Giving a helping hand

We all have our own way of doing good. You don’t have to be a multi-millionaire to help someone. You just need to be on the lookout for something you can do that will add meaning or assist in improving one or millions of people’s lives.

For some, it’s giving free time to feed the homeless. For others, it’s saving abused women and children. Some take on work at a non-governmental organisation that helps people. Many regularly give charity to the causes they believe in, while others simply give out oranges at stop streets. It isn’t about what you can afford or how much you do, but the fact that you are doing something.

In our front-page story this week, we bring you a coup – an open-hearted interview with Martin Moshal, well-known for never giving interviews. Moshal is very wealthy, but he has changed so many people’s lives by using his money to give them a university education through his Moshal Scholarship Program.

His focus with the programme is to “create a world where every child can live up to their potential and prosper”. There are more than 1 000 university alumni in South Africa and Israel whom the Moshal Scholarship Program has educated and given all the soft skills to excel in their chosen careers. This is not what the story in our newspaper is about – we’ll get to that – but it does speak to the type of person Moshal is.

I have been fortunate enough over the years to meet and interview many young adults given a new lease on life by Moshal, people who mostly would never get the opportunity even to go to university. They graduate and prosper, all of them paying it forward to others who need help. Paying it forward is part of the ethos of this organisation.

This is clearly a deeply ingrained belief for Moshal.

Many might say he has money to burn, so why not help others. The point is that it’s what one does with one’s money that counts. He could spend it all on frivolous things, but he chooses to spend it very carefully. The good that he does with his money isn’t just in the area of education.

In our lead story, we talk about the fact that Moshal is doing everything he can to ensure that this country has a future. He’s putting money behind opposition parties that he believes have some value to offer.

Some may pooh-pooh one or two of the parties he supports, but the fact is that Moshal is putting his money where his mouth is. He believes in this country, and is willing to do what he can to try and get the right leadership in place to make it work.

I must be honest, I’m not sure who the right leaders are, but I no longer believe they are in the African National Congress. And I’m grateful that someone like Moshal is doing this ultimately to help find a decent and ethical alternative government.

In this same edition, on page 11, we bring you the story of Sivan Yaari, who was in South Africa this week. This remarkable Israeli-born woman refocused her life from working as a quality controller for a clothing company to finding ways to provide electricity and water for millions of people on the African continent, including in South Africa, who desperately need it.

She has made this her life’s work, and is now providing water to 250 villages each year. She’s changing more lives on this continent than any government can do, or is doing. And she does it all because she’s determined to help people and has found a way to do it.

Last week, we wrote about Dr Andy Kuper, another person who believes that money is only worth something if you can help others. His original idea for his business, LeapFrog Investments, was to build a company dedicated to changing lives at scale in Africa and Asia. It’s that simple, and that’s what he has done.

The investment companies it has invested in have reached 450 million people with healthcare, financial services, or climate solutions. Yes, that’s 5% of the world’s population. I could go on, but you get the picture of who he is and what he does with his money and time.

I understand that we cannot all be Martin Moshals, Sivan Yaaris, or Andy Kupers. They are few and far between, but just like them, we can all do something good.

We have a country wide open for people who want to uplift others. We even have a community in which there are so many who could use a little or a lot of help.

Look at Saul Fox, who is writing matric this year at Yeshiva College. This teenager is creating 3D printed prosthetics, which are already changing another teenager’s life. And, I have no doubt that this is just the beginning for Fox. He’s clearly a determined person and will change the lives of many along his chosen path.

There are so many within our community who do the most incredible work to help others – way too many to mention.

But there are also many of us who love the idea of doing good, but have difficulty finding the time. Or it could be that we believe that we don’t really have much money or energy to spare. I get it. Our lives are hectic, and so many of us have far more month at the end of our money than the other way around.

But it doesn’t take much, just a little thought and sometimes a bit of innovation. None of us are expected to be Moshal, Yaari, or Kuper, we are who we are, but we could all give a little of ourselves to make a big difference. It’s often the little gestures that count.

And the truth is, it’s difficult to be angry at loadshedding and potholes when you’re helping people. We uplift ourselves when we give a hand up to someone else.

Shabbat shalom!

Peta Krost

Editor