A Week in South Africa with SMRC

Having been fortunate enough to receive the opportunity to travel to South Africa with StudentMovement for Real Change (SMRC), a DC-based NGO, I was able to witness first-hand theincredible work that they are doing in collaboration with local communities in the province ofManyeleti. SMRC promotes cooperative projects between US undergraduate students interestedin development and various villages in rural South Africa. By employing a thoroughlyparticipative approach and establishing a consistent, long-term presence within the localcommunities, SMRC has been able to target their most urgent needs to provide those services thatare in greatest demand.We stayed in the community for three days in the homes of the gracious residents of Utah andwere able to tour various on-going projects in which SMRC has been involved. We visitedseveral local schools to see if the libraries that had been funded were in fact being used. We wentto a health clinic several villages away to observe the facility on which the local clinic, currentlyunder construction, was being modeled. And we were able to meet with several localphilanthropists and entrepreneurs who were working in conjunction with SMRC to fund projects,expand infrastructure, and improve the quality of facilities in many of the poorer villages. All ofthese experiences preceded our two-day visit to a nearby game reserve, where we were able tosee and extensively photograph all of the “big five” of Africa (rhino, lion, buffalo, leopard, andelephant), and all the while being reminded of the glaring income inequality from our stint in thevillage not ten minutes away. In the final summation, it was a sobering but ultimatelyencouraging glimpse of the complex collage of race relations, inequality, generosity, disease, and joy that is modern South Africa.

ManyeletiPrimary School

The children of Utah wereunderstandably proud to showoff their school, where NelsonMandela had visited alongwith several of the prominentlocal donors who have workeddiligently with SMRC, inconsultation with the localcommunity, to improve thequality of the schools, healthclinics, and other facilities.

Utah Bakery

SMRC, in conjunction withBuffelshoek Trust, helped tobuild a bakery in Utah as asource of income andemployment. The bakerymanager reviews the day’saccounting with Saul Garlick(SAIS ‘06), the founder andExecutive Director of SMRC.