Kim Ferroli Highfield: “Mama Africa” and the Power of a Hand-Up
To the children she serves, she is known as Mama Africa. To families who have faced their darkest days far from home, she is a place of shelter and hope.
Kim Ferroli Highfield is the founder of the Out of Africa Children’s Foundation. Her life’s purpose is rooted in faith, family and a deep devotion to protecting the future of children.
A Mother’s Journey
Kim is a mother of two daughters, both of them cancer survivors, and a grandmother of two. Her work transforming communities began with her own family’s trials.
The turning point came after her daughter, Michela, was diagnosed with cancer when she was not yet three. Kim stood by her through a gruelling battle, and watching Michela recover filled her with deep gratitude.
A Heartbreaking Reality
That same journey opened Kim’s eyes to something she could not ignore.
She saw underprivileged parents travelling long distances to Cape Town hospitals for their children’s life-saving treatment, with nowhere to stay. Some slept on hospital floors or chairs. Others slept under bridges, in real danger, just to be near their sick children.
Kim had walked the same hospital corridors as those parents. She knew she had to act.
A Home Away From Home
Driven by empathy and inspired by Michela’s survival, Kim founded the Out of Africa Children’s Foundation.
It began by offering a “Home Away from Home” for families facing life-threatening and terminal childhood illnesses: somewhere safe to rest, so they could focus on what mattered most, their child.
Growing Into a Holistic Mission
From those beginnings, the foundation has grown into a holistic mission to improve the lives of the less fortunate. Today it gives children and youth, in a secure environment:
- Love and attention
- Education
- Hygiene
- Sports and recreation
- Essential needs
Everything is designed to support real development and growth.
A Hand-Up, Not a Handout
At the heart of Kim’s work is a firm belief:
“Children were not born to be beggars.”
She is passionate about building dignity, pride and accountability in the next generation. To do that, she created a unique barter system.
If children want a meal, stationery or sports equipment, they clean up the recyclable plastic around their homes and neighbourhoods. They bring Kim their bags of recycling, and they barter.
By turning environmental clean-up into a currency, the model does three things at once:
- It nourishes and equips young people with what they need
- It cleans up their environment, street by street
- It teaches them they have the power to earn their own future and change their surroundings
It gives children a work ethic and self-respect that no handout ever could.
Bringing the World to the Work
Kim also founded the African Jewel Volunteering Foundation, which brings international students and interns to staff the foundation’s projects and programmes. It connects young people from around the world with children who benefit from their time, skills and care.
Love, Structure and a Sustainable Future
Through love, structure and a sustainable model of development, Kim works tirelessly so that every child the foundation reaches has the security and opportunity they need to thrive.
Her story began beside her daughter’s hospital bed. It has become a mission that gives thousands of children something just as precious as shelter: the belief that they can build their own future.
That is why they call her Mama Africa.
Kim Ferroli Highfield will be honoured at the Influential Awards 2026 – Cape Town Edition, Sunday 29 November 2026, Joseph Stone Auditorium, Athlone.