Development or Disaster?

Today in our projects meeting Nhlanhla brought up a case of a boy that we have been working with for years. At the age of 23, there is an outside organization that is asking for us to help them use their money for his "development." They have been working with this young man for years, but there is a problem-- things are not getting better. Let's name this boy "Z."

Z dropped out of school in grade 9. He never passed academically after grade 7, but was allowed to continue on "condolences" [South African public education.... no comment] despite the fact that he only attended 50% of his classes. Z stopped going to school so he could sell newspapers and make money.

So this organization took the initiative of paying him whatever amount of money he was earning so he would go to school but not feel he was losing out financially. Not only did he not fix his poor attendance record, Z dropped out altogether. 

Seeing how this didn't work, this organization then decided to find a way to put him in therapy and keep in touch with him by giving him a cell phone and an airtime starter pack so they could keep in touch with him. Not wanting to keep in touch with these people who keep pestering him about going to school, he threw away the airtime so he could buy a new starter pack [which gives him a new phone number]-- he kept the cell phone without having to keep in touch. Clever.

Z has been accused of rape. He has impregnated a 16-year old girl. He has been in trouble with the law multiple times... and this organization is looking for our help in giving him more money in hopes that he will use it to care for the girl and her child, and himself. When do pull out?

This is not an easy problem to solve by any means. When you pull out of the situation, it seems akin to "giving up." It sounds harsh to merely give up on someone because they have been struggling for a while, even when they are defiant to what you are offering. There is no simple answer, but everyone must get to a point in which they realize that money will not solve all problems. 

They have been spoiling Z with money, hoping that he would change through having the finances to do so. When doing this for all these years, what happens to Z when they realize their method is not working and completely pull out financially? Nhlanhla said he felt this is a recipe for disaster-- for years he has been able to be outwardly defiant to their attempts yet keep the benefits flowing. When that gets cut 100%, what will his next move be? Perhaps we will see him change for the better in acknowledgement to the mistakes he has made; or perhaps we will see him hanging from the rafters of an abandoned building. Unfortunately the harsh imagery is more likely in these situations than the aforementioned positive.

Charity work is a lot more complex than sending money. Sometimes, a financial contribution is all that you can make, but you need to take the time to ensure that you go through the proper outlets that make that money workable. Fortunately there are good non-profit organizations who know how to make that money work in the best way possible for each case [and I may be bias in saying that Thandanani definitely does but... Thandanani definitely does]. It is also sad that this story I have told of Z's rebelliousness in a refusal to go to school and living against a rape claim is not a unique story in any way [except maybe the money being given to him] in South Africa. I hear this story so much that i fear I will one day go numb to the words that once sent me into shock and fear. There is still a long way to go in here, and we need to know what it is we as individuals can do to make progress-- inefficient fueling of money is not the right answer.