HELP 20 MILLION SOUTH AFRICANS LIVING IN POVERTY TO COMMUNICATE

If Nelson Mandela was alive today he would be bitterly disappointed - 25 % of the people he fought so hard to free from the shackles of apartheid are still living in poverty. That’s upwards of 12 million people, many of whom don’t know where their next meal is coming from. Few have running water or electricity. Even contacting neighbouring villages is a challenge. These poor people are standing still or moving backwards, and in the communications age this is not good.

Fortunately, South Africa is well-covered by satellite and wireless services.

2DAY-SA is an online startup that uses basic internet and mobile technology to help rural people to take advantage of current and emerging online technologies. Amongst others, it will do this by linking those facing similar rural challenges (eg newest developments in fence construction, pipe-laying, making your own fertiliser, maximising crops on a smallholder farm, etc), and will also feature access to news, education programs, including adult education, construction, health, heads-up on municipal initiatives, self-improvement, and more.

The idea is to hire 1 000 young people from villages across the country, equip them with smart phones and data, and set them loose to report what the people of their villages are doing. This information, in the form of text, interviews, photographs and videos, will feed into a national control network, and will be available to all the participants, at national, provincial, municipal and community level. In this way, people facing the same problems, though hundreds of kilometres apart, will be able to share their burdens and explore new solutions.

They will be able to communicate.

At this time, when South Africa’s government is financially challenged as never before, this is a truly worthy project, and you can be sure that your donation will be used where it will do the most good. This is an emergency, and we are very grateful for your help.