“As an organization working with the community, we have experienced many effects of poverty through our beneficiaries; one which is transactional sex where our girls sleep with older men in order for them to put food on the table which leads to teenage pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.”
Moya Director, Nomcebo Makhubu Sifundza
The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is celebrated every year on the 17th of October and it is dedicated to raising awareness about poverty and taking action to end it. Eradication of poverty is a goal that has been a continuous struggle, and it requires collective effort from governments, civil society, community-based organizations, individuals, and the private sector. Poverty is a global issue that affects billions of people, and it is not just limited to low-income countries. It is also present in high-income countries, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only worsened the poverty crisis. In Eswatini, these conditions have been exorbitated by the political uprisings that occurred from June 2021, where lockdowns, looting, burning and transport strikes were a regular occurrence.
As an organization, Moya Centre has made efforts towards eradicating poverty through various programs and projects. One of our flagship programs is Design Your Future (DYF) funded by The Solon Foundation, which aims to sponsor learners to do skills-related courses, thus improving their chances of finding employment and breaking out of the cycle of poverty.
Through our SAHEE Foundation supported project, SRH Youth, we fund small-scale businesses run by youth in our community, giving them the opportunity to become self-sufficient and lift themselves out of poverty. We have also constructed Permaculture gardens aimed at creating sustainable food sources for our community, improving access to nutritious food, and reducing food-related poverty.
At our core, we are still an Education and Holistic Healing organization, so our Mental Health Management department sees about 20-30 cases that are reported on a weekly basis. The catalysts for all these cases, whether it is abuse, drug usage or even child neglect; is poverty and limited choices. It is for this reason that we mainstream Mental Health Management throughout our Programs.
These measures are just a few examples of our efforts towards eradicating poverty, but we believe that this is a goal that requires collective effort from all stakeholders involved in the fight against poverty. The eradication of poverty requires long-term and sustainable solution.
“As an organization we have been having an influx of Malnutrition cases especially from our Young mother group where the mothers are unable to provide balanced and nutritious meals to their children and even though some are breastfeeding, they can’t breastfeed effectively because the mothers are hungry themselves” says Moya Director Make Nomcebo. Through these programs outlined and with the hopes of future support from more donors, Moya can contribute even further to the eradication of poverty.