In the blog post "our mission" we explain why Kluuf decided to be a for-a-cause company (corporation with a social background - see also social enterprise).
This article elaborates which projects are supported by the help of our customers skincare routines.
As a reminder: Kluuf has committed to investing at least 10% of its annual company profits in social projects. Therefore, our customers not only care for their skin with every purchase or application, but also give children in our projects the chance for a better future. Hence our credo #treatyourself #treatothers.
In order to be able to invest directly in projects without bureaucracy and other inefficiencies, Kluuf cooperates with the non-profit organization "HIT - Help in Time". HIT has both a German and a South African company and has a wide network of projects and partners in and around Cape Town (SA). Kluuf and HIT have agreed that donations should primarily be invested in the infrastructure of educational projects. This gives children the opportunity for a high-quality education, which we see as the cornerstone for a better future.
Below is an excerpt of which projects HIT oversees in South Africa, all of which can be supported by the skin care routines of Kluuf's consumers:
- Afterschool: Mary is an impressive personality who runs a daily afterschool for over 40 children in Manenberg, a high crime township between Cape Town and Cape Town international airport. Mary's School closes the gap between the public education of the township schools and the requirements of the labor market, universities or hiring companies. In addition, the school provides children with warm meals and gives them a safe afternoon activity, which prevents them from drifting into crime. Together with partners, HIT has managed to provide Mary and the children with their own school premises inclduing classrooms and supports the project financially so that teachers, materials and meals can be paid for.
- Soup kitchens: Mama Sindi, runs a soup kitchen in the township of Imizamo yethu (IY), which supplies almost 100 children every day. IY is a township located on a mountain in Hout Bay, an affluent suburb of Cape Town. Mama Sindi understands that with at least one (hot) meal a day, she provides a basic need for many children and often prevents children from going to bed hungry. At home there is often not enough money for food and children needs are unfortuantely not a priority for everyone.
In order to make the help sustainable, it was important to HIT that Mama Sindi's soup kitchen can partially finance itself from local donations and is a registered NPO. This ensures that the soup kitchens can continue to supply the people of the township should the donations from HIT fail to materialize / turn out to be lower than expected. - Food hampers: Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, hunger was a serious problem in the townships, which probably led to more deaths than the virus: Due to the lockdowns and the lack of tourism (an important source of income for Cape Town), many people in the townships lost their jobs. Since there is almost no social security system for the people in South Africa, many had to suffer from hunger. HIT recognized this problem and teamed up with local organizations in the townships (such as Mama Sindi) to provide food packages to the poorest. These food packages contain, among other things, several kilograms of flour and rice, so that the families were able to provide for themselves at home for a longer period of time.
- Sponsorships*: HIT arranges so-called sponsorships for children in the townships with willing sponsors in Germany. School fees are paid through the financial support of the sponsors, which enable the children to receive an excellent education. These schools not only help the children with their education, but also enable friendships to be formed between children without and outside the townships, which can often be very helpful for personal development (since the prospect of life outside the townships matures).
Godparents often look after the children from kindergarten age until they graduate high school. With such an education, the sponsored children have a variety of options to build a life outside of the townships.
*Since Kluuf's donations to HIT fluctuate every year based on sales, we made a conscious decision not to take on individual sponsorships, as otherwise we would run the risk of not being able to pay the school fees of a sponsored child in a bad financial year. However, if you are interested in a sponsorship, we encourage you to contact HIT directly.
Another important note on our own behalf: We try to be in South Africa at least once a year, whether to work on the projects ourselves or to develop new projects together with HIT. We see our work with the children in the townships as well as the exchange with the local partners as essential to walk the talk (Of course, these trips are not paid for by donations).
So every product, every skin care routine really helps the children on ground and doesn't disappear somewhere in administrative or travel expenses.
We are thrilled that you are on this mission with us and we promise regular updates about projects and developments.
