Redwood Hero: Chris van der Merwe

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One of my fears is that my son never becomes independent.

I was born at the end of Apartheid in South Africa. I grew up with the dream of a Rainbow Nation and felt like everyone had the freedom to succeed at life. The future looked brighter. It was a time full of hope and unity.

But, after living in Germany for 4 years and then coming back, I noticed things had changed. The dream of a Rainbow Nation was dead. Corruption had killed it. Poverty is still everywhere, in fact it seems to have gotten worse. The majority of people live with less than $13 a day. The cost of living keeps rising and support is non-existent.

That’s why I want independence for my son. As a mom, I want him to feel supported but never dependent. I want him to be financially free, and to have opportunities to be who he wants to be. Being a developer has given me that independence and I hope my son will find it too.

At Redwood, Chris is a core contributor who helps startups accept payments with ease. Her goal is to get Redwood and Stripe to work together like besties! Check out Stripe Superstore for an example of checkout, billing portal, and storing customer info.

Stay up to date with the development of the RW/Stripe integration package and connect with Chris @twitter @github!

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