Local giving/philanthropy in the Matabeleland Regions of Zimbabwe: what role for Uluntu Community Foundation? Uluntu Community Foundation 11 Coghlan Avenue, Kumalo, Bulawayo, Tel:+263 292 231294 | Email:
[email protected] Website: www.uluntu.org CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS 3 Acknowledgements 4 Executive summary 5 Solidarity and self-help: local cultures of giving 6 About the study 14 The global context 17 Uluntu Community Foundation 20 The opportunity for Uluntu Acknowledgements Uluntu Community Foundation would like to express gratitude to the women, children, schools, teachers, education authorities, community leaders, government departments at district and ward level and all other stakeholders that participated in the study. Uluntu Community Foundation is grateful to the Global Fund for Community Foundations for the financial support. Executive summary The practice of philanthropy is deeply rooted natural disasters such as droughts, and other in the cultures of the Matabeleland region of events. Zimbabwe. The strong historical tradition of • Local giving takes a wide variety of forms. giving is demonstrated by the many proverbs The support given can be financial or in kind, in the local language, IsiNdebele, emphasising in the form of clothing, food and labour. Funeral giving. assistance accounts for 39% of local giving, while community service work such as building and In 2017, Uluntu Community Foundation decided repairing schools, roads and bridges accounts to carry out a study on local giving. The aim was for 26%. to gather baseline information on the culture, • Community leaders are at the forefront of giving, trends and current practices of giving in the followed by NGOs, individuals, government Matabeleland regions of Zimbabwe, especially departments and churches.