It has been a year of successful sourcing and publishing stories of giving and change from across African. The Kisima African Giving Platform continues diligently towards its mandate of documenting authentic stories and creating a space philanthropy conversation.
Kisima means ‘a well’ in Kiswahili, a perfect explanation of what the platform aims to achieve, that being a well inspiring. The initiative aims to highlight stories that focus on African’s making a difference in their communities across the continent and through various means of capturing the information.
On the 28th of April 2022, the Kisima Platform hosted its first instalment of its Kisima Quarterly Dialogues. The convening was held under the theme “Impactful Giving, the Do’s and Don’ts”. The dialogue was a hybrid convening that provided a platform for stakeholders and interested parties in the philanthropy space to interact.
Facilitated by portfolio lead Mapaseka Mokwele, this instalment of the Dialogues saw the launch of the Kisima Giving mobile app as well as provided a platform to change makers to share their stories in greater depth. Headlining the Dialogue as a keynote speaker was Chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand and philanthropist, Dr Judy Dlamini. The speakers also included the Director of CAPSI, Dr Bhekinkosi Moyo, Programme Director at TrustAfrica and Kisima Partner and Sponsor, Briggs Bomba and CAPSI Programme Manager, Thandi Makhubele
The Dialogue showcased some of the stories that have been featured on the Kisima website. These were Imbokodo Launch Pad led by Jazzman Simelane (also the winners of the Aspire Higher Competition), Kitso Lesedi Development Community led by Maki Tselapedi and Courageous Kids Foundation led by Courageous Musasa. The leaders of these organisations told the stories of what their organisations were about, but more importantly, the ‘why’ behind it all. After all, Kisima is a growing repository of African stories.
There were a few highlights of the day that were presented by Bhekinkosi Moyo, the first being the launch of the Story Nominations page on the platform. This is a function that allows anyone in the continent to select a cause, person, or organisation of their choice that they feel needs to be funded by Kisima African Giving Platform.
The Kisima African Giving Platform aims to make giving easier. Another key takeaway is how the platform has created various channels for one to Donate, including the new and innovative blockchain transfer options. The Platform also offers language translations from English to 13 widely spoken languages in the continent to make it accessible. Kisima truly is the well that keeps giving.