A hand up, not a hand out.
Spiritual Chords builds wells, homes, gardens and trades with communities in South Africa and beyond. They do the work. You make it possible.
Registered NPO and PBO, Johannesburg. Working with communities for 11 years.
Every gift stays with the community it helps, and keeps working there.
How we work
We work with people, not for them. A village moulds the bricks for its own well. A student who learns to sew teaches the next. The community already knows what it needs. Your gift joins that work and helps it reach further.
It began with one question in our own neighbourhood: how do you restore dignity in the face of hunger and helplessness?
Six programmes and two funds
Each one is built with the people it serves: they mould the bricks, plant the beds and learn the trade.
Clean waterRural Sindh, PakistanHand pumps and wells built with the villages that use them.
Plant a treeSouth AfricaFruit, shade and medicinal trees, planted and cared for by the people who live beside them.
Flood and carbon safe housingMalawiBamboo and lime homes that stand up to floods and tremors, built by trained local crews.
Sponsor a sewing studentJohannesburgA full training cycle on industrial machines, plus the business skills to earn from it.
Food security and eco gardensGauteng and beyondClimate-smart backyard and school gardens, with the training to keep them growing.
Orphan and vulnerable children’s educationSouth AfricaA full school year for a child who has lost the people who would have paid for it.
Where most neededWhere the need is greatestA flexible gift that goes to the most urgent need in our communities, right now.
Daily SadaqahOur communitiesSmall, steady giving that meets everyday needs before they become emergencies.
Eleven years, counted
What the trust has built and taught with communities since it began.
- 736flood and earthquake resilient homes builtSustainable housing
- 2 879hand pumps installedWater
- 7 470people trained in a skill or tradeSkills and enterprise
Figures reported by Spiritual Chords Trust. Audited statements are available on request while the reports page is prepared.
Project spotlight
Food for 500 families this season
Join us in providing sustainable food security for more than 500 families this season: gardens planted, harvested and shared by the families themselves.
Sadaqah Jariyah, the charity that continues
Give in their name.
Honour someone you have lost with a gift that keeps giving: a well, a tree or a bursary, once off or monthly.
In their words
People who came to Spiritual Chords for help, and stayed to build something of their own.
“Spiritual Chords did not just help me survive. They helped me find a better me.”
For years I slept in parks, with no job, no direction and no belief in myself. Everything changed when Spiritual Chords welcomed me into their Food Security and Agriculture Project. They gave me agricultural training, a place to stay, healthy meals and, most importantly, respect.
Food security and agriculture programme
“With Spiritual Chords, I am no longer alone.”
I’m Ashley, originally from Zimbabwe. I was orphaned at five and lived with my grandmother until she passed away when I was fourteen. I finished matric but failed mathematics, and my dream of becoming an architect slipped away.
Ashley, sewing programme graduate
“I am not limited any more.”
Living with a hearing disability meant I had few chances to work, and I depended a lot on others. Through the Spiritual Chords Food Security and Agriculture Project I received practical training, structure, and the chance to work with confidence and purpose.
Food security and agriculture programme
Gifts that keep giving
Choose a gift and give it in someone’s name. The gift itself goes to a family who will use it, with the training to make it last.
Other ways to give
Card and instant EFT online, a direct bank transfer, or a call to the donation line. Every route reaches the same projects.
Bank transfer
Email your proof of payment, or a request for a Section 18A certificate, to projects@spiritualchords.co.za.
Which account?
Pay Zakaat into the Zakaat account with the reference SCZK. It is kept separate from every other gift.
Pay Sadaqah, Lillah and all other gifts into the Sadaqah and Lillah account with the reference SCSL.
Add your cell number to the reference so we can match your payment and send a receipt.
Section 18A
Donate up to 10% of your taxable income to South African projects and claim it back. Call or email us and we will issue your Section 18A certificate.