At a dinner one night in Cape Town, the room was packed with a cross section of the foremost figures from the anti-apartheid struggle, current government and business leaders of South Africa, and visiting members of the Global Philanthropists Circle (GPC).
Another day, Circle members stood in a field on the country's remote Eastern Cape where community women grow vegetables for sale at the local market. Members learned firsthand about the strength of one organization and its pivotal role in improving the well-being of the residents.
These are just two examples of the diverse experiences shared by GPC members on trips to Southern Africa in 2002 and 2003. Both visited South Africa; the 2002 trip also stopped in Mozambique.
The GPC offers its members -- engaged philanthropists from 14 countries -- a chance to exchange ideas with peers, learn about successful philanthropic initiatives and strategies, and collaborate in groundbreaking efforts to eradicate poverty around the world. The annual trips also offer a special opportunity for members and their families to benefit from meaningful dialogue and interaction with Synergos' international network of development institutions, government, academic and business leaders and key social actors -- dialogue and interaction that enhances attendees' philanthropy once they return home.
South Africa: Overcoming Adversity Through Leadership, Reconciliation and a Common Vision
The Circle's first trip to South Africa explored a wide range of themes -- partnership and progress, rural community development, youth and communities, fostering leadership, and eco-tourism. The second visit expanded the knowledge and connections made on the previous visit and focused on the issue of HIV/AIDS. Both trips were attended by some 30 philanthropists from around the world -- each with different perspectives and at different stages in their philanthropy -- united by a desire to learn more and see firsthand how local actors are working to solve critical problems.
While the two trips reflected diverse aspects of this dynamic country, the overriding message both years was the importance of leadership and the power of reconciliation. Although South Africa's history of colonialism and apartheid could have left it permanently scarred, it has instead become a thriving democracy and the economic engine of the region.
Both visits explored South Africa's tremendous potential and helped participants appreciate the nonprofit, private and public sectors' collaboration -- working together to address the country's many challenges. Circle members experienced the dynamism of many South Africans and their commitment to their country's advancement. The group also discovered how they could apply what they learned to their own philanthropy.
In small meetings, trip participants met with former President Nelson Mandela; Frene Ginwala, Speaker of the Parliament (one of the world's few female parliament speakers); Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel; and Ahmed Kathrada, who spent 26 years in Robben Island Prison and is now Chairman of the Robben Island Museum Council.
During their meeting with Trevor Manuel, participants had the opportunity to discuss South Africa's major issues -- how to structure the economy so that those marginalized during apartheid can participate in the marketplace and how the nation can fight the AIDS epidemic, which is a growing and ominous threat.
The group attended a dinner hosted by Circle members Tokyo and Judy Sexwale. A corporate leader, Mr. Sexwale spent 13 years imprisoned on Robben Island during apartheid. More than 300 business, NGO and political leaders and heroes from the anti-apartheid movement attended the event. What made the evening even more special was that attendees had the opportunity to hear Mandela and David Rockefeller speak about their lives and visions of philanthropy. Their interaction, facilitated by Rockefeller's daughter and Synergos Chair Peggy Dulany, offered insight on their experiences, providing inspiration to those who will take South Africa into the future.
Circle member Ian Simmons, a leading fundraiser, donor and founding director of Resource Generation, was especially moved by Mandela's humility and commitment to sharing his knowledge with South Africa's next generation. "As fantastic as it was to meet Nelson Mandela, he himself would not want to be the highlight of a...trip to South Africa," says Simmons. "He would have preferred what happened -- our meeting and becoming inspired by the next generation of unsung heroes of South Africa."
Cherie Nursalim, Executive Director of Indonesia's Gajah Tunggal Group and a GPC member, was moved by Mandela. "He asked me about my country.... His interest for other fellow men and women in the developing world is so genuine," she says. Nursalim recollects a moment that was, for her, inspirational. "I saw ex-ANC leader Tokyo Sexwale toast de Klerk, thanking him '...for letting us out of jail.' If only in other countries, including ours," she continues, "even a fragment of this South African 'forgiveness' and 'reconciliatory' spirit can spread its wings, the world will be more peaceful."
Throughout their time in South Africa, members of the group saw the effects of AIDS, which has infected one out of every four citizens. They encountered the epidemic's reality in the faces and arms of children, as well as with afflicted adults and those trying to deal with the disease's consequences.
"Somehow, when you hear the statistics of AIDS prevalence, it doesn't sink in," says Dulany. "It is seeing, touching the children whose lives have been affected -- by having it themselves, by losing their parents to it, or by having been abused by desperate men seeking protection or cure from the dread disease -- that the meaning reaches you like a two-by-four striking your head."
Circle members visited Amelia's Home. From the outside, the small house in a poor township of Cape Town looked only big enough for a family of four. However, when the group entered the house, they found more than 60 children who were being cared for by a woman whose heart was big enough for them all.
It was a moment Circle member Anne Mai, a board member of Project DOCC (Delivery of Chronic Care) and Fountain House, has not forgotten. "The children were all well cared for and got along well, with the older kids taking care of those who were younger. All the children go to school with clean clothes," she says. "When they leave, Amelia takes in other children so their parents can work."
Dulany's observations sum up the feelings of many who were on both trips. "While South Africa continues to face challenges -- inclusion of those who have been socially marginalized and AIDS -- my feelings of helplessness were outweighed by the hope and power of the people we saw and other actors who are working on the ground."
Mozambique: Visions of Progress
In Mozambique, Circle members saw first-hand the impressive growth that the country has experienced in the past five years. Graça Machel, children's rights advocate and founder of the Foundation for Community Development -- a Synergos partner and the nation's major grantmaking foundation -- hosted the visit.
As in South Africa, participants met with business and government leaders, notably President Joaquim Chissano, and later split up into small groups for site visits to local programs.
In the capital city of Maputo, one group viewed an attempt to create some normalcy for those affected by AIDS -- an art class of dozens of young children. The teacher was Mozambican artist Naguib, who was showing his students how to draw pictures in the sand, using bits of pebbles and straw for definition.
Ian Simmons recalls a trip to a village far from Maputo where participants were warmly welcomed with song and food by a women's cooperative recently started in the village. "The...trip didn't moralize or romanticize but allowed me to observe, connect, be inspired, and recognize how much history and future lies in the balance of our commitments to each other," says Simmons. "...I have not gone a week without remembering the children and women of the village in Mozambique and the leaders who are supporting their efforts."
Forging Alliances, Transforming Philanthropy
Circle trips have forged alliances between members and transformed their philanthropy.
"My favorite part of the trip was meeting the people who are doing the work," says Juliette Gimon, Flora Foundation board member, Hewlett family member and Synergos board member. "It strengthened the Flora Foundation's ties with South Africa. We have since supported projects that I saw on both trips. For the past two years, we hosted GPC retreats in California, and South African GPC members attended both years."
For Cherie Nursalim, who is interested in understanding and bridging countries in development to a global setting, the trip "immensely" affected her philanthropy. As a result of the trip, Nursalim has initiated education efforts in both schools and businesses in Indonesia in order to introduce people to AIDS issues.
"The GPC trip revealed critical needs for more understanding and cooperation between places of power and centers of troubling poverty," says Simmons.
Circle member Ambassador Swanee Hunt also was deeply affected. "The trip set my head and heart spinning, trying to understand the power of forgiveness in the face of incalculable suffering. We saw how a prison had become a workshop in which courage and compassion were fashioned," she says of the visit to Robben Island. "That transformation opened up possibilities, not only in my philanthropic work but also in my personal life."