Empowering South African Communities

My Arms Wide Open Foundation empowers the women and children of South Africa to break the chains of poverty through education, sustainable communities and socially responsible businesses.

Warren Te Brugge, a South African by birth, established My Arms Wide Open (MAWO) in 2010 “to create a new model of society, based on the power within the cultural diversity and the enduring belief in the persevering nature of South Africans who are truly one nation.”

As part of its guiding principles, the foundation promises to work with communities to identify their needs and priorities for establishing long-term change and sustainability.

MAWO focuses on five key causes to support South African communities:

1) My Business, My Community—supports business development by providing small business loans and professional support services.
2) My World, My Garden—creates a farming system to feed the entire community and builds community kitchens that provides free meals to the young and elderly.
3) My Family, My Community—provides infrastructure according to community needs, ranging from multi-purpose centers and road access to refuse service.
4) My First Steps, My Path—supports Early Childhood Development through the support of 1,000 daycares, crèches, and afterschool centers across South Africa.
5) My Mentor, My Coach—creates an environment to succeed through the “Iziko Labahlali” program (meaning Hearth of the Community) for teachers, volunteers, supporters and staff to work and collaborate based on the common language and mindset of the foundation.

To support each cause, MAWO works directly with members of the community to develop leaders who will become “agents of change” in the community and act as mentors for the children, youth and mothers hoping for a better future.

MAWO aims to disengage South African communities from wealth-based economies, which create artificial wealth while only benefitting a few people. Instead, it encourages values-based concepts and beliefs that “support reciprocation, cultural values and community development as well as personal development.”

By taking advantage of the skills and resources that already exist within the South African communities, My Arms Wide Open provides supplementary support through education, mentoring and training programs to properly equip community members with the tools they need for long-term, self-sustainability.

Watch the video below and visit the website to learn more.