Community Development

Empowering women to lead change

The reality

Many strong local initiatives never mature into lasting services, held back by gaps in financial literacy, business tools, formal registration and specialised training. The traditional ‘train and exit’ model of development often leaves these initiatives without the ongoing support they need to survive.

Our approach

We mentor proactive rural women to move from informal caregiving into professionalised, stipended roles as recognised local service providers. We support their groups to register as Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) and reach full compliance, opening a direct pathway to government funding from the Departments of Basic Education and Social Development. Our support doesn’t end at registration: ongoing coaching helps these CBOs stay sustainable long after our initial investment.

What this looks like on the ground

• Personal healing, financial literacy and business skills training for local women
• CBO registration and compliance support
• Direct pathways to DBE and DSD government funding
• Long-term coaching, to deal with life that happens

The impact (aimed at 2026 – 2027)

• 40 women mentored across 8 villages, professionalising into stipended roles
• 8 compliant CBOs established
• 22 compliant CBOs established over ASAP’s history
• 36 drop-in centres supported over ASAP’s history

What this means for children

The women we support are, in most cases, already the ones caring for their community’s children but cannot reach all of them or provide the quality of care they need. Professionalising and properly resourcing their work means the services children depend on, from ECD to food to protection, are staffed by local women who are trained and paid for the work, and supported to keep doing it long after any single grant ends.