Introduction

Target Life is an extraordinary one-year development programme with a grounded curriculum, a wealth of youth-work expertise and dynamic personal coaching.  The outcome is to effectively transform lives.  Our programme should not be confused with the general term ‘gap year’ because Target Life is a well structured one-year course. Every facet has a very specific purpose towards releasing the full potential of every individual.  Our organisation is a non-profit company registered under Section 18 A with a Level 4 BEE status.

Background and Experience

Two decades ago we identified a critical need for additional personal development for South African youth, due to the increasing complexity and pressures of life. The current support and development provided by parents and teachers in both homes and schools has become insufficient. We specialise in facilitating processes of personal growth and discovery in young people. Over the years we have consciously sought to remain both relevant and current in our approach to ensure that we effectively reach our constantly changing youthful generation.  The combination of our team’s varied backgrounds, expertise and experience, creates a unique synergy in supporting what has proven to be a successful and unique programme. What distinguishes Target Life, is the high level of personal mentorship by our leadership team.

Future Benefit

The divide between high school, tertiary education and the ‘corporate’ sector is becoming problematic because young people’s lack of emotional intelligence is a major cause of failure. This deficiency is evident in the dropout rate of 1st year tertiary students and the growing number of students who change courses during their study years. This inadequacy equally applies to young adults entering the workforce after tertiary training. It is imperative, therefore, to cultivate self-leadership skills that will equip young people with both the hope and vision to become more competent in pursuing their future.

Social media has caused our youth to disconnect themselves from ‘old-fashioned’ communal activities and to live in a fragmented virtual reality. As a result, HR Departments are forced to provide extra training to make ‘next-generation’ employees efficient and stable in the workplace. The opportunities provided to students to grow their self-leadership skills during the Target Life year can significantly eliminate this problem, thus a long-term benefit emerges for tertiary education institutions, future employers, the individuals themselves, as well as the communities they live in and, ultimately, South Africa as a whole. This positive outcome brings a shift from the Target Life development programme being a luxury to becoming a necessity.  

Mission

Target Life specializes in facilitating a process for post-school youth to discover their calling and purpose in life, find their true identity, unlock their full potential, acquire essential skills, ignite their passions and forge perseverance and, in so doing, provides them with the opportunity to make a significant impact on the world around them.

The key to both happiness and success is to develop a balanced life, therefore, we focus on nurturing body, soul and spirit, thus assisting young people to deal with their past, present and future. A year’s investment in the Target Life programme can ensure a more stable and meaningful future for themselves as individuals, their future families and the corporate environment alike.  

Vision and Goals

Our vision is to reach a wider segment of communities, especially those whose members are unable to financially afford Target Life.  South Africa has a great need for leaders with integrity, competence and vision. Target Life seeks to play a role in bringing this requirement to fruition.

The expansion of our programmes to multiple campuses across the country will enable Target Life to have a greater impact on the lives of South African youth and, consequently, the country as a whole.  Phase Two will be to create and include a low-cost exportable township model. Investing in our own infrastructure will empower us to share our expertise of leadership training with schools and expand our collaboration with them for identifying potential candidates.

Investment and Funding

There is a latent market of young South Africans with a wealth of potential who are unable to afford the fees required for a development year course of the magnitude offered by the Target Life programme. Currently a small percentage of students leaving school have clarity about a vocation or their future, resulting in their making uninformed choices.  Such decisions have both an adverse social and monetary impact on our country.

Our primary focus is to source bursaries through which sponsors will have the opportunity to partner with a relevant recipient or recipients. Our secondary focus is the development of necessary projects as well as investment in our own infrastructure.

For the 2019 academic year we have awarded bursaries, with great discretion, to the total of R400 000 (nine additional students) as a step of faith, which still require sponsorship. An additional R200 000 to R500 000 for leadership training and expanding the range of Target Life is needed.

The aim for 2020 and beyond is to provide bursaries in excess of R 1 000 000 per year through various sponsorships.  We need companies to invest in Target Life and, thus, ultimately to participate in building a better future for our country.

We would appreciate an opportunity to provide you with a detailed multimedia presentation about our life-changing programme and to share our vision in person.

Contact Us

General:      073 180 0765 (Solice)

                      targetlifegeneral@gmail.com

Finance:       082 924 6860 (Chanine)  

                      targetlifefinance@gmail.com

Office:          012 845 8370 (8:00 - 13:30)

Address:     72 Brummeria Rd  

                      Brummeria

                      Silverton,  0184

Origins

Target Life started as a gap year in 2006, but the concept was developed by Abel Loedolff since 1998. After studying engineering, he did two years of military service, taught at a high school for seven years and then developed the Target Life concept  in a local church environment. During his teaching years he was involved with industrial physiology, leadership development and had a youth ministry at his home with 60 teenagers attending every Friday evening. The youth ministry was not trendy teenager stuff, but rather disciplined discipleship.

When the Target Life concept was launched as a gap year, everything fell into place and it was soon evident that this it is a great concept with amazing results. We gained more and more understanding of the psychology behind the process as we went along and kept on developing the concept as a team since over more than two decades. The feedback from students as far back as 1998 supports that the value of this opportunity cannot be over emphasized.