Last Tuesday we began our second Loan Cycle and corresponding business training and discipleship courses. This is the first group of entrepreneurs who have applied for a second round of loans with our program–so it’s particularly exciting! We’ve known some of these entrepreneurs for nearly a full year, and they’ve really welcomed us into their lives.

During the Pursuit of Purpose Course (the discipleship portion of the evening) the entrepreneurs were asked to share with one another one of the greatest moments of their life. We suggested examples such as your wedding day, when your first child was born and the day you begun your business. Through asking this question, we wanted to help our entrepreneurs understand that oftentimes who we share these special moments with is equally as important as the moment itself. Life wasn’t meant to be experienced alone–and neither is God. We can experience God through relationships, through family and through our communities. 

One of our entrepreneurs was asked to share with the group what one of her greatest moments was and at first she was reluctant. She can sometimes be a little shy, so it’s not at all uncommon for her to avoid speaking in front of the group. But without further provocation, she proudly proclaimed:

“Graduating from Paradigm Shift and getting my business training and discipleship certificates was one of the greatest moments of my life. I finished my coursework for my matric (high school graduation) but never got my diploma and didn’t have a celebration. Graduating from Paradigm Shift has taught me that the sky is the limit. You are never too old to do what you want to do and to accomplish your dreams.”

As I sat in the back of the room, my jaw dropped to the floor. I could hardly believe my ears. In some way, in some small way, my being here in South Africa and working with Paradigm Shift has contributed to one of the greatest moments of someone else’s life. One of the greatest moments in someone else’s life! Not something they enjoyed. Not something they thought was useful or beneficial. One of the greatest moments in someone else’s life! Wow.

By earning her certificates, this entrepreneur proved to herself that she IS smart and that she CAN do anything she puts her mind to it. At the core, our program is about empowering individuals to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. I have never felt this concept so deeply as I did last Tuesday night.

One of the most frequent questions I encounter when I tell someone about the work that we do, is, “What types of businesses do your entrepreneurs run?” Consequently, I compiled a fairly comprehensive list of the types of businesses we have worked with over the past year : ) There is certainly no shortage of creativity amongst our entrepreneurs…!

Selling/renting out children’s costumes

Selling custom promotional clothing

Exporting clothes to Zimbabwe

Running an internet café

Sewing handbags and tablecloths

Tailoring clothes

Designing clothes

Making curtains

Selling handbags/knick-knacks on the side of the road

Designing and creating greeting cards (and other products) from recycled paper

Selling perfume and make-up

Selling airtime for a public phone

Baking scones

Catering

Making jewelry

Selling second-hand clothes

Selling pap (traditional African food)

Selling chickens

Exporting clothes to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Designing computer graphics

Crafting bead-work souvenirs

Styling hair

Doing construction projects

Owning a tuck shop/spaza shop*

Owning a crèche (providing childcare services)

Providing administrative services (typing, printing etc.)

Providing skills training services

Exporting batteries to Zimbabwe

Welding metal services

Landscaping

*A tuck shop or spaza shop is somewhat similar to a community convenience store. A shop owner will sell items like food (bread, soup etc.) in addition to personal items (such as hair products, deodorant etc.). The physical appearance of the shop depends on the community they’re serving. A shop can be as simple as a table outside one’s house, selling random candy and parafin wax, such as our entrepreneur Joseph in Zandspruit. Or it can be as sophisticated an entire room in one’s house fully stocked with everyday essentials and a window that acts as a sort of “drive through” (or rather “walk through”), such as Rose in Cosmo City. This is a very common type of business in townships and informal settlements, where the nearest traditional store may be several kilometers away.

Check out this 3 minute slideshow to get a glimpse of my life (and work) in South Africa!

