By Lucas Lopes
On July 22nd the first meeting between the Micaia Foundation, from Mozambique, and the Philanthropy Network for Social Justice in order to generate approximations of organizations and countries in their experiences with what we understand as “community philanthropy” [1].
In 2021, both organizations started the Donate to Transform Program in their respective countries. In addition to Mozambique and Brazil, the program is being carried out in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya and Palestine.
Since 2016, at an international meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, the Network has been reflecting and producing knowledge about the concept of “community philanthropy” beyond the traditional models adopted by international bodies. Through provocations and thoughts on the subject, research and exchange of knowledge were carried out with social actors, identifying which practices of “community philanthropy” they had already existed in Brazil for many years, but outside the pre-conceived idea of a community foundation.
In this rapprochement meeting, various practices that exist within the idea of “community philanthropy” in Brazil were shared, while communities that organize and mobilize resources to leverage their own transformation and development processes. And not just financial resources, but also networks, connections and local assets. These are often dynamic, self-organizing, autonomous initiatives carried out by organized social groups, some of them with years of history and practice, such as black and quilombola communities and brotherhoods. In the Brazilian reality, community philanthropy is not only territorial, it also occurs with the involvement and consideration of political minorities, such as LGBTI+, women, black people, indigenous people, family farmers. These organizations exist independently of foundations and the resources that may come to them through international philanthropy.
It was understood there that the diversity of structures within community philanthropy practiced by communities is vital to give materiality to the concept. The idea is not to impose a theoretical concept and understand its practice, but rather to create the concept based on the practice that already exists. Diversity is at the heart of this process and, by ignoring this, we run into the problem of people and communities not identifying with the proposal, which fails to explain their particular realities.
In each place in the world, this model absorbs and incorporates characteristics of varied sociopolitical dynamics. COMMUNITY PHILANTHROPY, therefore, it is a vision, a way of doing philanthropy, of recognizing the philanthropic field with actions that already exist, resources that allow civil society institutions with total autonomy so that the community can carry out its project without major bureaucratic scrutiny.
Contributing to the discussion, the Micaia Foundation brought important reflections on the reality of Mozambique which, although it shares elements with the Brazilian one, has its own particularities that must be considered.
There is a culture of solidarity in the country, but without necessarily the term “philanthropy”. Examples such as “mutual aid” and “safety net” local, allow social groups to organize themselves and survive, in a resilient way, in the face of sociopolitical and financial turmoil. The challenge for Mozambique, therefore, comes from mapping the existing diversity, in order to think about the concept that makes sense for the country and its realities, and that emerges from material reality.
There is, as in the Brazilian context, a lack of appropriation of the word and concept of “philanthropy” by civil society organizations, largely due to the lack of trust in the term. Trust is a vital step towards building any possible culture of giving, whether that trust is in the organizations themselves or in the agendas they champion.
The hypothesis was presented in the conversation that due to a long history of welfare policies and national restructuring centered solely on the figure of the State, there was the development of a feeling of dependence on the part of civil society organizations and donation institutions coming from an element external. A reflection of this process would be the challenges for the development of an awareness of individual autonomy on the part of Mozambican social organizations, given the links established with governments or international investments.
Part of the work of Micaia is to map what “community philanthropy” exists in the country and encourage a culture of proactivity and trust in social actors that they can generate income for their activities in a local and community way, involving a variety of existing resources. That way Micaia seeks to strengthen and mobilize local funds through community development whether in locations or for specific agendas.
With this initial analysis of the context of both countries, some strategic questions were also shared, such as how to present the concept of community philanthropy and the challenges and opportunities for developing a culture of giving within the countries, reflecting on how to mobilize and recognize existing resources.
Finally, it was discussed how community philanthropy presents itself as an important tool for the financial sustainability of organizations. Especially within the context of civil society, this degree of financial structuring allows the strengthening of its actions, the continuation of its work and a valuable freedom of action, in seeking to achieve its own objectives and outline its own agendas, free from direct or indirect influences. from external financiers.
The exchanges between the realities of Brazil and Mozambique are fundamental in the search for the creation of a “tropicalized” concept of community philanthropy, one that reflects the real needs and that makes sense in the logic of the countries, avoiding colonization by merely applying a US concept without any observations.
Micaia and the Network They are in this reflection together, through constant exchanges and management of common resources, in order to jointly strengthen an idea and practice of community philanthropy that makes sense and is embraced in the realities of their countries.
To find out more about the Micaia Foundation and his work in Mozambique, visit the website: https://micaia.org
To learn more about the efforts of Philanthropy Network for Social Justice in the study and dissemination of community philanthropy access the publication “Expanding and strengthening community philanthropy in Brazil”.
Lucas Lopes is a biologist, master and doctoral student in Bioethics, Applied Ethics and Public Health (UFRJ – UFF – UFRJ – Fiocruz). Occasionally collaborates with the activities of the Philanthropy Network for Social Justice.
