The question is, where to start? With so much wrong in the world today, where do we start? One Cape Town woman thinks she has the answer.
“All of the problems in the world boil down to people.” Says Tamara Aspeling, freelance writer, mom, and advocate for single moms. “One of the biggest problems is that of single moms. These women, often with no support from their children’s fathers, or anyone else for that matter, are trying to hold down jobs, pay bills, and give their children the best they can.”
According to Aspeling, the biggest problem for single moms is a lack of support. “Even in industrialized, first world countries, single moms are struggling. In South Africa, those problems are compounded. Single moms often lack the resources, whether financially, in terms of information, or education, to improve their lives. They are forced, by circumstance, to work long hours, hardly seeing their children, and creating a vicious circle of poverty begetting poverty.”
In answer to the need, Aspeling is setting up Project Single Mom, based on a US based program by the same name. The program is a fund raising initiative, designed to allow single moms access to finance, to start small businesses, or access education, or, in some cases, to access emergency funding, when they are in crisis.
“We are looking for sponsorships, as well as volunteers, whether in the legal field, to help single moms out in a system that often ignores them, or in business, to provide mentorship, or any other role. These women, more than anything, need help to pull themselves up, break the cycle, and give their children, our collective future, the start in life they deserve.”
The project is in its infancy, but with such a huge need in South Africa, it is hoped that people, companies and other organizations will get involved, offering their time and support to what is, ultimately, a very worthy cause.