A few weeks ago we started our third loan family at New Creation Family Church. One of the entrepreneurs in this loan family happens to live in an informal settlement known as Zandspruit (pronounced ZANS-spreight). I first mentioned informal settlements in one of my blogs about Cosmo City, but haven’t had much chance to expand upon them since that entry. In a nutshell, an informal settlement is an area in which people have created make-shift housing (generally consisting of scrap metal, corrugated tin, various plastic material, etc.) but on which they have no legal claim. These residential areas are unauthorized, and thus, technically illegal. These types of settlements arise when an increase in urbanization (more people moving into cities) is met with an insufficient number of houses.

The living conditions in areas such as this are poor to say the very least. Because the housing structures are illegal, residents don’t usually have access to running water or electricity–and bathroom facilities are less than desirable. Sanitation is generally very bad.

All this being said, our entrepreneur has an incredible desire to succeed. My coworker Greg and I visited his business (in Zandspruit) prior to NCFC granting him a loan. His spaza shop (a type of “convenience store”) consists of a single table set up outside his home. The table can’t be more than 4 feet long by 3 feet wide. At his spaza shop, our entrepreneur sells paraffin (used for cooking since they don’t have electricity) and sweets (candy)–and he has two public phones which people can pay to use to make either domestic or international calls. He was interested in the loan in order to buy cool drinks (soda) to sell at his spaza shop during the warm summer months. He insisted that his customers continue to ask for cool drinks, but he doesn’t have the extra R70 (about $10USD) to buy a case of cool drinks at the petrol station (gas station) down the road.

This man is unbelievably hard working and a great learner. He was the first one to show up to our Saturday training (he was 20 minutes early!), despite the fact that he lives a significant distance away and it takes nearly an hour by taxi. (Note: “Taxi” in the South African context refers to a 15 passanger van that is more similar to a bus than an “American taxi.”) Towards the end of our assessment visit, Greg and I asked him why he was interested in growing his business. His response was simple. He wants to grow his business so he can expand his shop and employee people who are less fortunate than himself. He wants to do something good for the community. 

With such an undeniably pure heart, we couldn’t help but be captivated by this young man and his selfless longing to help others despite his own current circumstances.

A few weeks ago during our weekly meeting at New Creation we hosted an Emmaus Road session on Worship. At that point, we had been with the Pioneer Loan Family for nearly 4 months and with the Masakhane Loan Family for nearly 3 months. Consequently, we have all grown exceptionally close–and we very much enjoy spending Tuesday evenings with one another.

The session was incredibly powerful. We discussed what worship is, what it means to worship and why we worship. We talked about worship being more than singing a song or going to church–but rather living a lifestyle of enjoying God, loving God and telling others about Him.

We encouraged the entrepreneurs to “think outside the box” in terms of worship. We emphasized that worship can be singing, dancing, clapping, shouting, playing an instrument…it can be creative, artistic, organic, individual, collective…you can worship through loving others, through serving others, or even through working : )

At the end of the evening we challenged the entrepreneurs to share with the group different reasons why they worship and different ways in which they worship. The energy in the room was joyous and thankful, and Gaby (one of our Life Coaches who was leading the session) suggested we all sing a song of worship together. Andisiwe (another one of our Life Coaches who happens to have an amazing voice) began singing an old Zulu/Xhosa praise song. To my astonishment, nearly every single person in the room knew the song and joined in at the appropriate times. It is by far one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. It’s a simple song, but the passion and sincerity behind the lyrics are undeniable. I begged Andisiwe to teach me the song, and I’ve had it stuck in my head ever since that Tuesday meeting! Watching our entrepreneurs (along with our volunteers) unabashedly worship God truly stirred my heart. It was definitely one of my favorite experiences in South Africa thus far…

The song features a sort of call-and-response structure, with one person leading and everyone else singing a type of chorus. I desperately tried to find a version on iTunes, but didn’t have any luck. The lyrics are as follows:

Igama leNkosi Malibongwe (The Name of the Lord be Praised)

UJesu’phakeme (Jesus is Lifted Up)

