"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give."    - Winston Churchill

The Habit of Giving.

Back in 1999 I was challenged by a good friend to live by the promise of Malachi 3:10. A few years later I was challenged by my father to start supporting 2 children in Nyanga, one of the poorest neighbourhoods (locally referred to as a ‘township’) in Cape Town, South Africa. Over time these two challenges merged into a way of life, my wife and I like to call More 2 Life.

We started small and give annually. We commit a percentage of our income, never needing to debate if we are going to give or how much we are going to give, only to which causes we are going to give.

We focus on small, individual, projects. We select projects where we are able, in co-operation with local partners, to closely monitor the projects and the spending of our contributions. Fundamental to our giving is sustainability, i.e. when we commit to a project or to support a person, we commit only to the extent that we are able to sustain such support long term.

Over the last 23 years we have learned that giving is easy. Like all habits, once established, they are hard to break.

By telling our story and presenting our projects, we hope to inspire you to give in whatever way you are able to give and to share your story to inspire others.

May today be the day that you will also fall into the habit of giving.

Supporting the Disabled: Masincedane

Nancy Rwexhana started Masincedane, a care centre for severely disabled children, at her home in Nyanga, to care for her daughter, Lihle, who suffered from Cerebral Palsy. 

Today, in memory of Lihle, Masincedane is the home for ca. 20 severely disabled children, offering a sign of hope in the midst of extreme poverty and rampant crime.

Without any backyard or sidewalk, the washing line may be situated on the street, but the children of Masincedane are taken care of with patience and love.

More 2 Life and its partners contribute ca. 50% of the operating budget of Masincedane of ca. ZAR 500,000 per year.

 

Supporting the Disabled: Foundation Wspólnota w Wójtówce

Foundation Wspólnota w Wójtówce was founded by Mr. Mossakowski in Poland in January 1991 with the statutory purpose to create a home for handicapped people and offer them normal living conditions. The house and the farm land were donated to the foundation by him and his family. All members of the community are involved in running the house and working on the farm (caring for the animals, producing dairy products). They are offered artistic workshops and therapeutic activities. Nevertheless, most of the people the foundation looks after are not able to live on their own and need constant supervision and care.

Currently there are 13 handicapped people living in the house with 7 caretakers (4 employees and 3 volunteers).

More 2 Life is providing financial support for renovation and maintenance projects.

 

Supporting Children in Need: Priscilla’s Home Care

Over the last 15-20 years, Priscilla Ligwa’s small, 4 room township house in Nyanga, has been converted into a care home for 13 HIV orphans.

More 2 Life started to support this wonderful care home in 2008 by contributors “adopting” 3 of the orphans as part of the HIV Orphans project, including Simamkele who was adopted by a UK family.

Since then, More 2 Life has been actively involved in supporting Priscilla around staffing, maintenance, education and care for the children.

More 2 Life and its partners contribute ca. 85% of the operating budget of Priscilla’s Home Care of ca. ZAR 230,000 per year.

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”

— Malachi 3.10, Holy Bible

Supporting Children in Need: Orphan Project

The streets of Nyanga are filled with children left without parents as a result of HIV/Aids, other illnesses or violence. Many of these children have been infected with HIV/Aids themselves. They do not have homes, do not have food, do not attend school and do not have hope.

Social workers in the area started an initiative to identify these HIV orphans and place them with foster parents in the area. However, families in Nyanga do not have the financial means to feed another mouth or send another child to school.

Accordingly, to place a single child with a foster home requires funds of ZAR 550 per month (CHF 35 per month).

More 2 Life has supported a foster family for more than 15 years, providing also educational support through the Education projects, and is now providing education support also for the next generation.

 

Supporting Education

It is well known that good education is the best (and possibly only) way to relieve poverty in the world. More 2 Life supports this philosophy. We are assisting children and adults from poor communities in the Western Cape, South Africa, to go to school, get tertiary and other work qualification. Furthermore, we give these children and students physical, emotional and spiritual support.

In the first instance, support for education is provided to those individuals we support under our other projects. For example, after supporting Akhona since the age of 7 as part of our Orphan Project, More 2 Life supported her through all her studies and is now supporting her daughter in her primary education.

Part of our education project is operated in partnership with the Dutch Reformed Moederkerk in Stellenbosch, which has a group of highly qualified members helping approximately 80 students to obtain tertiary qualifications, at Stellenbosch University, colleges and other educational institutions.

 

Supporting the Community: Mould Empower Serve (MES)

MES is a Christian integrated social development organisation that has been changing the heart of South African cities since 1986 and has been actively working towards providing sustainable solutions to pervasive poverty in the inner cities of Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Kempton Park.

In South Africa, the gap between the rich and poor is large. People struggling to make ends meet generally move to cities to find employment, but they often end up living on the street. MES is doing incredible work to support these people, not by giving them money, but helping them holistically to establish a life in the city.

Knowing and trusting the people working for MES and believing in the philosophy of MES, More 2 Life has been an annual contributor to MES since 2015.

Learn more about MES

Founders and Supporters

  • Founders and their family

    Giving is easier than receiving, all you have to do is to make a habit of it…

  • Tinus & Marina van Zyl

    Tinus and Marina van Zyl’s on-the-ground support and supervision form the foundation on which most of More 2 Life’s South African projects are built.

    We can never thank them enough!