The Africa Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organisation, but, according to MD James Currie, it is "joined at the hip to CC Africa - we operate only where the company has a presence".
He says the foundation, launched in 1992 by CC Africa, "represents the caring for the people' side of the company's model. Most of the communities around our lodges are remote and tend to be cut off from the development that occurs in the rest of their countries - especially in SA - and they need our help the most."
The foundation, originally called the Rural Investment Fund, raises money primarily through the donations of guests who stay at CC Africa Lodges. "But our independent status enables us to approach SA corporations for funds, too," says Currie, who worked as a ranger before obtaining an MSc in sustainable environmental management. He also owned a bird-guiding company and managed a community development project in Cape Town.
The Africa Foundation concentrates on three categories - education, health care and income generation - in SA, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and East Africa. It has so far raised and committed more than US$5,5m to community-development projects and, says Currie, had one of its best years ever to end-June 2006.
"It's a unique foundation in that we work with the communities and not for them," says Currie. "We are a community development organisation rather than a philanthropic one. To this end, we have development officers from the local community who enable us to engage with community structures. We also engage with community school principals and sisters and nurses at community clinics, among other champions who help to drive our projects.
"And our projects are sustainable because we get involved only in those identified by the communities themselves. But we don't get involved in sports and cultural activities because we believe those are luxuries."
Currie adds that the Africa Foundation has allied trusts overseas: the Friends of Africa Foundation in the US and the Africa Foundation in the UK.
In education, the Africa Foundation builds classrooms and provides bursaries through its Community Leaders Education Fund. "We've built more than 100 classrooms and funded 200 students at tertiary level," says Currie. "And we build crèches, facilitate training for teachers and provide conservation lessons for rural children, which are conducted at the CC Africa lodges by CC Africa rangers."
Health-care initiatives include building primary health-care facilities and HIV/Aids awareness training.
