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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 NGOs, it focuses on child-based and community-orientated programmes involving transformational development, emergency relief and advocacy.
Our vision is for every child to enjoy life in all its fullness. Our prayer for every heart is that people could develop the will to make it so. We serve all people no matter what religion, race, ethnicity or gender.
We strive to tackle the root causes of poverty with a view to having sustainable community based programs. While we 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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
I appeal to all South Africans to stop and ask what they can do to get involved with the fight against poverty. It is everyone’s responsibility. In the words of former Archbishop Desmond Tutu, ‘it is time to develop a caring nation’.
Lehlohonolo Chabeli
National Director and CEO
World Vision South Africa
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