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Uhambo-1
News

Uhambo – A Journey Within a Journey, by Khumbulani Maphosa (MIHR Director)

Welcome to the ACT Ubumbano Solidarity Hub in Berlin 2024!” These were simple and mundane words at the start of a two-day event, but they masked the unusual nature of this particular gathering.

This was a gathering of development actors attempting to question and go beyond the dominant patterns of development discourse – how we externalise the problem and name target groups; how we become dependent on technical expert knowledge, usually racialised, to provide the current critical framing; how we prioritise the developing of mechanisms of monitoring, compliance, accountability to structure our relations. It was an attempt to provide and hold a space for the questioning and deepening of our practices that will expose and disrupt the coloniality of our development practices, and explore practices of authentic solidarity. These are not comfortable conversations as we ‘interrogate’ our own practices and assumptions, but I noted some practices in the conversations that could be a resource for examining our own practices.

The holding of space for our humanity

The invitation in Berlin was to a space – a space to encounter, to engage, to be present. It was not an invitation to a programme of presentations and discussions of ideas, and agreement on a way forward for organisations. By the holding of a space, and not just managing an agenda of a programme, it allowed for people to be present, to speak and be heard, with all the richness of their vulnerability and uncertainties, their passion and questions. Holding such a space allowed the possibility of power dynamics within the room to be named (gender, race, organisational hierarchy) and – where people were willing – to engage those power dynamics and test different articulations. An invitation to a space seemed to enable participants to bring themselves and what mattered to them into the engagements, and on occasion risk naming and re-presenting the principles and values that make them who they are. It reminded me of the oft repeated phrase: the personal is political, and the political is personal – by making a space for the foregrounding of our humanity we are able to explore practices of dignity.

Connections and solidarity

It may be stating the obvious, but I was struck by the connections that were made between participants in the spaces that were available. It seemed as though there was a longing to find others with whom we could (tentatively) share our questions, our frustrations and grief from the journey within the single story of the ‘development as progress’ world. The connections were between countries; between, but not necessarily on behalf of, organisations; crossing different levels and departments of organisations. Yes, there was the usual ‘networking’.  But there were also expressions of our common deeply embeddedness within the systems of ‘progress’; a deepening awareness of how our practices, knowledges, imaginations are deeply shaped by coloniality and the push for the solution; and how our attempts to ‘do good’ and manage perfect systems is part of the problem itself. Questions were asked about what authentic solidarity could look like in our contexts, and how our practices are and could be creating cracks within the dehumanising development world – cracks offering inspiration and new imaginations of how to be human together.

Grow up and show up

This might seem a bit of a harsh phrasing, but I think it offers the potential for a real shift in our development practice. This phrase was used in the Berlin gathering in response to requests for more challenging input to provide further critical insights for the discussion. However, it was observed how this was shifting the responsibility for learning to the other, and not sufficiently acknowledging our own complicity. The solidarity hub in Berlin was a space for engagement, critique and learning – yet participants were waiting for the ‘othered’ expert to provide the insight. Vanessa Andreotti (in her book Hospicing Modernity) describes how modernity and colonialism infantilises us, leaving us feeling uncertain and helpless in the face of hegemonic discourse and articulations, looking to experts to string it together for us. She names the necessity for us to ‘grow up, show up’ – acknowledge our complicity and take responsibility for our own learning and practice, disrupting the dominance of the expert. As the challenge and opportunity for critique and learning is placed back with the group as a whole and all participants, it shifts what is at stake and draws on the capacities, passion and commitment of the diverse group to generate insights, knowledge and new possibilities of practice.

Silence and stillness

It may seem strange in the midst of development practitioners and activists to point to the value and importance of silence – not our default setting! At the gathering in Berlin there were a couple of experiences of silence and stillness, led by both facilitators and participants on different occasions. The silence was an equalising process allowing space and time for us all to be present (not just the dominant voice and knowledge) and providing a moment for us all to check what lived within us and how we were making that known. Somehow the stillness embodied our discussions within each of us and allowed us to connect to our humanity being present in our more than human world.

In the context of deafening violence and assaults on our humanity, maybe foregrounding our brutalised and gifted humanity and our experiments of solidarity will disrupt these patterns of dehumanisation and open those cracks where life surprises us and inspires our practice.

