Far too often in the past, our countries' problems have been temporarily addressed through charitable efforts. But no sooner than the symptoms are masked, the problems resurface.

If you could change one thing forever, what would it be? That's the question posed to South Africans in the month of September through the dynamic Change4ever initiative presented by the Southern Africa Trust.

The Southern Africa Trust is an independent non-profit agency that supports more than 80 organisations in southern Africa that are committed to addressing the root causes of poverty by changing attitudes, policies, and practices so that efforts to overcome poverty work better for the millions of poor people in southern Africa.

Executive Director of the Trust, Neville Gabriel, says that South Africans need to take responsibility for supporting efforts to overcome the underlying causes of poverty in our region. “Instead of only giving food hand outs, for example, we need to support initiatives that address why there are food shortages and then build agreements to fix the root causes so that the problems don't recur.”

With a group of well-informed “ambassadors for change” consisting of well-known public personalities lined up, the Change4ever campaign puts the power to tackle poverty back into the hands of the public, whilst building a national agenda for what the public hopes to change. Ambassadors such as Graça Machel, fashion designer David Tlale, and editor of the Mail and Guardian Ferial Haffajee have all committed themselves to the initiative and answered the Change4ever question.

Through a R5 sms charge, the Southern Africa Trust aims to raise enough money to boost innovative efforts to drive down poverty on behalf of supporters of Change4ever.

SMS the word "Change" and your answer to "If you could change one thing forever, what would it be?" to 36545 and help make a lasting difference in the lives of people living in poverty.

[3 Sep 2008 11:17]

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