High-quality education for the youngest: Large aid project „iThemba“ in Cape Town, South Africa, to grow further

• help alliance and Mastercard for the third time with joint aid project at the RTL Donation Marathon
• Construction of a new preschool planned
• 140 children will find a safe place to learn

help alliance, the aid organization of Lufthansa Group, and Mastercard are looking forward to this year’s RTL Donation Marathon, which will take place on November 18 and 19, 2021. Viewers can already donate from tomorrow for the joint aid project "First-class pre-school education for children" in the township of Capricorn in Cape Town, South Africa, and thus support the construction of the new iThemba pre-school.

Since 2019, the strong partnership of help alliance, Mastercard and "RTL – We help children" has been collaborating with celebrity patron Beatrice Egli to give children from the township access to quality education and thus free them from the downward spiral of poverty, unemployment and crime. So that the youngest children can soon learn side by side with the primary school children, the joint project is now being expanded: with the donations from this year’s RTL Donation Marathon, the new building for the preschool is now also to be constructed on the grounds of the iThemba primary school.

"With our project, we want to bring hope (“iThemba” in Zulu) into the lives of the children – through access to quality pre-school education for the youngest children in the township. The need for pre-school places is very high there, which is why the pre-school on the existing premises has by far reached its capacity limits. With the support of "RTL – We help children" and Mastercard, it will be possible to build a new preschool building and thus make early education possible for a total of 140 disadvantaged children," says Susanne French, Lufthansa Purser, help alliance advisory board member and volunteer iThemba project coordinator.

Peter Bakenecker, President Central Europe at Mastercard, is also looking forward to the next joint project milestone and is thrilled that the expansion of the primary school, which was initiated in 2019, was successfully completed this summer despite Corona restrictions: "The fact that the construction work on the iThemba Primary School was completed on time despite the difficult conditions shows how much drive and energy is being put into the work on site. We are all the more pleased to continue to be part of the joint project and thus create a place of refuge and a perspective for the little ones".

The iThemba education project in Cape Town was founded 15 years ago with the iThemba Pre School as a kindergarten and preschool to offer educational opportunities for disadvantaged children from socially disadvantaged families. The pre-school has always focused on a holistic approach and teaches social skills in addition to Mathematicsand English language lessons. Everyday school life and learning together teach respectful interaction and have a positive effect on the children and their environment. Every euro donated in the RTL Donation Marathon will go towards the realisation of the new preschool building without a cent deduction, so that in future the preschool and primary school children in Capricorn will be able to learn on the same ground.

About Mastercard (NYSE: MA), www.mastercard.com

Mastercard is an international payments technology company. Our goal is to drive an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone around the world. That’s why we make payments secure, simple and smart, and accessible to everyone. Our innovations and solutions are based on secure data and networks and help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses to fully realise the breadth of their opportunities. Our Decency Quotient shapes our corporate culture and all our activities. With connections in more than 210 countries and territories, we thus contribute to a sustainable world that opens up diverse opportunities for all.

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