Read More
admin 5 December 2024 0
News

Solidarity Hub 2024

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admin_preview_bg=''] [av_textblock fold_type='' fold_height='' fold_more='Read more' fold_less='Read less' fold_text_style='' fold_btn_align='' textblock_styling_align='' textblock_styling='' textblock_styling_gap='' textblock_styling_mobile='' size='' av-desktop-font-size='' av-medium-font-size='' av-small-font-size='' av-mini-font-size='' font_color='' color='' fold_overlay_color='' fold_text_color='' fold_btn_color='theme-color' fold_btn_bg_color='' fold_btn_font_color='' size-btn-text='' av-desktop-font-size-btn-text='' av-medium-font-size-btn-text='' av-small-font-size-btn-text='' av-mini-font-size-btn-text='' fold_timer='' z_index_fold='' id='' custom_class='' template_class='' av_uid='av-kpe78kj8' sc_version='1.0' admin_preview_bg=''] Over 85 activists from the region and beyond spent 2 days in Johannesburg reflecting on their role in the struggles of their communities. They were challenged to move out of their comfort zones and explore how their own practice was helping change the status quo, or whether it was reinforcing the unequal power relations that often characterize the work of civil society. It was an immensely rich conversation. It was a first Hub for the majority of participants, and we hope they returned home with a commitment to a more critical approach to their work.

You can access the picture gallery here, and we hope to share the Hub experience via written and audio-visual media later on.
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admin 31 October 2024 0
berlin
News

Reflections on the Berlin Solidarity Hub – Graham Philpott, Church Land Programme

Welcome to the ACT Ubumbano Solidarity Hub in Berlin 2024!” These were simple and mundane words at the start of a two-day event, but they masked the unusual nature of this particular gathering.

This was a gathering of development actors attempting to question and go beyond the dominant patterns of development discourse – how we externalise the problem and name target groups; how we become dependent on technical expert knowledge, usually racialised, to provide the current critical framing; how we prioritise the developing of mechanisms of monitoring, compliance, accountability to structure our relations. It was an attempt to provide and hold a space for the questioning and deepening of our practices that will expose and disrupt the coloniality of our development practices, and explore practices of authentic solidarity. These are not comfortable conversations as we ‘interrogate’ our own practices and assumptions, but I noted some practices in the conversations that could be a resource for examining our own practices.

The holding of space for our humanity

The invitation in Berlin was to a space – a space to encounter, to engage, to be present. It was not an invitation to a programme of presentations and discussions of ideas, and agreement on a way forward for organisations. By the holding of a space, and not just managing an agenda of a programme, it allowed for people to be present, to speak and be heard, with all the richness of their vulnerability and uncertainties, their passion and questions. Holding such a space allowed the possibility of power dynamics within the room to be named (gender, race, organisational hierarchy) and – where people were willing – to engage those power dynamics and test different articulations. An invitation to a space seemed to enable participants to bring themselves and what mattered to them into the engagements, and on occasion risk naming and re-presenting the principles and values that make them who they are. It reminded me of the oft repeated phrase: the personal is political, and the political is personal – by making a space for the foregrounding of our humanity we are able to explore practices of dignity.

Connections and solidarity

It may be stating the obvious, but I was struck by the connections that were made between participants in the spaces that were available. It seemed as though there was a longing to find others with whom we could (tentatively) share our questions, our frustrations and grief from the journey within the single story of the ‘development as progress’ world. The connections were between countries; between, but not necessarily on behalf of, organisations; crossing different levels and departments of organisations. Yes, there was the usual ‘networking’.  But there were also expressions of our common deeply embeddedness within the systems of ‘progress’; a deepening awareness of how our practices, knowledges, imaginations are deeply shaped by coloniality and the push for the solution; and how our attempts to ‘do good’ and manage perfect systems is part of the problem itself. Questions were asked about what authentic solidarity could look like in our contexts, and how our practices are and could be creating cracks within the dehumanising development world – cracks offering inspiration and new imaginations of how to be human together.

