"Extraordinary" - I'm not sure what to say. Simply an amazing trip.

A group of 9 of us just got back from the RetailROI Trip to Jeffrey's Bay, South Africa. This is the only area of the world where we have a continuity of opportunity from age 3 through to college and career. It also happens to be one of the most beautiful places in the world.

RetailROI's first project was helping to build a 10-room schoolhouse for a pre-school named Ithemba. It now houses 160 3-6yr old children for pre-school through kindergarten and then they have a tutoring program for 60 elementary school children in the afternoon.

Opportunity for the students comes from getting to go to a private school rather than public schools which are overrun. RetailROI currently covers 17 children in elementary school (costs as low as $240 per year...more on this coming as there are 60 kids in need.)

Then there is a leadership high school which is the only mixed race, mixed gender school in the area which is as good as many US private high schools. RetailROI started with an agreement to pay for their water line via tuition for the kids from the townships (from Ithemba above). I think now more than 25 kids have had the opportunity at GLA and currently 13 students are enrolled.

Finally, we seed funded a small college fund in the form of a micro-lending program. Once the kids graduate, they pay back the fund at 0% interest. We recently had our first two graduates, now working in professional jobs...both coming from the Ithemba program. This has morphed into a teacher program to address the massive teacher shortage in South Africa and now 12 students are enrolled. You are changing lives....family trees. For many of these kids, they are the first to ever graduate high school in their family, let alone college.

All of this in one of the most beautiful places in the world (think San Diego at 1/10th the cost and a bunch of bucket-list opportunities).

When your 19yr old daughter says it was the best vacation we have ever had as a family and it includes changing the lives of children...it doesn't get much better.

Click here to see photos of the kids, the schools, elephants, waves, lemurs, and an incredible trip.

Join us on a future trip, go to https://www.retailroi.org/upcoming-trips to learn more.

Together we can make a HUGE Difference.