A Note From One Better Africa

One Better Africa is a new organisation comprising of a young dynamic team that is passionate about creating change through giving. As an organisation we are itching to get things going, we firmly believe that every passion has its destiny, and that this passion for creating social change and awareness has a great destiny in our country and continent. But we cannot do it alone.

Our society has put great emphasis in the youth succeeding against all odds, especially in the time of economic growth in South Africa specifically. Much emphasis has been put in entrepreneurial strides for the emerging youth of South Africa. Structures have been placed to financially aid small business and growing businesses, but it seems little of these funds have been allocated to empowering those that are to follow.
The few that have gained from these structures, such as the Umsobomvu Youth Fund, are but a fraction of those that have little or no proper education in the country, and Africa as a whole. Much more emphasis needs to be placed on creating awareness of these great gaps between those that have and those that have no opportunity to even be educated adequately. The past regimes of apartheid and other regimes through out Africa focused on marginalising racially. The current ‘regime’ has knowingly or not, marginalised people through social classing. If the most needy can be given opportunities to be educated, fed, housed and provided with adequate health facilities, the playing fields will certainly be levelled. Poverty will almost certainly be a thing of the past, and the economic gains speak for themselves. The more South Africa and Africa at large produce skilled men and women, the greater the chance of economic growth and foreign investment, the results of a ripple effect created by giving all the opportunity to learn and grow, to be healthy and live a humane quality of life. And the best place to begin as at the beginning literally. Giving the millions of orphaned children and underprivileged youths the chance to be educated, the chance to choose their own path, and to not have it determined by poverty and circumstances.

Along with education, health is a massive area of concern in South Africa and Africa. With the number of HIV/AIDS infections struggling to go down year after year. However, there are countries such as Uganda that have managed to reduce the number of infections dramatically. Such cases should be used for research and implementation in countries such as South Africa, were the HIV/AIDS infection rates and deaths are the highest in the world. And the number of children orphaned as a result of their parents dying from the disease increasing daily.

Awareness. Africans are not aware of the state of their own continent. We as Africans are not aware of conditions that our neighbours live in. We do not tell our own stories, instead our stories are told by people and structures from abroad. We have not found a way of sharing information in this age of information. Information is without a doubt one of the most important tools in learning, in gaining knowledge and using knowledge to better the conditions our continent finds itself. A method of sharing such information widely and freely needs to be found and implemented at any cost. The stories of our lives, our struggles, concerns and solutions need to be freely aired without fear or judgement.