In December, Elizabeth Mquela collects a set of clothes from each of the hundred AIDS orphans and abused children she feeds and supports. On Christmas day, she gives them, in colourful wrapped bundles, their own washed and ironed clothes.
At least, she says, in her warm stoic way, they have the fun of unwrapping something.
After more than a decade, still when Elizabeth appeals for second-hand children's clothes at Christmas, she can’t muster enough “real presents” to go round.
Why? She is not a registered non-profit. People want to give to “real” charities. But Elizabeth can barely gather enough food for the next meal, let alone worry about paperwork. For many years – a measure of the difficultly getting assistance – her main supporters were prisoners in a nearby maximum who grew vegetables and made clothes for the children.*
And yet, she is Zwelethemba township’s de facto social services. When a child tests positive for HIV, the hospital calls her. When a child falls ill, the school calls her. When a child is raped, the police bring the girl or boy to Elizabeth’s doorstep.
I’ve been donating a small monthly sum to Elizabeth for several years. I have often visited her dingy one bedroom house. Every night seven orphans sleep in her tiny bedroom, three in her own bed. More on the weekends when the “parents” of Zwelethemba go on drinking binges.
Though she doesn’t keep detailed books or records, I know the money I give could not be better spent.
Meanwhile, it is not just alcohol companies flourishing in places like Zwelethemba. Banks are racing to get a piece of the unbanked lowest income market in South Africa.
Scaling is no easy task. Standard Bank’s solution is to outsource basic banking to township “spaza” shops. In depth checks of the proprietor won’t scale. Instead the shop is asked to show it has been around for at least 3 years – a proxy for reliability.
The charity world could learn from this, by creating a list of child support organisations screened by simple criteria such as years in existence. Add a few community references; schools, other registered non-profits. It’s not perfect, and there would be inevitable cases of abuse. But these would be inexpensive compared with the millions in donations misspent. And it would open the door for Elizabeth and people like her to get more of the small amounts of money with which they alchemically change lives. The modest legitimacy of being on such a list - and the additional profile and support - would also help her to get on the NPO ladder. Next step, become “real" - registered - non-profit, eligible for larger grants for which monitoring and reporting are essential.
In the meantime, if anyone wants to donate to Elizabeth she does have a bank account - and she's always looking for second hand children's clothes.
Get in touch for details of how to donate.
* The prisoners are the subject of my next book. Watch a video about them.