their contribution through their heads: academics, science, engineering.

We aim to empower and equip the surrounding rural communities by helping people to identify their God-given gifts, abilities, and passions and equipping them to impact their family and their community.

MEET OUR STAFF

Teresita Ndibongo
Principal

Teresita was born in Mexico and grew up in New Mexico. Earning a degree in math from MIT, education has always been her passion

Odwa Valella
Chaplain

Odwa is the chaplain at Intlantsi Christian School. On Wednesdays, he leads the chapel service, but the rest of the week he is busy as a spiritual mentor to the students and as an interface to the surrounding communities.

Siyabonga
English

Siyabonga has a duel role: by day, he teaches English and Life Orientation and is the school librarian; by night, he is the dorm dad for the male dormitory keeping thirteen boys in line. His fun-loving nature coupled with his strictness has earned him the love of all the students.

Johnson Majola
Teacher

Johnson Majola teaches xx and yy. Mr. Majola has come full circle: raised in Ngcamngeni village, directly behind Fort White, he came to faith as a young boy at Fort White when it was a Baptist Seminary. A teacher  since 1992, he accepted a calling to the ministry in 2018. While completing his distance learning,, he is pursuing both his love of teaching and his call to the ministry while serving at Intlantsi.

Ayabonga Mshupela
Teacher

Ayabonga Mshumpela teaches xx and yy, and has been a teacher since 2013. Ayabonga believes teaching is a  calling more than a profession. His desire to improve the quality and collapsing rural education is what drives him. Ayabonga holds closely Proverbs 22:6 “Start children off the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it”

Babalwa Valela
Administrative Assistant

Babalwa is the administrative assistant to Teresita helping to keep things running smoothly around campus. Her more important role is to keep her husband Odwa in line. 

Andiswa Mdinga
Dorm Mom

Andiswa Mdinga is the dorm mother to all of the girls. She was born and raised in the Debe Nek region. A believer since 1998, Andiswa is an active member of her church, serving as church secretary, chairperson of the youth department, and teacher of a Sunday School class.

Kuhle
Maintenance

Kuhle began volunteering at ILA on the campus a few years ago. Kuhle is now responsible for all maintenance on the property, from keeping 14 acres of grass mowed to using his ingenuity to fix all of the small (and sometimes major) problems around the campus.

MEET OUR TRUSTEES

Quintin Ndibongo
Chairman

Quintin was born in the United States to a Xhosa father and a Swedish mother. After a childhood spent in Africa, followed by twenty years in America, Quintin returned to his native South Africa where he oversees a major telecommunications project for the Eastern Cape. Quintin has been a trustee since 2013, and he began serving as the Chairman in 2020.. His vision for the future challenges all of us to excellence.

Elias Ndenzeni
Trustee

Elias works at the Mercedes Benz factory in East London. On the weekends, he pastors several community churches in the Debe Nek region. Elias is our go-to-guy where the local community is involved. Elias is one of the original trustees, serving since 2007.

Vuyani Nxoyi
Trustee

Vuyani is a government official in the Eastern Cape and lives in East London. As one of the original trustees, serving since 2007, Vuyani provides an historic and spiritual perspective into the origins and mission of the Trust.

Glenn Kendall
Trustee

Glenn grew up in Zambia until the age of 15 as the son of missionary parents. After a long absence from Africa, he returned to Fort White, South Africa in 2018 where he fell in love with the people and the mission of the school. Glenn has been a trustee since 2020 and is actively involved in creating the new master plan for Fort White’s growth over the next 15-20 years.

Join Us on a Mission Trip to South Africa

Your life will be changed forever

Learn More

Been to Ft White a few times and can think of no better way to show love than by changing the lives of children.  God is at work here and am blessed beyond measure to be a small part of it.  I initially questioned if my skills were needed or if taking someone’s spot that is more qualified.  God knows what is needed and if pulling at your heartstrings to go…you are needed.  Go love on the kids, support the staff, construct/build, organize, cook…but most of all…pray

Anita Doty

While life outside the US was quite different, the people, who seemed pretty much like us, made for an uplifting experience. Our trip to provide living quarters to help young people gain the education needed to earn a living and establish a “good” life was one step in God’s mission. I am thankful to have had the opportunity to participate.

Ken Patrick