[Editor's Note: This is a companion article to the 2007 Annual Report]
By MAGGIE I. JARUZEL
Nomvuyo Dayile is a passionate storyteller.
After 10 years of interacting with people seeking grants from the Women’s Hope, Education and Training (WHEAT) Trust, she has compiled a collection of stories about changed lives, families and communities.
“We’ve worked with women who don’t have high school diplomas,” said Dayile, director of the trust.
“Some can’t even read or write, but they are creative enough to make things to sell so they can generate income for their families, and they are passionate about securing the livelihoods of others in their local communities.”
WHEAT Trust, established in 1998, provides small grants to help women develop their leadership skills, and also to grassroots groups to support projects started by local women. The organization, based in Cape Town, South Africa, recognized the need to provide grants to support local initiatives for sustainable development.
For example, eight women living in the Western Cape Province started a sewing business called Phakamani Makhosikazi (Xhosa for “women stand up”) after collecting three rands (approximately 50 cents) from each member. They steadily sold their inexpensive items and the business grew, Dayile says.
The more they sewed, the more they sold. So after that business was running smoothly, the group agreed to plant a large vegetable garden to generate additional income. Their confidence soared with the sale of the crops.
The women’s ongoing success unearthed a wealth of buried commercial creativity, Dayile says. After each project worked out, a new idea surfaced.
“They are now running a program involving boys and girls, and making necklaces from recycled glass,” she said. “The necklaces are beautiful and they are selling well.”
Today, the women entrepreneurs have six separate money-making ventures, but early on they needed a WHEAT grant to grow, Dayile says.
“Although the grant was small, they said it opened their eyes to other possibilities.”
Since 1999, the Mott Foundation has provided five grants to WHEAT, totaling $475,000, to strengthen the organization and support its work throughout the country.
WHEAT Trust gives grants that average about 5,000R ($700) for individual and group training needs, especially for those needing skills to care for people with HIV/AIDS. At the end of some training programs, participants receive certificates that help them get jobs. For others, the knowledge and skills gained can improve the quality of care provided to HIV/AIDS patients by family and friends.
In addition, with support from other funders, including corporate donors, WHEAT Trust also provides grants to grow and strengthen development projects and income-generating programs. These grants range from 20,000R to 75,000R ($2,800 to $10,500).
In rural villages, grant money is used to buy seeds to grow crops. Women also secure grants to buy chickens, which they raise as sources of income. The ventures generally have been successful in all nine of the nation’s provinces.
One element of WHEAT’s formula for success is to link emerging businesswomen with employees of large corporations to serve as mentors, she says.
The partnerships are relatively new for WHEAT, which has weathered many storms during the past five years as a result of growing pains, such as lack of funds and staff, Dayile says. Still, it remains afloat while dozens of other nonprofit organizations have closed their doors.
To celebrate its milestone 10th anniversary, WHEAT is running a national campaign called “Honour a Woman.” It’s a back-to-basics fundraiser, Dayile says, which invites people to pledge any amount of money to WHEAT’s endowment fund in the names of the women they want to honor.
Dayile’s dream is for men to honor their wives, partners, daughters and female co-workers; sons to honor their mothers, stepmothers, and nannies; brothers to honor their sisters; students to honor their female teachers; and women to honor other women.
“People have stopped appreciating and respecting women and girls. This is one way to get that back in our society,” she said.
Staff and board members hope the campaign collects enough money to establish an endowment fund that will enable the organization to make even larger grants in the future, and also will allow WHEAT to expand its reach beyond South Africa.
“I am hoping that the WHEAT Trust can grow big — really big — so we can help our neighboring countries," Dayile said.
“If we raise a lot of support with our ‘Honor a Woman’ campaign, then we will have our wings, and we can soar.”