Acacia Global’s Community Liaison Noxie Totoyi’s Commitment to her Community

By Noxie Totoyi

In February of 2018 the residents living on NY3A in Guguletu, South Africa, came together to form a committee to face the many challenges we have been experiencing over the years. We elected committee members and I became the Chairperson of our street committee. 

Our mission was to bring back love, respect and dignity. We wanted to do away with loneliness, especially for the elderly who are victims of rape and abuse, some even by their own family members. We go to the families of children who are not in school to determine the reason why and work together to find a solution to get them back in school. Our main function is also to combat crime. We have a word in Xhosa, “Ubuntu”, which means “We are because you are and you are because we are.”

In 2016, Mandla Majola came to ask me if it was possible to rent my garage and make it the office for his community program, Movement for Change and Social Justice (MCSJ). Mandla would frequently invite our committee members to engage in their workshops. In doing so our youngsters learned how to write their CV’s and they also became volunteers for MCSJ teaching them important life skills.

Our partnership with MCSJ has encouraged us as street committee members to go beyond our initial mission and engage in other socio economic activities such as:

• Prevention and resolution of domestic violence.

• Social Welfare issues around orphans, physically challenged individuals and the elderly.

With the assistance of MCSJ, 25 street committees have come together and formed the Street Committee Transformation Forum (STF). STF is developing good governance and creating subcommittees to address the challenges we as street committees face daily.

I am proud and honored to be the Chairperson of my street committee and help build a stronger community for all.