Grow up and show up

This might seem a bit of a harsh phrasing, but I think it offers the potential for a real shift in our development practice. This phrase was used in the Berlin gathering in response to requests for more challenging input to provide further critical insights for the discussion. However, it was observed how this was shifting the responsibility for learning to the other, and not sufficiently acknowledging our own complicity. The solidarity hub in Berlin was a space for engagement, critique and learning – yet participants were waiting for the ‘othered’ expert to provide the insight. Vanessa Andreotti (in her book Hospicing Modernity) describes how modernity and colonialism infantilises us, leaving us feeling uncertain and helpless in the face of hegemonic discourse and articulations, looking to experts to string it together for us. She names the necessity for us to ‘grow up, show up’ – acknowledge our complicity and take responsibility for our own learning and practice, disrupting the dominance of the expert. As the challenge and opportunity for critique and learning is placed back with the group as a whole and all participants, it shifts what is at stake and draws on the capacities, passion and commitment of the diverse group to generate insights, knowledge and new possibilities of practice.

Silence and stillness

It may seem strange in the midst of development practitioners and activists to point to the value and importance of silence – not our default setting! At the gathering in Berlin there were a couple of experiences of silence and stillness, led by both facilitators and participants on different occasions. The silence was an equalising process allowing space and time for us all to be present (not just the dominant voice and knowledge) and providing a moment for us all to check what lived within us and how we were making that known. Somehow the stillness embodied our discussions within each of us and allowed us to connect to our humanity being present in our more than human world.

In the context of deafening violence and assaults on our humanity, maybe foregrounding our brutalised and gifted humanity and our experiments of solidarity will disrupt these patterns of dehumanisation and open those cracks where life surprises us and inspires our practice.

Read More
admin 31 October 2024 0
30
News

Open grants call

The Commonwealth Foundation offers grants of up to £30,000 for projects lasting up to two years to civil society organisations in the Commonwealth. They support projects that seek to facilitate constructive engagement between civil society and decision-makers, including civil society participation in policy development and implementation.

To check eligibility criteria and apply, click here. The deadline for this year’s call is 24 October 2024 1pm BST.

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admin 30 September 2024 0
0a9b7124-3b21-c9ea-2807-64bd68ada59d
News

Make South Africa Read Again! #Dibf2024

The third Durban International Book Fair #DIBF2024, takes place from 27 November to 1 December 2024 at Eduvos, Umhlanga. Durban is Africa’s only UNESCO City of Literature. This year’s main theme goes back to basics, to “Once Upon a Time…” as the country grapples with the crisis according to the Progress in International Reading and Literacy Study (Pirls) that 81% of grade 4 South African children cannot read with comprehension in any language.

Join us at #DIBF2024 as we dive into the magic of storytelling. The enduring allure of stories that have shaped human culture and been cherished across generations will be the main focus of the fair.

Don’t Miss Out! Secure your ticket to #DIBF2024 today at www.madeindurban.co.za.

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admin 30 September 2024 0
News

