CAROLINE HARKER

Wanaka mother-of-four Cass Treadwell’s philosophy is life begins when you step outside your comfort zone. That’s something she learnt during a year she spent in Argentina at the age of 16, where she went to school and helped out in an orphanage. She’s been stepping outside her comfort zone ever since.

"I love travelling in third world countries, because I’m amazed by the people there and their sense of happiness,” she said. "They have taught me a lot about how to live well.”

Cass, who spoke at the Wanaka Chamber of Commerce’s women’s meeting this past week, certainly walks the talk. She has a masters degree in medical law and ethics and has worked as a legal medico, before giving that up to do something concrete for children in the thd world.

Nearly a decade ago she founded a charity called So They Can which now raises $2.5million annually for schools and orphanages in Kenya and Tanzania. She chose Africa because she had backpacked through the continent and seen the living conditions in Kenyan camps for internally displaced people. 

"The camps were horrific,” she said. "The people had suffered terrible trauma, the lack of hygiene was shocking and people still weren’t safe.” Representatives of different tribal groups in the camps told her what they needed most was for their children to be educated. "They saw that as the key to stopping tribal violence.”

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Under the auspices of So They Can, Cass and her supporters have educated hundreds of children and adult women, set up an orphanage, a medical centre, and more.

Eight years ago So They Can built a primary school in Kenya, in partnership with the Kenyan government which provided the teachers. Since then the school has educated 1000 children. So They Can also has a microfinance business school which teaches business skills to 300 women a year, including loaning them $100 each to get a small business started and providing mentoring. "It’s been very empowering for the women,” Cass said. "I love it when they say to me, ‘My husband asks me for money now’.”

So They Can has also built a medical clinic which supports an area with a population of 20,000 people. "There were so many children dying of avoidable diseases,” Cass said.

The most challenging situation for Cass during her regular visits to Africa was visiting a rubbish dump where children lived, competing with pigs and vultures for food scraps. Since that trip So They Can has set up an orphanage for 100 children, where they live in ‘family’ houses in groups of eight with a house mother. Cass said while they haven’t been able to provide homes for all the children living at the dump, there are no longer any there under the age of seven. 

While the task of helping the poor in Africa can seem overwhelming, Cass said they simply do what they can. "So They Can works with communities and governments (in Kenya and Tanzania) to educate and empower, so they can break the poverty cycle, realise their own potential and meet their own needs,” she said. "Education is at the core of everything we do.” The organisation has also set up a teachers training college in Tanzania which works with 26 local schools, and a lunch programme for many schools, which provides students with a free lunch every day. "Hungry children can’t learn.”

Cass insists that the work she and So They Can do is not altruism. "Giving educates the giver as much as the receiver.” She sees charity as "school for the soul”. She said this approach (based on the African concept of ubuntu - meaning "I am because of you”) means the exchange is equal, sustainable and beneficial to both parties.

"Our personal well-being is deeply connected with the well-being of others. And giving makes us feel so good. I have learnt so much from the African people, who value people over possessions.

"If everyone in the world took on the responsibility for one more child this problem [child poverty] wouldn’t exist.”

Cass said So They Can fundraises through events, grants and donations from major donors and foundations, and child sponsorship.

"It costs $800 a year to sponsor a child. The kids over there cannot fathom that someone on the other side of the world cares.”

PHOTO: Wanaka App