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The universal challenge of building a strong civil society is the focus of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation’s latest Annual Report, Blinded by Pessimism or Seeing Possibilities.

The report, available in both print and online editions, features a special section focusing on the Foundation’s grantmaking in South Africa, where more than $69 million in grants have been made to nonprofit organizations since 1988. Through a series of nine essays contributed by individuals affiliated with Mott-funded organizations in South Africa, including Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, a picture of the country’s civil society sector emerges that reflects some positive signs as well as ongoing challenges.

Mott recorded four of the essays — including Tutu’s — as part of an audio recording series called “Voices of South Africa,” which will be available for free download from the Foundation’s Web site as well as from iTunes beginning in early December.

In addition to Tutu, the other authors contributing essays to the annual report are:

• Father Michael Lapsley, director of the Institute for Healing of Memories, which was created to help individuals and communities affected by political conflict and violence during apartheid to heal and move forward with their lives;
• Ela Gandhi, executive director of Satyagraha – In Pursuit of Truth, an organization that works to bridge divisions in housing, employment and education in South Africa;
• Charles Villa-Vicencio, founder of the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation and its former executive director;
• Kwandiwe Kondlo, a professor at the University of the Free State and former director of the governance unit at the Human Sciences Research Council;
• Amanda Cooper, exhibition coordinator at the Cape Town Holocaust Centre, and the youngest of the group at age 33;
• Nomvula Dlamini, a senior staff member at the Community Development Resources Association with more than 15 years of experience in nonprofit organizational development;
• Marcella Naidoo, national director of Black Sash Trust, a human rights organization with a 55-year history of working in South Africa; and
• Tinyiko Sam Maluleke, executive director of research at the University of South Africa and president of the South African Council of Churches.

The theme for the annual report emerged as a result of a blogging project, “Beyond the Games: Reflections from South Africa during the World Cup,” which Mott undertook during the games this past summer. The blog provided a forum for 19 guest writers representing a variety of Mott-funded organizations to share reflections about their work, their challenges and their hopes for South Africa. In addition to the special section, the annual report includes Foundation President and CEO William S. White’s annual message, financial statements and a listing of the 469 grants awarded in 2009, which totaled $109,312,507.