In South African townships where $300 can feed 50 families for a month, grassroots activist Basudha Modak explains why real change requires more than handouts—it needs people who believe in the community's vision and stay to see it through.“The girls already know how to change their lives. What they need are adults who believe in them and not just ready to give handouts.”When I first started going out to our townships, the initial needs were basic daily survival—food like bread, samp, milk, sugar, and mealie (sweet corn).How hard is it to earn enough for that?Let me tell you the story of almost every woman there.Many have multiple dependents, often siblings. Their parents are absent or deceased. Many of them have no identification documents and therefore cannot access SASSA grants, not because they are undocumented migrants, but because their missing parents forgot to register due to social and systemic failures.Then comes the lack of access to education. No books, no data, no pens. They charge their lights at spaza shops. Sunday churches give them donated clothes and two complete meals, which is why they're religious, especially the younger ones.Girls under 18 cannot legally work, not even as domestic helpers. Without access to school, sex education, or knowledge of their rights, many cannot even recognize gender-based violence. Some engage in sex for money simply to eat. In their reality, it can feel safer than facing other perpetrators, even though it exposes them to daily violence.South Africa’s minimum wage is currently 28.75 rand per hour. How many people actually earn that?Three hundred US dollars converts to about 5,578 rand. It may seem like a small amount to some, but in the townships, it can feed 50 families of six members for an entire month.The reason I'm starkly pointing this out is that I was born in India. There, in exchange for menial work, poorer neighbors could still get food leftovers. There are langars and community food accessible to everyone. If people know your story, you can get help. Here, the majority is unemployed due to apathy or incapability from incomplete education. Who will feed whom? But still, they share bread often.Grassroots activism requires “crazy” individuals who are willing to think beyond their comfort zones. If we approach known sources of funding, we often encounter misappropriation. Food rots in food banks while people go hungry, stalled by broken or manipulated supply chains.Oh yes, we live in the richest square mile in Africa, Sandton. With the G20 approaching, our robots are repaired, and potholes are painted over.But since no great leader will visit the dirty townships, poverty there is the biggest business. A place for photoshoots by donors, but very few think to remove them from the muck. That's why activism is being sparked in the townships by so-called crazy people like me.The girls already know how to change their lives. What they need is peace to study, access to education, and tools like martial arts to defend themselves against gender-based violence. Most of all, they need adults who believe in them, not just ready to give handouts.A few people who live there believe in my vision. I simply set the wheels in motion. The rest begins to take care of itself. I believe this model can be replicated elsewhere.This work carries tears, exhaustion, and unimaginable pain. But progress is happening. Slowly, steadily, they are getting there.The question isn't whether grassroots women can create change. They're already doing it.The question is whether funders will believe in their vision enough to stay and see it through.Are you listening?Will you believe in us?STORY AWARDSThis story was awarded as part of the #FundHerNow call for stories and a research project led by World Pulse’s Research and Evaluation Group (REG). They are supported in this effort by Jasmine R. Linabary, Ph.D. (University of Arizona), Meghana Rawat, Ph.D. (Utah Valley University), and Danielle Corple, Ph.D. (Wheaton College).

Basudha ModakSouth Africa