Today we help over one million people through the South African driven projects. We have 53 401 children registered within our 17 programmes, and five of our Area Development Programmes (ADPs) are partially funded locally. 

"POVERTY CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE"

Reflection from World Vision South Africa's CEO

Today, South Africa is one of the leading countries in terms of income disparity. Of its population, 51% live in poverty – that translates to 25 million people. Therefore, there is a very real need to address poverty.

This is what World Vision (WV) does – addressing root causes of poverty. One of the world’s largest privately funded Christian-based humanitarian non-governmental organisations (NGOs), it focuses on child-based and community-orientated programmes involving transformational development, emergency relief and advocacy.

World Vision’s roots go back to 1950, when Dr Bob Pierce on his missionary trip in Korea after World War 11 founded the organisation. The organisation was originally focused on providing for orphaned children. Today, the organisation employs approximately 40 000 people with close to 100 offices world-wide - of which South Africa is one.

While this has not changed, what has is the manner in which the NGO achieves its goals. While previously the organisation had a welfare approach, today WV strives to tackle the root causes of poverty with a view to having sustainable community based programmes.

For example, R3 million goes directly to feeding the 53 000 children in our programmes. While we still focus on assisting children, most of our work is achieved through the sustainable, community based projects that target and assist the wider community.

The challenges in South Africa, in terms of poverty alleviation, are compounded by the migration of people from rural areas to urban areas and the influx of an urban area from a rural one in hope of work is left disappointed. When the ugly head of xenophobia reared its head last year, it brought the reality of poverty, and the need to address it, to everyone’s attention. 

Altogether, WVSA has 17 programmes and assists over one million people through these, which are termed Area Development Programmes (ADPs). The ADPs are spread throughout the country in six of the nine provinces. They focus on (1) transformational development: agriculture and food security, water and sanitation, education, health and HIV/Aids, local economic development, (2) humanitarian emergency affairs and (3) policy and advocacy. These ADPs assist communities in utilising their skills, resources and potential to overcome poverty.

This involves a journey with the community for 10 to 15 years. We do not regard ourselves as quick fixers; we offer a sustainable solution. Firstly, we research the needs of a community and build relations with them, the government and other key players in the community for one to two years. Our staff act as facilitators of change and to achieve this, they live in the communities – becoming part of the community and understanding its dynamics and stakeholders. By understanding communities’ social capital; in other words, the survival skills a community has developed over the years, we are able to formulate projects to benefit the community.

It is important to note that we build on the capabilities of communities in which we operate. Their skills, resources and potential are embraced in order to overcome poverty and in this way, we ensure sustainability of our projects.

Following the research stage is the design phase, as the exact needs and details of the community are discovered. We work with sponsors and with partnerships to identify projects and then implement them. These child-focused projects must benefit the community as a whole, so we follow a holistic approach.

Last, but not least, the projects that are implemented are monitored and evaluated: A programme must have an impact, must empower and make a difference in people’s lives. We must achieve more than just service delivery; we must achieve empowerment and transformation. The monitoring and evaluation that happens every two to three years further supports these outcomes.

Therefore, the Design Monitoring and Evaluation (DME) process that we follow is ongoing and entails constant evaluation that, in turn, leads to re-designing, monitoring and evaluation. Highly qualified specialists are employed to carry out this work. Many are the cream of the crop, globally sourced from our partnerships nationally and internationally.

The DME processes are part of our core values which, in turn, ensure we are accountable. We “walk the talk” and ensure that our funding is used for intended purposes. We do what we say and we say what we do.

WVSA is subject to financial accountability and good governance. Our accountability ranges from global to regional and right down to national level, with regular audits on all these levels. In addition to this, peer reviews also take place every three years. We are audited to ensure that we are living the values and mission of the international partnership. While WVSA is part of the bigger World Vision partnership – there exists an independent and interdependent relationship between the two – it is an autonomous organisation with its own Board.

Our Board is made up of South Africans from all walks of life who freely give of their time. Their commitment is 100 % and their hearts are in the right place – to really make a difference. They are always asking one question: What’s in it for the children?

Therefore, WVSA pushes the boundaries of development work not only by fighting the causes of poverty and suffering, but also by measuring its goals and outcomes stringently and regularly.

We are also audited regularly in its finances and operations. It also undergoes a statutory audit. This is all part of our policy of being totally accountable and transparent. In line with this, we are re-designing our website at present.

World Vision’s stringent accountability structures are a direct reflection of the support it is given by foreign donor agencies, which require extensive reporting. WVSA employees also undergo accredited compliance and financial training with US AID and audited annually by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

But it is WVSA’s work that makes our employees loyal. With us, work is more than just work. As an auditor formerly from KPMG, my life’s perception changed when I visited an Angolan refugee camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It was an eye-opener. At the camp, I met a tall and lean gentleman. He had been the Deputy Central Bank Governor in his country. He said to me: “In my country, I am respected; here today, I am just a beggar.” It taught me a valuable lesson; that poverty is something that can happen to anyone at anytime, anywhere. That trip changed me, as it changes anyone who confronts poverty.

In this country of ours, you can live in the suburbs, drive on highways and shop in malls, but around the corner is a squatter camp where there are people living below the poverty line of less than R20 a day. We see it outside of Cape Town International Airport and on the outskirts of Johannesburg’s northern suburbs. That is the reality of South Africa.

We are becoming a materialistic generation. I urge you to stop and ask what you can do to get involved with the fight against poverty. It is everyone’s responsibility. In the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, ‘it is time to develop a caring nation’.

Lehlohonolo Chabeli

National Director