When a Community Comes Together: The Mafane Clinic Charity Box

It started with one mother and her baby

Kabelo Mojonjene, our Social Mobiliser, explains that the story of the charity box began during the South African winter.

“The story of our charity box was inspired by a case that we had at the clinic, when a young mother came with her infant to the clinic around wintertime. It was very cold on the day, and the mother and her infant were not wearing enough clothes. It was very disturbing for the nurse, who was an AYFS Champion, to watch.”

The situation prompted the clinic team to pause and ask an important question: How can we support women and families who may find themselves in similar situations?

You could say that the South African winter brought out the spirit of Christmas early. But this was not about one person playing Santa. It was about a long-standing spirit of care and community action embedded in the people working alongside the community.

They saw a need and decided to act.

From an observation to action

As an organisation, we believe in strengthening the people who work alongside communities to support meaningful and sustainable change. At Mafane Clinic, this approach came to life.

Following the incident, the team held a meeting to discuss practical ways of supporting women and families in need. From that conversation, the idea of a charity box at the clinic was born.

Kabelo explains:

“We had a meeting after that where we discussed how we could help women in similar situations. Then the idea of having a charity box at the facility came about. It was implemented by the Youth Care Club at the time. They donated their old clothes and asked friends to donate clothes.”

The initiative started with what the young people had. They donated their own clothes and reached out to friends for additional donations.

Then something powerful happened: the community joined in.

From one idea to a community movement

Vision and dreams are not built in a day, and the social mobilisers understood that meaningful change requires patience, participation and collective action.

Within two months, the charity box had become a success.

Kabelo says:

“In a period of two months, the idea was a success, as people from the community were bringing clothes, school uniforms, toiletries, and some even donated food hampers.”

What began as a response to one mother and her infant quickly became a collective effort involving young people, community members and clinic staff.

The donations have helped families and schoolchildren, particularly those who need school uniforms and other essential items.

“Clinic staff are also helping with donations, and we are helping a lot of people and schoolchildren with school uniforms. With the charity box, we sometimes visit orphanages to hand out clothes,” says Kabelo.

The initiative demonstrates the power of communities responding to their own needs and using the resources around them to create practical solutions.

This is social and community mobilisation in action

The Mafane Clinic Charity Box is more than a collection point for donations. It is an example of social and community mobilisation in action.

Social and community mobilisation is a key part of our work as an organisation. It is about entering communities respectfully, listening to their experiences, understanding their realities and working alongside them to identify solutions that are meaningful and sustainable.

Our approach supports communities to:

• Analyse their assets, vulnerabilities, stakeholders, services, safety and power dynamics.
• Move through the Community Action Cycle, from preparation and co-design to implementation and participatory monitoring.
• Use ORID – Objective, Reflective, Interpretive and Decisional facilitation, ADKAR – Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement and participatory communication approaches to support behaviour and social norm change.
• Promote inclusion and strengthen local ownership and community resources.
• Practise a do-no-harm
• Develop practical, field-ready action plans that communities can take forward.
• The Mafane Clinic Charity Box reflects this approach: a need was identified, people came together, local resources were mobilised, and a community-led solution was developed.

Change starts with all of us

The story of the Mafane Clinic Charity Box reminds us that community change does not always begin with a large programme, a big budget or a complicated solution.

Sometimes, it begins with seeing a need and asking what we can do about it.

One mother and her baby sparked a conversation. That conversation became an idea. Young people took the idea forward. The community responded. Clinic staff joined in. And today, the charity box continues to support families and children.

It is a powerful reminder that listening, organising, sharing and taking action can turn a small idea into meaningful change.

Want to support the Mafane Clinic Charity Box?

If you would like to donate clothes, school uniforms, toiletries or other suitable items, please contact our Social Mobiliser, Kabelo Mojonjene, at kabelo@soulcity.org.za.

Together, we can turn community needs into community action.