Introducing Cambridge Village South Africa: A Story of Hope

A few months back I received a call from a stranger who was referred to The Dandelion Philosophy. She was looking for some short-term help feeding a community in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa.

“We need some food parcels to help some of the people in the community”, Thobeka Thamage explained, before painting a vivid and heartbreaking picture of Cambridge Village.

I consider myself somewhat familiar with my country of birth, yet I had never heard of this community and I was oblivious to just how dire their circumstances were. After all, this doesn’t make the papers.

23 children under the age of 12 died in the first 3 months of 2022 in the Eastern Cape of South Africa alone. Only a fraction of these deaths were ever reported in the media.

I would learn that the lack of industry and opportunity means this region of the country is too often forgotten. Add to that the unspeakable levels of corruption, which are so rife in South Africa, and the appetite for investment becomes significantly lowered.

South Africa has an unemployment rate of around 32%. The Eastern Cape is more affected, with unemployment at around 42.8%. Cambridge Village, which has a population of around 7500, experiences an even more concerning 97% unemployment rate.

Many of South Africa’s freedom fighters, including Thobeka herself, have committed themselves to changing the landscape of a country still recovering from its recent dark past. This vocation too often comes at the great cost of personal suffering and sacrifice.

Thobeka shared with me some of her own experiences with trauma, the loss of her husband and son and how she has chosen to redirect her pain into inspiring hope for others.

Not only is she contributing to building the community, but she was instrumental in building a clinic to provide care for local residents. She is deeply respected and affectionately known as “The Iron Lady” by the people of Cambridge Village, and she has become a part of our tribe at The Dandelion Philosophy.

Thobeka also described the experience of the average person in Cambridge Village, along with some alarming insight into the catalogue of social challenges—child-headed homes, the elderly who go hungry and are therefore unable to take the medication they require, gender-based violence, crime, child abuse, lack of basic education, sanitation, and the exploitation of young girls struggling to survive or even find their next meal.

For most people in Cambridge Village, three meals a week, usually in the form of a water-based soup, is the standard diet.

In a recent catch-up with an ex-manager and individual I have such great respect and admiration for, we talked about the impacts of long-term exposure to trauma and intergenerational trauma.

The fact that so many black and brown people have become accustomed to living in a state of fight-or-flight means that they are often unaware of the paralysis this trauma has caused in their lives.

Thobeka has used the term “Apartheid paralysis”, which for me, captures the experience of so many people in South Africa. It is the inability to progress or shift from a deep-rooted trauma that isn’t always recognised or attributable to a particular event or to specific reasons.

I liken this to an unseen force, like gravity, binding and holding someone down, all the while never being able to see or understand what this force is or why it exists. At some point, the deep hood this force has on them immobilises them. Cambridge Village epitomises this reality.

Cambridge Village South Africa

We have, however, not lost hope. I reminded myself that one of the tenets of The Dandelion Philosophy is, “we are here to serve, not to save”.

This community did not need another non-profit to hand out t-shirts and a few meals, take photographs, and if they were feeling particularly generous, to leave a small token cash gift to provide some temporary relief.

We met with the Cambridge Youth Society (CYS) to get an understanding of the circumstances and what intervention was required. This group of leaders have chosen change because they understand that doing the same thing over and over while expecting new results would be fruitless.

In true South African spirit, our first discussion with CYS began with the group singing a traditional song, followed by an opening prayer of gratitude. Their voices, filled with hope, resonated with The Dandelion Philosophy in a way mere words could not.

We knew what needed to be done.

The Dandelion Philosophy is committed to sustaining our current work, but we will focus our efforts in 2023 on the community of Cambridge Village to create the much-needed food security, agricultural intervention, and psychosocial support required to convert this hope into transformation and opportunity.

Throughout the month of December, we will share more insight into our partnership and work in Cambridge Village.

We invite you to become an agent of change, and to be part of the vision and transformation of this community by supporting our work.

You can learn more about our work and donate at www.dandelionphilosophy.com. Come Join us!

THIS IS NOT CHARITY. THIS IS CHANGE.