Grantee profile

Uluntu Community Foundation, Zimbabwe: Putting People First

Uluntu Community Foundation is a young institution based in Bulawayo, Western Zimbabwe. Registered in 2008, the foundation was the initiative of a group of concerned citizens – including two journalists, a teacher and a former diplomat – who shared a vision of a local Zimbabwean philanthropic grantmaking institution which could foster and support a type of development driven by local people rather than by external agencies. Indeed, this spirit of a people-centred organization is captured in the organization’s name: “Uluntu” means “people” in Ndebele, the main local language of Western Zimbabwe.

The Matabeleland Provinces (North and South) are some of the poorest parts of Zimbabwe, with poverty levels estimated at 80% and unemployment at 90%. In the face of such stark challenges, however, this young community foundation - which operated for the first couple of years on very modest resources including a home office, volunteer labour and the moral and material support of its board - has taken a gradual and considered approach in charting out its direction and focus, taking time to put down roots and build trust at the community level through some initial projects in rural communities.

In 2009, a small planning grant from the GFCF helped support some start-up costs, including basic office equipment, board development and strategic planning. More recently, as the foundation has become more established (it now has three staff members and operates from a modest one-room office in a Bulawayo suburb), other international grassroots funders, such as Global Greengrants and American Jewish World Service, have stepped in to help the foundation develop a number of key programmes around youth development, education and food security and livelihoods. In 2011 and 2012, Uluntu staff and board participated in two joint learning events on youth civic engagement with community foundation peers in South Africa and the GFCF has provided support for Uluntu’s institutional development and its youth programmes through 2013.

As the foundation looks forward, it remains committed to building up local philanthropic support within the community: even in such difficult economic times, the foundation has received small donations from its board as well as volunteer and in-kind support. And grantmaking to local groups, normally a key function of a community foundation, is also on the cards. For the time being, Uluntu strives as much as possible to devolve decision-making and leadership to its partners, but as long as many community groups do not have bank accounts and bank charges remain high, transferring cash is problematic.

For more information: www.uluntu.org.

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