A Shared Vision

As highlighted above, the Pravah ACTIVATE! exchange programme represents an important effort in the quest to build the ability of youth to contribute towards finding lasting solutions to today’s most pressing development challenges. This important partnership was birthed through a meeting between former ACTIVATE! CEO and current Executive Director of the ACTIVATE! Academy Chris Mentjies and then CEO of Pravah Neha Buch while working with the Mahatma Ghandi Institute.

It was during Neha’s visit to South Africa that the idea of an exchange programme was forged at the ACTIVATE! Social Entrepreneurship Summit. Chris points out that the common vision shared between ACTIVATE! and Pravah essentially catalyzed a relationship that ultimately resulted in an international exchange programme.

He further highlights the importance of exchange programmes in ensuring that experiences are transformed into learning. “I realised

that Pravah was similar to ACTIVATE! but on a bigger scale. They are dealing with the same types of problems as we are - India just has a greater population. Their budgets are also lower than ours, yet the scale of their delivery is much higher. Similarly to South Africa, India has very capable young people doing amazing things, so I was interested in working with

them”, he stated.

“An exchange would allow participants from one country to learn from what the other is doing and take the learning back to their own country. Any kind of travel with new social challenges makes for a rich and deep learning experience,”

Chris added.

ACTIVATE! Site Visit in India for the feasibility study