I sometimes wonder if we are over-dependent on projects here in Europe but a recent visit to South Africa has shown me that projects are maybe the best way forward for many reasons. But wherever you are there will always be doubts about some projects. This is my first ever visit to that country and to the continent in general, unless a visit to Tunisia back in 1992 counts. Although a vacation for me, the visit was of particular interest as we have a South African partner in our Uni-Key project for promoting entrepreneurial skills in interns placed in SMEs so I was keen to try and understand more about the entrepreneurial environment in that location.
We started our trip in Cape Town where we witnessed plenty of evidence of the System D economy which Robert Neuwirth talks about in his new book Stealth of Nations: The Global Rise of the Informal Economy. This refers to the huge amount of business which occurs ‘off the books’ and which in world terms accounts for only slightly less in value than the world’s largest economy, the USA. This informal sector, which included the traffic light vendors at every major crossroads, sits side by side with the more familiar trappings of the formal economy evident in any large city.
When we moved to the Kruger Park area, centering our travels around Hoedspruit, we entered an area more focused on agricultural products and the tourism industry. It was here that I was introduced to the plethora of projects which address needs such as health, education and business promotion which in Europe tend to be the province of government at various levels. Here are some of the projects I heard about or visited.
- Gorutha Centre, Toy Library
- Daktari Bush School and Wildlife Orphanage
- Hand in Hand South Africa
- Herb Garden
- Hlokomela Project (HIV/AIDS)
- Game Lodge outreach (eg Shindzela, Royal Malewane)
- Regional authority business development
I came away really inspired by the hive of activity represented by these disparate organisations and also by the cross-fertilisation as evidenced by the game lodges linking with the Herb Garden and the farms promoting and supporting the HIV/AIDS and Toy Library initiatives. I even saw this collaboration in action by attending a meeting of volunteer organisations where the objective was to identify common interests and possible linkages. At that meeting I was struck by how dependent the local area is on the performance of the Game Lodges. Much discussion somehow seemed to revolve on how to sell initiatives to the Game Lodges and their mostly foreign visitors.
We also came across another project where the results were much harder to judge. While visiting a pottery project we met some students from an American University working with the pottery workers to produce water filtration bricks. At first glance this seemed like a wonderful idea: a low tech solution to the problem of bacteria infected water. Later, the owner of the lodge where we staying, a former aid worker herself, dismissed the project as unnecessary because the quality of the water in the region is high. And then back home we found a document online which explained the research which demonstrated the need for this technology in the region as the quality of the water was patchy; good in places, bad in others. Ultimately it was difficult to know whether this was a good project or not as the technology was not yet finalized therefore no usable filtration bricks had yet been produced and it served a dual purpose as a field trip for the American students whose presence was not of immediate benefit to the project.
In the end it seemed to me that the critical difference was local initiative. Where a project was initiated locally it had a good chance of meeting a real need whether or not it involved foreign volunteers. And this is where the UniKey project connection comes in as it is envisaged that European interns will be offered the opportunity to work in African projects. One current internship available right now is at Godding & Godding, a silk clothing and bed linen manufacturer. There is also a slight chance that we might be able to recruit African participants to the UniKey course. We therefore need to ensure that our entrepreneurial skills awareness training is relevant to working as part of the web of projects which accounts for the provision of so many essential services in the Kruger area of South Africa.
Special thanks to Marié-Tinka Uys of Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Region for access to these wonderful projects.
Happy Mandela Day!