In his novel The Power of One, Australian Bryce Courtenay fantasised about how one motivated, visionary person was able to change the social dynamics of a mining village in Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) in the 1940’s. A young white man with determination was able to overcome all odds and rise to the top of his game (boxing) and study in Oxford with the help of friends. The novel was so inspiring that it was made into a film in the early 1990s.

But the novel goes entirely against a stronger African sense of solidarity, or ubuntu, as we say in South Africa. Ubuntu is the recognition that “no man is an island” (as the poet John Donne wrote). We are all shaped by the actions and concerns of our neighbours: “A person is a person because of, through and by, the people around him or her.” Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu – as it is said in isiZulu. Bryce Courtenay’s fictional hero has to struggle through life on his own terms, and overcome obstacles. In Sesotho, we say “Bonngwe ke matla” or Unity is Strength. This was not Courtenay’s message. Instead, he imagined – we can do it alone.

When we are facing so many challenges in the environmental sphere, which are on a larger scale than any of us can tackle alone, we realise the wisdom of the proverb beloved by many Africans: “If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together.” Community action allows us to attain long-term goals. It is not possible to redress global climate change as a single person, or even as a single community. In Ethiopia, they are planting billions of trees every year to try to re-nature the country, to clean and cool the air, and to reverse the long periods of drought. This is an amazing activity. But Ethiopia alone cannot control the climate of their country. That is why they are offering billions of seedlings to neighbouring countries, for those populations also to contribute to the global removal of harmful Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere. The entire Eastern African community should be able to make a significant difference to the concentration of Greenhouse gases. But we need to be consistent in our planet-saving activity. We need to also refrain from exploiting fossil fuels either for sale or for local use, and reduce our dependency on such fossil fuels.

In South Africa there are savings clubs – which are very similar to the chamas of Eastern Africa. The South African version helps people to save funds in a co-operative manner over a year, and then to be able to afford some large expense at the end of the 12 months. The “stokvel” meets at the house of a different member each month. The members socialise, and put their funds together for the month and “pay out” one member of the stokvel. Each month it is a different member who receives the payout. If a tragedy should befall the family of a member, the others can also contribute voluntarily to help out that family.

The stokvel has the advantage of helping people who don’t have access to a savings account at bank or to the formal financial sector. It is also a social way of pooling funds, rather than the anonymous, somewhat impersonal, sometimes unfriendly banks which consider they are doing you a favour by holding your money for you. It is a helpful way for people – very often women – to save when they don’t have the necessary documentation for opening a banking account. The members often encourage each other to be financially disciplined, to put aside some money each month no matter how challenging the circumstances might be. Unlike a Kenyan SACCO or a co-op, it is not the purpose of a chama or stokvel to make profit, to give dividends, or to offer low-interest loans. Its beauty lies in its scale: every member knows every other member of the organisation, and finds it easier to trust the colleagues, than if it were a larger organisation with unknown stakeholders.

In his encyclical on Care for Our Common Home, Laudato Si’, Pope Francis values the contribution of local cooperatives which make decisions about the use of the renewable natural resources in an area. His point is made in relation to the provision of energy, but he broadens the argument to appreciate the value that cooperatives bring to many environmental concerns. He writes: “while the existing world order proves powerless to assume its responsibilities, local individuals and groups can make a real difference. They are able to instil a greater sense of responsibility, a strong sense of community, a readiness to protect others, a spirit of creativity and a deep love for the land. They are also concerned about what they will eventually leave to their children and grandchildren.” So he encourages cooperatives to exert public pressure when political decisions are being made that do not favour the state of our common home.

The chama or stokvel is frequently perceived to be politically insignificant – lots of grannies sitting around drinking tea once a month. But actually their resources amount to the equivalent of many millions of Rands. We can only imagine their power for good, if they harnessed their collective wisdom, vision and power to push companies and governments to take better care of the environment for the benefit of the future generations!

Originally published in New People (Nairobi) in July-August 2023

Prof. Peter Knox SJ, PhD

New People

CTEWC