I’m (hopefully) Going on (StartUp) Safari!

People get up in the morning for all kinds of reasons - for some, it’s to provide for the family that they love, for others, it’s the persistent alarm clock. For me, it’s an unbreakable determination to change the world.

My name is Nicole and I’m a 20 year old world changer in the making. I am passionate about education, gender empowerment and small business development, and seek out initiatives that allow me to feed these passions beyond my already insatiable appetite for challenge.

I have been offered the incredible opportunity to be a part of StartUp Safari - a travel immersion programme that connects entrepreneurs and startups to the fastest growing startup eco-systems globally (read more: http://www.startupsafari.org). I believe that entrepreneurship is the future of development and underlies the very essence of problem solving. It provides a mindset that is oriented towards innovative solutions, and I believe that this is what is needed in the socioeconomic development space. I am working towards being a part of the emerging South African entrepreneurial ecosystem, and Startup Safari provides a platform for incredible learning, which I value above all other opportunities.

The programme takes place in January 2017 in India - a place that I have never been to, but have always longed to experience. I believe that travel provides the best source of introspection – stripping away all that is familiar to oneself, forcing you to be left with who you really are, not merely who you are seen to be. This introspection will be indexed in a process of learning and developing my ideas, which form a core part of who I am and the future that I imagine for myself.

I need your help getting there! Funding this programme on my own is not easy as a current university student, and the programme runs in January next year. Any support that you can offer would be greatly appreciated to make my dream come true!