Solidarity Hub 2024

[av_layout_row border='' min_height_percent='' min_height_pc='25' min_height='0' color='main_color' mobile='av-flex-cells' mobile_breaking='' av-desktop-hide='' av-medium-hide='' av-small-hide='' av-mini-hide='' id='' custom_class='' aria_label='' av_element_hidden_in_editor='0' av_uid='av-9o77r7'] [av_cell_one_third av_uid='av-7tjiv7'] [/av_cell_one_third][av_cell_one_third vertical_align='top' padding='30px,0px,30px,0px' av-desktop-padding='' av-desktop-padding_sync='true' av-medium-padding='' av-medium-padding_sync='true' av-small-padding='' av-small-padding_sync='true' av-mini-padding='' av-mini-padding_sync='true' background='bg_color' background_color='' background_gradient_direction='vertical' background_gradient_color1='' background_gradient_color2='' background_gradient_color3='' src='' attachment='' attachment_size='' background_attachment='scroll' background_position='top left' background_repeat='no-repeat' link='' linktarget='' link_hover='' mobile_display='' mobile_col_pos='0' custom_class='' template_class='' av_uid='av-5qioxf' sc_version='1.0'] [av_heading heading=' Solidarity Hub 2024' tag='h2' style='blockquote modern-quote' subheading_active='' show_icon='' icon='ue800' font='' size='' av-desktop-font-size-title='' av-medium-font-size-title='' av-small-font-size-title='' av-mini-font-size-title='' subheading_size='' av-desktop-font-size='' av-medium-font-size='' av-small-font-size='' av-mini-font-size='' icon_size='' av-desktop-font-size-1='' av-medium-font-size-1='' av-small-font-size-1='' av-mini-font-size-1='' color='' custom_font='' subheading_color='' seperator_color='' icon_color='' margin='' margin_sync='true' av-desktop-margin='' av-desktop-margin_sync='true' av-medium-margin='' av-medium-margin_sync='true' av-small-margin='' av-small-margin_sync='true' av-mini-margin='' av-mini-margin_sync='true' headline_padding='' headline_padding_sync='true' av-desktop-headline_padding='' av-desktop-headline_padding_sync='true' 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mask_overlay_opacity2='1' mask_overlay_opacity3='' title_attr='' alt_attr='' img_scrset='' lazy_loading='disabled' id='' custom_class='' template_class='' av_element_hidden_in_editor='0' av_uid='av-l56fpqpo' sc_version='1.0' admin_preview_bg=''][/av_image] [av_hr class='invisible' icon_select='yes' icon='ue808' font='entypo-fontello' position='center' shadow='no-shadow' height='20' custom_border='av-border-thin' custom_width='50px' custom_margin_top='30px' custom_margin_bottom='30px' custom_border_color='' custom_icon_color='' id='' custom_class='' template_class='' av_uid='av-luprz9oo' sc_version='1.0' admin_preview_bg=''] [av_textblock fold_type='' fold_height='' fold_more='Read more' fold_less='Read less' fold_text_style='' fold_btn_align='' textblock_styling_align='' textblock_styling='' textblock_styling_gap='' textblock_styling_mobile='' size='' av-desktop-font-size='' av-medium-font-size='' av-small-font-size='' av-mini-font-size='' font_color='' color='' fold_overlay_color='' fold_text_color='' fold_btn_color='theme-color' fold_btn_bg_color='' fold_btn_font_color='' size-btn-text='' av-desktop-font-size-btn-text='' av-medium-font-size-btn-text='' av-small-font-size-btn-text='' av-mini-font-size-btn-text='' fold_timer='' z_index_fold='' id='' custom_class='' template_class='' av_uid='av-kpe78kj8' sc_version='1.0' admin_preview_bg=''] This month the Solidarity Hub will bring together 90 activists from the region to reflect and connect around community struggles. This is a space where we interrogate our own practice – are we conscious of our shortcomings in supporting community agency and voice? The fantastic and talented Kim Blanche Adonis will provoke us with her satirical theatre. We’ll let you know how it goes.
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admin 30 September 2024 0
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What were you doing daddy, when the sh*t was going down?

I can relate to this. It is a personal fear that I carry with me as I wrestle with my own positionality and contribution to a more just future. It’s an important question: What am I doing to resist and create positive change in the world?

Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolfman, the Invisible Man, and Hercules don’t scare me. The FBI, the anti-American committee, J. Edgar Hoover, President Nixon, President Johnson, Martha Mitchell and her husband, or her man or her woman, Ethel Kennedy, all the Kennedys, Bank of America, Chase-Manhattan, Rockefeller, none of these people scare me. What scares me is that one day my son will ask me, ‘What did you do, daddy, when the sh*t was going down?’
~ Richard Pryor

We live in a complex time.  The current socio political, economic and environmental context is marked by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity – what is sometimes referred to as a polycrisis.  Alongside  issues such as climate change AND denialism and growing nationalism, society must contend with fading global solidarity and a tendency for all of us to isolate and  look inwards driven by a narrowing sense of who and what our communities are. All of this is fuelled, it seems, by growing, co-ordinated right-wing campaigns to drive polarisation and undermine human and civil rights and freedoms.

But despite a sense of crisis and a seeming erosion of decades of human rights gains, resistance to these conservative trends and calls for change can be seen everywhere – from the radical political shifts in European election outcomes to the West African coups and recent uprisings against tax laws in Kenya. While this chaotic moment in history is stressful, it also offers opportunity for practice to shift, for reform to happen and perhaps even for systems that no longer serve a purpose to be replaced. This is a tremendous chance to reinvent and rebuild institutions and practices better aligned with our values and principles and anchored in people’s experience.

