South African Organization Turns Philanthropy On Its Head

July 17, 2006 — -- Jacob Lief's sense of community has taken a life of its own.

Inspired by the African concept of Ubuntu, the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity, Lief co-founded a South African organization that focuses on the community. That means having parents, teachers, students and leaders involved in day-to-day planning and weighing in on all decisions. As a result, the simple school program has evolved over the past eight years to reflect local needs.

Ubuntu now includes computer literacy classes, HIV/AIDS services and health classes. Nearly 40,000 children benefit from the various programs, like the library, school lunches from the in-house garden co-ops, counseling and drug therapy.

"We don't give handouts, and we're not a soup kitchen," the 29-year-old said, explaining that when people asked to get on the World Wide Web, folks built up the center and had to learn everything from wiring to the first click of the mouse.

Although the process is painfully slow Lief champions the community model. Long-lasting change comes from within, not from the top down, he repeated.

At a recent benefit in New York City, the keynote speaker, Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu, praised Lief and the Ubuntu Education Fund. "He didn't come in as a know-it-all," the South African archbishop said. "He has gone in as someone who has wanted to serve. He has also involved [our community] as partners."

Lief stresses that his organization implements real change instead of designing short-term fixes to long-term problems.

"It's not revolutionary," he said. "It's social entrepreneurship with a community-inclusive development program that has figured out how to put people at the middle of it."

"We started by listening to the community and have not stopped listening to the community," he added

By getting local people to buy into a project's purpose and goals, the Ubuntu model stresses social sustainability, which in turn will lead to financial stability.

Lief went to South Africa in the late '90s during his junior year in college to work for a nongovernmental organization but became dismayed. He left Cape Town and headed east, making his way to Port Elizabeth. He didn't wander long. The young man met Malizole Banks Gwaxula on his first evening in the city and moved in with Banks' family.