Niki Moore
Ilimo is a Zulu word for a traditional practice of communal labour. For instance, if a man needed help to plough his field, he would ask his neighbours to help him and would offer, instead of payment, to supply copious amounts of beer.
The Ilimo Network, based at the Sugar Foundation in Durban, has taken the concept of ilimo and applied it to social development.
The network endeavours to bring together grantmakers, community foundations, private enterprise, NGOs and government departments to find out what each of them can bring to the party to make social development work in South Africa.
The network last year hosted the “University for a Night”, a dinner for invited guests.
“The rationale was to bring together all the different players that are involved with social development,” says University for a Night coordinator Joy Mills-Hackman. “We wanted to give them a platform for discussion, so that they could find points of similarity and overcome points of difference.
“We also invited academics and marketers, financial gurus and philosophers. There were about 15 tables of 10 people each, and we tried to make each table as diverse as possible.
“Each table was also given a facilitator someone from the Ilimo Network whose job it was to introduce the topic for discussion, make sure the discussion stayed on track, take notes on what people said and also ensure that the discussion did not get too heated!”
Mills-Hackman, who has a background in financial management and has garnered expertise in developmental studies, helped choose topics that were as diverse as the guests. All had to do with social, economic and development issues.
“The fact that the same topic was debated by people who had different backgrounds, outlooks and frames of reference certainly made us sit up and think,” says Gordon MacDonald, chairperson of the Durban Community Chest, a charity organisation that raises funds and distributes them among welfare projects.
“There were people sitting at each table who were experts in their field. The input that they brought to each issue was an eye-opener to experts in other fields.”
A summary of the debates was posted on the Ilimo Network website so that the insights could be widely accessed. And this is just the beginning.
Chris Mkhize, director of the Uthungulu Community Foundation, believes that the ilimo concept should be expanded nationally. “There is no organisation that does what Ilimo does it fills a huge gap. There is no link between the government, the private sector, NGOs and grantmakers. We need this networking and this partnership.
“The topics we discussed were of national interest and they must be extended to give all these organisations involved in social development more muscle.”
MacDonald agrees. “The value of our University for a Night was that it added value to what these different role-players are doing. These diverse decision-makers could debate different points, identify gaps and overlaps and find ways to work together. Each could find out what they could contribute to maximise the impact of social development funding.”
But the Ilimo function was not just a talk shop. “There was some real networking,” says Mills-Hackman.
Hixonia Nyasulu, a research and marketing consultant, says: “We now need to take a more practical approach. The Ilimo Network needs to identify real social development issues, make up teams and appoint champions, lay down clear targets and define the steps needed and which role-players need to get involved. We need to set targets that are measurable, and it must be up to the facilitators to make sure that progress is measured.”
The next University for a Night function has been planned for June 27 at an outdoor venue which can accommodate more people. There will be feedback from the previous discussion and new topics to be discussed.
ENDS