YouMe Support Foundation

Founders

Nelson Mandela's statement, “Education is the only way to make lasting changes” had a profound effect on the founders of YouMe Support Foundation, Wendy and Rick Tendys, in the late 1990s when they moved to Vanuatu after teaching English in Hong Kong.

Instead of retiring, they built a small boutique accommodation business, 'Seachange Lodge' and became deeply involved with local communities, including Mota Lava Mota Lava, in the far north of the country. 10% of profits from Seachange Lodge was used for the communities, from providing school and medical supplies, to installing a 40,000-litre fresh water tank in a large village that had no access to potable water.

After meeting a headmaster from a school on Mota Lava, the Tendys quickly discovered that the greatest need was for school supplies. It is common practice to break pencils into three in order to give children writing implements and exercise books are broken apart so each student can have some paper.

When the Tendys felt it was time to retire, they realized that if they sold the resort they would no longer be in a position to be able to assist the community, as they have been doing since 2004.

There is no free education in Vanuatu. Local government officials confirm that statistics have changed little since 1997:

The Tendys evolved a business plan, for YouMe Support Foundation, with the blessing of the local government, to raffle Seachange lodge on the Internet.

Today

Selling raffle tickets internationally proved a problem, particularly due to the banking changes with the late-2000s recession. Eventually a discount voucher system was developed that gives customers a discount off accommodation at Seachange Lodge, giving them the opportunity to win a seven-day holiday at Seachange Lodge, as well as the opportunity to own the entire property for just a few dollars through a separate website.

The Foundation placed the first student into the high school program in January 2009, a twelve-year-old who was top of her class throughout primary school, but wouldn't have been able to go to high school. Her brother is the only other one of the four children to go to high school.

Rick and Wendy have since retired back to Australia. Wendy has spent five years building an online fun educational club for 10–12-year-olds, Geekoterre Trailblazer's Club, in order to continue assisting students withe special needs.

On December 5, 2014, was another Guinness World Record Challenge, for Geekoterre when 10,000 children across Australia and New Zealand will attempt to be 'the most people to do a simultaneous practical science experiment'.

Goals

YouMe Support Foundation is overseen by a Board of Directors. They are fully aware of the commitment the foundation has made in promising to take students from high school, right through to tertiary education. A commitment that could embrace a ten-year plus period and involves everything from supplying a lamp for doing homework at night, through to doctor, or dental requirements where necessary. "You cannot take a child out of a corrugated iron shack, sleeping on a mat on a coral floor and give them bright promises for the future, to suddenly one day just abandon them," says Dr Wendy Stenberg-Tendys.

You Me Support Foundation makes a long-term commitment to every one of its students, to assist them to make a smooth transition from high school to work, or further education. The aim of the charity is to assist these underprivileged children to achieve a clearer understanding of their abilities, interests and the opportunities available to them and how to achieve their dreams.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship of individual children through YouMe Support Foundation is welcome, as the number of children who will never see the inside of a high school classroom far outnumbers the ability of the foundation to provide for all of them.