The Team
The Changemakers
Finding Thabo is part of The Reach Trust — a technology for good organisation. Established in 2013, The Reach Trust has helped more than 10 million people access life-changing content on their mobile devices.
Technology for Good
Using mobile technology to make life-changing content accessible to everyone, regardless of income or location.
Early Childhood Development
Focusing on ECD and youth unemployment — the two stages of life where intervention has the greatest long-term impact.
Impact-Driven Partnerships
Working alongside like-minded organisations to combine reach, expertise and resources for greater collective impact.
Meet the Founder
Andrew Rudge
Finding Thabo started with a simple idea.
After watching his young daughter become completely absorbed in a 'Where's Wally?' book, Andrew Rudge began exploring how play could be used to support early childhood development.
As he spoke with educators, researchers and early learning specialists, he discovered a challenge facing many South African children: too many begin school without the foundational skills they need to thrive.
That insight led to the creation of Finding Thabo — a playful learning experience designed to help children build confidence, curiosity and school readiness through discovery and conversation.
Children learn best when they're having fun, asking questions and exploring the world around them.
Research-Led Foundation
MSc Applied Economics
Imperial College London
The Experts
The Learning Initiative
We teamed up with an expert group of ECD specialists from The Learning Initiative to create Finding Thabo.
The development team includes:
- Psychologist
- Occupational Therapists
- Speech & Language Therapist
The Illustrators
Magriet Brink & Leo Daly
Our amazing illustrators are the talented wife and husband team, Magriet Brink and Leo Daly of Creative House.
They created the lively daily scenes that our superstar children engage with each day — 10 richly illustrated South African seek-and-find worlds, packed with warmth, detail and the joy of discovery.
Magriet Brink
Illustrator
Leo Daly
Illustrator