Barbara Hofmann

ASEM is a charitable organisation dedicated to raising funds and awareness about the plight of the children and young adults of Mozambique[1] and to help promote their socio-economic integration into Mozambican society.

She attended Collège Calvin and after trained in business administration and finance following which she had a seven-year career in various banks and multinational companies.

[2] In 1990 Hofmann commenced negotiations with the Mozambican Minister for Social Welfare, Education, Health and other relevant local authorities with the intention of obtaining land in Beira on which to build a centre for child war victims, orphans, abandoned children and those with HIV/AIDS.

Several children helped by Hofmann have gone on to receive university degrees, while others have studied in other countries, obtained jobs and started families.

[3] Hofmann caught malaria in January 2001 and for more than a month she was in a coma on a hospital ward in Johannesburg where she received dialysis and intravenous therapy, among other life-saving treatments.