A Note From Side By Side Founders…

June 2026

Dear Friends of Side by Side,

More than 20 years ago, Kelly and I started Side by Side with the goal of coming alongside people in South Africa’s poorest settlements to help them overcome their desperate circumstances. In partnership with local leaders we call Champions, we’ve been able to develop clean water systems, provide food for hungry families, build an early childhood development center, and even construct community centers that have become hubs of life-improving outreach for thousands.

Our primary focus over the past three years, however, has been to establish both a mobile and stationary health clinic that serve impoverished settlements in the region of Sebokeng (southwest of Johannesburg). These state-of-the-art clinics are now complete and serving these communities. A quick glance at the photo page I’ve included will give you the “thousand words” that can scarcely describe the impact of this work on people’s lives.

These healthcare services are urgently needed. That’s why, along with our clinic project partner, Ubuntu Hub, we’re working with the Department of Health and others in-country to expand these services so even more people can get the healthcare they need.

We’re planning brief monthly updates about how these clinics are transforming the lives of people who have so little reason to hope. You’ll discover what’s happening and how your financial support is truly blessing lives — especially for those who are already seeing their lives improve in ways they could never have imagined.

We to again extend our deepest gratitude to you and all of our friends who have partnered with us along the way. Many new partners are joining us as they gain a vision for this kind of work, which you’ll find highlighted at our website at SideBySideSouthAfrica.org.

Please take just a moment to look over the photo page below. You’ll see how important your connection with Side by Side South Africa is. We welcome any input — either directly with us or through a board member.

Thank you. And God bless you.

Wendell and Kelly Verduin, Founders

P.S. Your compassion truly is powerful. Thanks again for providing South Africans with hope and a future.

Your partnership with Side by Side makes all of this possible!

Families living in the regions Side by Side serves are almost entirely without healthcare. Your partnership is changing that.

Patients wait for healthcare services offered by our mobile clinic. The clinic brings care directly to people in South Africa’s poorest settlements, making it possible for them to get treatment right in their communities, without traveling for miles, often by foot.

Saving young lives through disease – preventing vaccinations.

Young girls in line to be inoculated during a Human Papillomavirus (HPV) drive at their school. The vaccinations are a joint venture between Ubuntu Hub, Side by Side and the Department of Health. HPV is found in up to 1 in 3 South African women and can cause fatal cervical cancer. Our goal is to prevent this disease and save precious lives.

Side by Side has ambitious plans for bringing this mobile clinic to even more areas where poverty is the norm, hunger and malnutrition are common, and diseases easily dealt with in the West are rampant.

This child — like all mobile clinic patients — is being examined with love, empathy and respect by a healthcare professional. Every interaction is intended to bring better health and build trust in a culture where medical treatment is usually impossibly expensive and far away.

A reason to celebrate — thanks to YOU!

Qualified medical care professionals and dedicated support staff are at the heart of every clinic, delivering essential services and compassionate care to patients each day.

Beyond providing access to quality healthcare, these clinics play a vital role in strengthening local economies by creating stable employment opportunities. In communities that have been especially impacted by high unemployment, the clinics serve as an important source of jobs, helping individuals and families build brighter futures while supporting the overall well-being of the region.

The crowds say it all. Adults, children and entire families are getting the care they need at no cost through partnership with the Department of Health.

This mobile clinic is meeting a desperate need with vaccinations, health screening, pre-natal care and many other services that people would otherwise have to travel a great distance to find.

This overhead view shows part of the impoverished surrounding community, populated by people who are often barely hanging on.

Due to the lack of available medical care, this is a community of people in poor health. Diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and even minor injuries are a daily threat.

Working together to make a difference…one person at a time

what You can do

give the vulnerable in South Africa’s disadvantaged communities a chance to transform their lives through education, healthcare and hope.  Read more…

how You can do it

become partners with like minded people who want to make a difference. Side by Side forms partnerships between compassionate people like you, and dynamic, effective community leaders in South Africa. If you choose to contribute to our efforts, we keep you informed of needs in South Africa, and offer you an opportunity to changes lives. Read more..

what Side by Side does

we identify a South African Champion: a leader with a commitment to transforming their impoverished community through early child education, accessible basic healthcare and other community services, a passion to make it happen, and demonstrated management skills to maintain the effort. Read more…