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Johannesburg, South Africa (20 May 2025)<\/em> – Two young innovators in Limpopo are proving that determination and community spirit can change lives.<\/p>\n Marvel Shibambu and Malunghelo Mathonsi grew up in a small, under-resourced village in Limpopo but from that humble beginning they taught themselves to code and built NOVAR, a social-media style learning app offering free lessons, videos and news for high-school students.<\/p>\n Their story captured the nation\u2019s attention after a TikTok by Cool Story Bru<\/a> went viral, and South Africans rallied behind them, donating over R160,000 in crowdfunding. Now their journey has reached a thrilling new milestone. Liberty Group\u2019s #DriveHope<\/a> initiative has awarded Marvel and Malunghelo R1 million in funding to scale up NOVAR and realise their vision of free education for all.<\/p>\n NOVAR was born out of adversity and ambition. With no formal training or proper computer equipment, Marvel and Malunghelo pooled R700 saved from odd jobs to buy a second-hand PC and teach themselves programming. They built NOVAR<\/a> to improve education for students like themselves, creating an app that is essentially a social-media style feed filled with educational content. Today the platform divides content into hubs… from short video lessons to news and exam guides, all curated and uploaded by the founders. In just a few months, NOVAR has been downloaded tens of thousands of times by eager learners.<\/p>\n The tipping point came when popular content creator Cool Story Bru shared their story. Within days, donations flooded in, crowdfunding quickly surpassed R120,000 and climbed to over R160,000.<\/p>\nNOVAR: An EdTech Innovation from Limpopo<\/h3>\n
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