And so we arrive at a question: What role does/should civil society play in these uncertain times? This is  especially important given that, in the examples quoted above and in the space of change more generally,  formal civil society is conspicuously absent when tipping points are reached and people come together and confront power directly.

Before we can approach this question though, we have to make a fundamental admission  – that we make up civil society, and that for too long we have wanted to act to confront and change the system without acknowledging that we are embedded in it and bound to it. Perhaps, even more confronting is to accept that civil society itself is a product of the very system we seek to change, and in many instances reinforces and upholds it. We are part of the system. We curate and maintain it in order to protect the privilege that it accords to us.  These times provide an acute challenge for those of us working in the development/civil society sector to examine our own power, position and complicity in maintaining a system whose outcomes, we can all agree, leave a lot to be desired.

Civil society itself  continues to  reinforce negative forms of power, built on  narratives that give us – the activist, the development practitioner the ‘thinkers’-  the power to ‘solve’ problems, through processes far removed from the experience of those who live with these problems.  Despite radical rhetoric, pre-packaged, ahistorical and ‘saviourist’ development  has become the norm.  It seems that we are called upon to re-remember that people as individuals have power and agency, and when connected to others, can create radical change with or without civil society’s assistance.  We need to learn from the actions that are happening all around us and despite us. The demand on civil society is to  be enmeshed within the struggles of others  working to embrace  a more radical solidarity. Civil society must, in these chaotic times, slow down, commune,  counter the need to have ready answers, be guided by principles of justice and be willing to be informed by experience and worldviews  of others.

This radical, and more human, solidarity is multipolar, not located in the binaries which bind our imagination: north to south; the haves and have nots; or the powerful and the powerless. Rather this radical solidarity is one in which we all find community and support. This solidarity is practiced through the processes of building community – contesting, agreeing and disagreeing, respecting and drawing strength from each other. And beyond this, holding ourselves and each to account to a commitment to a particular politic and values.

And so, fundamentally this piece asks us to reflect on the personal before we engage the systemic:  How does the system manifest in what I do? How willing am I to disrupt the very system that provides me with a sense of purpose, validation of my ‘goodness’ and livelihood?  What contribution can I making to a practice that is liberatory, that contributes to human dignity and fundamentally transforms normative notions of power? What are the small acts of resistance within my control that will enable a more fundamental shift in the system?

Allan Moolman, September 2024

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admin 30 September 2024 0
33
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Conversations about African Philanthropy

At the 5th African Philanthropy Conference hosted by CAPSI and themed “The Next Frontiers of African Philanthropy”, Zanele was invited to make a presentation on decolonised practice. Her input entitled  “Expressions of solidarity and decolonisation of philanthropy in Southern Africa” drew on her academic studies about and work experience with ACT Ubumbano, and challenged participants to go beyond rhetoric to look at whether our practice and actions are advancing solidarity. The conference brought together speakers and academics who shared insights on what the next level of philanthropy on the continent could look like.

More information on the philanthropy conference can be found here.

Zanele’s slide presentation can be found here.

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admin 7 August 2024 0
34
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It’s Women’s Month – Complete EPIC-Africa’s Survey on Women-Led and Focused CSOs

EPIC-Africa is a Senegal-based non-profit that provides data and actionable insights about African civil society organizations (CSOs). This data enables CSOs, funders, and other stakeholders to know what groups exist, where they are, what issues they work on, and what support they need.

Having identified gaps in knowledge on women-led and focused CSOs in Africa, EPIC-Africa has designed this mapping to better understand the situation of these organisations, with a view to enhancing their ability to attract needed support and achieve their goals. We also hope that the survey will offer participants space to reflect that can inform strategic conversations, both internally and with current and prospective partners, and help make philanthropy more effective for them.

Click here to find out more and to participate in the survey.

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admin 6 August 2024 0
35
News

Reflecting on the Berlin Hub

As promised, we have compiled a report on our conversations at the Solidarity Hub in Europe in June. It is not an event report in the traditional sense. Rather, it is reflective notes about some of the key insights and issues raised by participants. You can access the report here, and if you want to see some pictures click here.

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admin 6 August 2024 0