UJesu’mandla (Jesus is Powerful)

UJesu’yinkosi (Jesus is King)

Our second local church partner is a small church plant in an area of town called, “Cosmo City.”  Cosmo City is an incredibly unique place.  In South Africa, there is still a significant problem with informal settlements (areas of land where people build make-shift shacks in which they live, but the areas are not designated [or equipped] to serve as living spaces). “Homes” located in informal settlements seldom have access to electricity or running water. They are often seen as temporary housing situations, so they are not sturdy (or warm). In an attempt to relocate people from informal settlements into better housing, the South African government has invested R3,5 billion ($438 million) into an experimental mixed-income residential area referred to as “Cosmo City.” There are three types of houses offered in Cosmo: fully-subsidized (free), partially subsidized and fully bonded/market price. The idea is to create an appealing environment that is affordable to all different types of people.

Interestingly enough, many of the streets are named after American cities and states.  And, I’m not even kidding, the main street to enter into Cosmo City is called Tennessee Avenue   I couldn’t even make that up if I wanted to…! 

The first time I explored Cosmo I stumbled upon the intersection of South Africa Drive and Tennessee Avenue. My heart jumped with delight. The intersection of these two roads seemed to be the perfect metaphor for my life. And to top it off, there was a temporary tent on the corner of South Africa and Tennessee where some community members were holding a Sunday afternoon church service. Too perfect for words! God has such a way of making me smile and rejoice in His sense of humor.

To read more about Cosmo City, click here for an article published back in 2005, or here for an article published in 2008.

A week ago last Wednesday, one of my teammates and I had the unique opportunity to visit one of the largest townships in all of Johannesburg, Alexandra (fondly referred to as “Alex”).  For those of you who are wondering what a township is …under Apartheid, blacks and “coloureds” were confined to specific residential areas—so there was a clear distinction between where whites lived and where non-whites lived. These areas were called townships.  Nowadays, these communities (generally located on the outskirts of cities) are still incredibly underdeveloped.

One of our entrepreneurs had traveled all the way from Alex to Robin Hills (about an hour by taxi) in order to attend our business training course.  Consequently, we felt we owed it to her to travel to Alex to assess her business and discuss the possibility of receiving a microloan.  This particular entrepreneur is a baker.  Every morning, she wakes up around 4am–spends 2 hours baking scones–and then sells her scones on the corner of her street to people on their way to work.  She has very little money, and the R72 (R36 round trip, times two separate meeting occasions) she spent on taxi fees to get to and from the training was probably a significant sacrifice.  

She and her sister (and their two children, ages 11 and 18 months) share a living space.  Their “house” could not have been more than 10 feet long by 10 feet wide. A large bed occupied much of the room, and there was no running water anywhere to be seen.  The most noticeable appliance was the stove, where our entrepreneur faithfully bakes her scones each morning.

Yet, despite this “lack” of materials possessions, I have never felt more welcomed into a home in my entire life.  As Greg and I walked in we were greeted with warm smiles and big hugs.  We were asked to sit in their only two chairs, with a third chair serving as a coffee table.  Our entrepreneurs’ sister promptly cleaned the only four cups they seemed to own and began to prepare tea for the four of us.  We had to ask our entrepreneur some pretty serious questions about how she would, logistically, attend each weekly meeting.  We were very clear in the fact that if she were to receive a loan, each weekly meeting was mandatory—and missed meetings incurred a fine.  Our entrepreneur had clearly thought out a plan of action for how she could get to and from meetings—and reminded us that sacrifices are necessarily if you want to advance in your business.

Leaving her home, I knew there would definitely be obstacles to encounter throughout the course of the next few months—but she had unwaveringly won my support.  I believe in her.  I think she can (and will) succeed.  And most importantly, she reminded me why I moved 10,000 miles away from everyone I know and love.

If you’re interested in learning more about Alex, please feel click here.