Based on these beliefs, we support underprivileged learners in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, by paying or subsidising school fees, uniforms, transport and related learning expenses.
All the GDM’s funds are received from donors. Apart from the bank fees, all funds are invested in the learners.
All work done by the GDM is voluntary.
Gloria Malakoane was born on 16 July 1949 in Harrismith, in the then Orange Free State, South Africa. She moved to Durban in 1970. In early 1994, she began working full-time for the Glover family. Their oldest son, Jonathan, was seven years old, their middle son, Michael, five, and the youngest, David, was ten months old. She became an integral part of the family and remained with them for 15 years until she retired at 60 in 2009. She added tremendous value to the lives of the Glover family. She was a deeply kind, caring and loving person. Gloria had an infectious, joyful, whole-hearted laugh that brought happiness to those around her. Her eyes were extremely kind and empathetic. She was dedicated to her family and supported them. Sadly, she passed away in May 2013 at the age of 64.
When Jon, Michael, and David Glover became adults, they decided that they would like to honour and thank Gloria for how she had assisted their family over 15 years. They wanted to do so by being empathic and materially supportive to learners who need it.
The GDM was constituted on 6 September 2021. It had been functioning informally since 2016, with Jon Glover as the sole donor. In time, through friendships and advocacy in the USA, additional donors were added and more children were sponsored, so we formalised the Memorial Fund.
The GDM identifies learners with potential (not necessarily high achievers) during their Grade 7 year of Senior Primary. These are scholars who, because of absent opportunities and attendance at non-fee paying schools, would not receive a high level of education if not assisted. We primarily, but not exclusively, identify female students because historically these opportunities have been less available to them than to males.
We are also flexible and needs-focused.
A few children remain in their current school and receive some assistance, such as self-study books, to supplement their learning. Some are helped with school uniforms and stationery or with desks, lamps and chairs to make studying easier.
For most children, we identify private or government schools with a high quality of education. With the children’s guardians’ permission, we offer to transfer the children to these schools and take full responsibility for paying all school fees for the five years of High School. Where possible, family members are encouraged to purchase stationery and school uniforms themselves so the family can contribute in a meaningful way to their child’s education.
In one instance, a child (the niece of whom Slindile Malakoane is the guardian) was assisted from her Grade R year. She is currently in Grade 3 (2024).
One core aim of the GDM is to provide an education that enables the learner to achieve a Bachelors Pass in Matric. This makes it possible for them to apply for and receive government funding (NSFAS) for their tertiary education.
A Grade 3 learner in a private school. She has been sponsored since her Grade 0 year.
Currently in Grade 9 at Montebello High School in Howick. It is a non-fee paying school of a very high standard, primarily maintained by alums. The GDM Foundation pays her boarding fees. Her sponsorship began at the start of Grade 8.
A grade 9 at Montebello High School. The GDM is paying her boarding fees. Her sponsorship began in the third term of her Grade 8 year, in June 2023.
Currently in her final year of BCom Financial Accounting at UNISA. (Fees paid: to upgrade her matriculation results; to obtain a diploma in Office Administration);
Who is entering her fourth year of Law at UKZN (Assisted financially with transport, school uniforms, stationery etc);
Has just obtained a bachelor’s pass in matric. She has been accepted at UKZN to study teaching this year and awarded NSFAS government funding to enable her to do so. (Fees paid to attend Edleen Primary, a government school, for three years, Grades 5-7).
who is presently employed. (Co-funded for half of her school fees for approximately two years);
Currently in Grade 12 (Assisted with self-study books, a desk, lamp and chair).
We owe a debt of gratitude to the kind and generous people who have provided the funds to assist these children. Through uplifting and changing the trajectory of one child’s life you have changed the generations that follow them.
Chris Murray
John Murray
Hillary Murray
Mikhaela Levitas
Kyle Greer
Dana Flett
Marilyn Reich
The fVnnel Ltd.
Jon Glover
Maud has been working in the community of Mariannhill, more specifically in Itshelimnyama, for the past nine years. Maud plays a pivotal role in identifying learners who would benefit from sponsorship by the GDM.
Maud grew up in socioeconomic disadvantage and at the age of 19, at the end of her matric year, decided to change that trajectory of disadvantage for the next generation. She obtained a diploma in nursing from a nurses training college in Nongoma, Zululand. She married and had two sons. By this stage, she was a single Mom. While working full time, she earned a degree in nursing through UNISA and midwifery at St Mary’s Hospital in Mariannhill. This took her four and a half years, while working to support her two sons. She worked in clinics and was part of a US-funded project for the prevention of mother-to-baby transmission of HIV. In 2014, she moved to her present position at a school in Itshelimnyama, where her role is more of a social worker than a nursing sister.
Maud is very familiar with township life and levels of education in the township schools. Her story motivated her involvement in the GDM, seeking through education to provide opportunities for learners to rise out of socioeconomic disadvantage and change their direction toward positive futures.
Having benefited from having Gloria in her employ for 15 years, Janice was delighted when her sons initiated the GDM Foundation. It provided her with a way to give back in some way. Having always felt deeply about the level of poverty and inequality in South Africa, this offered an opportunity to, in a small way, make a difference in some lives.
Her role is to facilitate the process by: assisting Maud in identifying suitable students for sponsorship; facilitating applications to the chosen schools; facilitating payments and at times communicating with sponsors; together with Maud maintaining communication with the learners to assist them where needed. She has been in the field of education for forty years.
In South Africa, domestic workers have uplifted generations of their own children by being willing to work in other people’s homes. The GDM Foundation was started to facilitate the continuation of this upliftment. When Jon became aware of Gloria’s grandchild’s need for educational funding, the seed for the GDM Memorial Fund was planted. Jon realised that, when speaking about sponsoring children, people resonated with the idea that all the funds went directly to funding the children’s education, without deducting administrative costs. They also responded positively to knowing that their contributions were going to an individual child they could correspond with and follow their progress rather than to a general impersonal fund.
Michael loved Gloria and wants to honour her life by volunteering at GDM. He offers his skills in copywriting and website content creation. Michael believes that part of living a good life is being a good person. His favourite quote is:
“I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good thing, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow being let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”
