MOSSEL BAY NEWS - CariBuntu, a combination of the words caritas (Christian love of humankind; charity) and ubuntu (compassion and humanity), began in Great Brak River last year.
Professor Erwin Schwella of Stellenbosch University introduced this social innovation project towards the end of 2018 along with Pastor Leon Prinsloo for the AFM Greenhaven and several other stakeholders.
At the end of last year, CariBuntu gained new momentum. Leaders of the Dutch Reformed Church at their last meeting of 2018 had a discussion on the church's role within the community. After giving thorough consideration to the needs identified in the greater Mossel Bay area, a task team led by Des Sampson was formed with the aim to restore hope and trust among communities through socio-economic development and building trust.
CariBuntu explained
South Africa is confronted with numerous challenges relating to problems of poverty, inequality and unemployment. It is also home to a large number of people following one or other form of faith and who have the empathy and capacity to assist in alleviating the above mentioned problems.
"These faith-based communities however, find it increasingly more difficult to continue with their community work within existing models. New models are therefore required to deal with these challenges," says Des Sampson, leader of the newly-formed task team. CariBuntu Greater Mossel Bay is a prototype of such a new model. It is based on action driven social innovation linked to faith-based communities who want to make a difference regarding quality of life and to establish mutual trust between communities.
The organisation's mission is to successfully contribute towards the improvement of the quality of life and the building of trust in the greater Mossel Bay community through facilitating the flow of available resources (skills, money, knowledge, property, and training facilities) locally and internationally in introducing innovative socio-economic solutions to community needs.
Critical values
CariBuntu is founded on Christian values which will regulate participant behaviour. The organisation fosters no political involvement, but it is a humanitarian, social development organisation. The focus is firmly on real and not assumed community needs. "We want to talk to people and not about them," Sampson confirms. CariBuntu is governed by sound and ethical management principles and comprises stakeholders who are passionate about making positive changes.
Calling all stakeholders
"We are blessed to have a large number of projects in the greater Mossel Bay area already focusing on bettering lives. With our CariBuntu initiative, we would like to establish a vehicle through which we can coordinate, optimise and initiate activities in order to enhance socio-economic development and rebuild trust." Sampson reiterates that CariBuntu is an inter-church initiative, but aims at involving all relevant stakeholders such as the Mossel Bay Municipality, the Mossel Bay Business Chamber, community leaders and anyone else with "the energy, means and passion to make a difference". The organisation is holding a meeting with various stakeholders shortly and invites all interested parties to join the meeting. For more information or to become involved, contact Des Sampson (082 651 2006 or dsampson1@telkomsa.net) or Dawid Scholtz (084 624 6612).
'We bring you the latest Mossel Bay, Garden Route news'
