At first glance virtual worlds have nothing in common with African people in need. One is a "game" for wealthy Westerners and the others struggle to get through the day on a bowl of rice. Alanagh Recreant, Second Life embodiment of Dorette Steenkamp, founder and co-executive director of Uthango, disagrees. Uthango is a non-profit organization in South Africa, a unique investment and development company with a special focus on bridging the digital divide, micro-enterprise development, intercultural dialogue, crime prevention, community mental health and most importantly, infrastructure development. They specialize in social innovation to implement best practices in sustainable development. The name 'Uthango' is a Nguni term that refers to the traditional circular kraal where families protect their livestock, encourage dialogue and make important decisions in rural Africa.
Kraal
Uthango is also the first African non-profit to use virtual worlds for strategic positioning and raising global awareness of their goals and programs. Their answer to the question ‘what does an NGO do in virtual worlds’ and ‘are you not better off in the real world addressing poverty’ is: “It is not an either or for us; we need to be in both areas to use technology and its innovative edge to make a difference in the lives of our beneficiaries”. Their challenge is to find resources to make it possible, and they hope that their courage will be contagious.
Uthango offices in Second Life
To better understand the activities of Uthango in Second Life, we asked the co-executive director Dorette Steenkamp to answer a few questions.
