PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa – A recent study published by Nature Communications revealed that selfishness is a trait that will eventually be weeded out by evolution. The study concluded that though specific circumstances allowed selfish organisms to prevail, more often than not, communication which leads to cooperation resulted in the best outcome for all organisms involved.
However, Jacob Leif and Banks Gwaxula, founders of the Ubuntu Education Fund already knew that. In 2009, Leif, then a student at the University of Pennsylvania, and Gwaxula, a teacher in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, met and had a highly idealistic conversation about the state of education and quality of life in Port Elizabeth. Unlike so many similar conversations, the duo followed up and spent six months visiting and talking with the people of Port Elizabeth. What they found during that time was typical of South Africa, a country with the highest number of cases of HIV/AIDS in the world. They saw a community in need of a change.
Ubuntu Education Fund began in a broom closet with two employees and a small budget of a few thousand dollars. Today, however, Ubuntu has swelled to 80 employees on three continents and boasts a budget of $7 million. What started as an ideal conversation over drinks has turned into an incredible force for good in Port Elizabeth. Currently, 132 students are attending universities on scholarships and over 2,000 children are on their way out of crippling poverty.
While Ubuntu believes that education is a very important part of life, they have also put strong focus on health and household stability. The fund focuses on a seven kilometer area of Port Elizabeth with a community where 50,000 out of 400,000 people are orphaned and vulnerable children.
For the health of the children, Ubuntu provides regular clinical consultations, vaccines, HIV and tuberculosis testing and treatment, advice on nutrition, glasses for the visually impaired, among a number of other things while the pharmacy provides free medication. They also supply nutritious meals from their own organic vegetable and herb garden. For those who have suffered any sort of trauma, Ubuntu offers psychological support services.
Ubuntu believes that for a child to be successful at school, they must feel safe and comfortable at home. Childcare Committees, a sector of the fund focused on household safety, consists of trained community members. Ubuntu trains people in proper hygiene and care for ill and bedridden individuals. They then go out into their neighborhoods and help those in need. HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis can affect anyone from infants to grandparents. In some households, the parents or grandparents are caring for sick children and in other households the children are caring for the parents or grandparents. This is where the Childcare Committees comes in to assist. Ubuntu also provides help working through messy bureaucratic gauntlets for those looking for aid with legal support or government grants.
In addition to providing strong mathematic and literary foundations, Ubuntu also provides classes focused on more expressive topics like poetry, baking, yoga, and journalism. High school seniors are taken to visit universities and when a student is accepted, Ubuntu helps with the costs.
Most recently, the Ubuntu Education Fund has announced its U ME WE campaign to raise $25 million within the next three years. These funds will go toward the expansion of their prenatal care facility, help double the size of their early childhood center as well as help support the Ubuntu Scholars program. This program helps young adults who have decided not to pursue higher education to find other stable career paths. This campaign asks the question “Should your birthplace determine your future?”
With the help of the Ubuntu Education Fund and the community of Port Elizabeth, many children will and already have received life changing assistance and guidance. Not only does this benefit the children, it also benefits the community.
– Jordan Bradley
Sources: The Ubuntu Education Fund, Forbes, The South African, Nature Communications, Counsel Heal
Photo: Aris Vrakas