We watched this video recently and it was hard to believe it was so long ago! In 2006, John Paul went to Mozambique with Mineseeker Foundation to support the eradication of landmines and treatment for victims, like Maria in the video.
On that same trip, John Paul went to South Africa and met with Sir Richard Branson, Brad Pitt and Nelson Mandela to highlight the work of 46664. 46664 was Nelson Mandela’s number in prison on Robben Island, Cape Town where he was held for 18 years, and became the name of an HIV/AIDS initiative as well. Mandela explained the project this way:
““46664 is committed to HIV AIDS awareness and prevention. We create and support initiatives that deliver sustainable solutions to help combat the HIV AIDS pandemic that is so tragically affecting our world,”
You can read more about the initiative and John Paul’s work from almost 20 years ago in this 2008 Vanity Fair article. Since our foundation is only 12 years old, it’s so fun to go back and look at work from back then that still informs our work to this day.
Fast forward to just this week, when we got a message from our longtime partner (and an even longer-term partner of John Paul Mitchell Systems) Food 4 Africa in South Africa. The foundation recently donated towards food and hygiene product donations in a township in Port Elizabeth. Love to trace the history of friendships and good work across the decades!
