How the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project Is Transforming Lives

As a native South African herself, Charlize Theron deeply understands the issues facing the country. Almost 20 years ago, back in 2007, the Academy Award winner and Dior Beauty ambassador created the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP). “We wanted to do something that we really felt was needed, instead of getting in the way of what other people were already doing," she says.

At first, the organization targeted HIV and AIDS prevention; it went on to build partnerships with local programs. In its almost two decades of work, its scope has further broadened. Now, CTAOP identifies a social need and goes on to launch an initiative directly targeting that need, bringing in support and funding to help community leaders on the ground enact change—all while fostering the next generation of leaders.

This is how we find ourselves at the University of Cape Town, meeting some of the students who have benefited from CTAOP’s scholarship program. “I love this program, because I have personally seen what powerful young people are capable of,” says Theron. Recipients are young women, identified by a variety of local programs and associations; the scholarship pays their way through university.

One scholarship recipient, Onesimo, puts it plainly: “I was always worried about school fees, and now throughout my studies, I’ve never had to worry about tuition, or whether I would go to bed hungry.”

Three things are required to qualify: the intellect and conscientiousness needed to finish a degree; strong leadership; and a passion for giving back. Each candidate must write an essay. Miché remembers the opening lines from hers: “It said: I come from shootings in my neighborhood. I come from little girls and little kids running in the streets barefoot. I come from young mothers tirelessly working for their families. I come from hardworking Black women.”

Candidates enter the program with a goal. But the scholarship gives them a respite from mere survival—time and space to figure out who they are and what they want to do with their lives. Onesimo wanted to open a library, teach kids how to read, “provide the children in my community an alternative to staying out of school and resorting to crime.” She still dreams of it, but she has decided to become a pathologist, to help doctors identify and cure disease.

Another scholarship recipient, Siphosihle, grew up taking care of a boy they call "little brother" but who is in fact their sister’s son. The boy never received a birth certificate, which is vital to acquiring citizenship and identity documents, accessing health and education services, and getting a job. This leaves children vulnerable, often with nowhere to go but the street.

“One of my goals was to help the kids in the township, because my brother’s not the only one," Siphosihle says. "I wanted to create a campaign to foster the process for these kids to get identification papers so that they can go to school. Otherwise, they end up on the street, being influenced by older kids, getting up to no good.”

Now that their brother has documents and is enrolled in school, they've shifted their focus to other goals. They're studying gender and transformation in the department of African feminist studies, doing advocacy work and research on marginalized identities. “I want to go back to a school like the one I went to, and work with queer kids to equip them with skills," Siphosihle says. "The killing of queer bodies and the stigma that surrounds them…People say things, but the aggressions can also be very violent and physical. I want to create a space to give these kids tools to advocate for themselves...and also help them see that there’s nothing wrong with their identity.”

Another recipient, Miché, is a storyteller. “There are so many interesting people and stories where I come from. I like to sit and listen to the older people talk about their lives before apartheid ended, and about how things are now. I sit and absorb these stories and think: This is something! I want to break into the movie industry. I want to write and direct. And then, once I’ve built a platform for myself, I want to go back to my community and do workshop with young people, help them also break into the industry.”

That, of course, is exactly what Theron has sought to do. “The fact that her name is the name of the program inspires me to do more," Onesimo says. "It inspires me not only to invest in myself, but in others as well."

The scholarship program is one of two CTAOP initiatives supported by Dior Beauty. A longtime ambassador of the brand, Theron spoke out about her foundation at every opportunity. When Dior Beauty offered an expansion of their long-standing support, Theron told them to forget any pre-existing ideas about South Africa and just visit themselves.

Cécile Lochard, Sustainability Director at Dior Beauty, recalls what happened next: “It gave us the opportunity to go on the ground in South Africa, to explore and get a better understanding of the remarkable real-life impact that CTAOP was having on local organizations.”

Agrees Ashlee George, CTAOP's executive director: “I think one of the things that is unique about CTAOP is that length of time we've been in existence and working closely with local partners For Charlize and the team, this has always been a long-term commitment. A core piece of our work is that we always knew we wanted to work with community leaders. They know the needs and challenges better than anyone. Our role is to figure out how we can best support them as they envision and execute the dream they have for their community.”

Dior executives were able to visit Philisa Abafazi Bethu (PAB), an organization led by Lucinda Evans, a force of nature who works to change the very fabric of the community. “Visiting this unique space was a revelation," Lochard says. "Lucinda is a powerful woman and one of the strongest voices in her country. It became immediately obvious that this was an initiative worth supporting. And the presence of a therapeutic garden that was actually in use just sealed the deal for us.”

“This is the Mandala garden," Evans explains to me. "That inner ring, where the sitting area is, is where the medicinal plants grow. If you sit, one of the plants will touch your back, and that’s the beginning of medicine. This is what Philisa Abafazi Bethu means, literally: Heal Our Women.” CTAOP first got in touch with her during the COVID pandemic, when the situation in her community was particularly dire. “Women were locked up with their perpetrators, domestic violence was happening while the children were not in school. I thought that food would bring peace in the home, peace for families.” The first thing she asked CTAOP for was food. “We fed 3,000 people a day, seven days a week, for 19 months. I had 21 kitchens, 105 volunteers, serving protein-rich, mostly plant-based meals.”

The compound is striking amid the under-resourced narrow streets and alleys of the township. Behind the high gates and barbed wire are shipping containers with roofs, insulation, windows, and doors—all painted in bright colors to make them friendlier to the children and elderly who visit daily.

By the door is the Baby Box. It looks like an oversized mailbox; it's designed to be a safe place for newborns whose mothers can't keep them. When a baby is placed inside, it sets off an alarm. The mother has time to leave, and a volunteer from the center will pick up the infant and take it to the hospital where child protective services can take over. Evans built the Baby Box because, without it, some babies would end up in the gutter or with the garbage. At least this gives some of them a chance. Local authorities are fighting her on this, as on many things, accusing her of overstepping. But the Box has saved at least five babies so far. She refuses to take it away.

Two key programs are run in this space. First, an after-school program for children, where they get one hearty meal every day—sometimes the only one they get—and risk-free playtime, in addition to group therapy. “When there is violence in the home of a small child, the child feels every emotion but doesn’t have the capacity to say what’s going on. And when the child starts school, no one understands why they are so violent. That’s why we have art therapy and music therapy, to help children self-regulate," Evans says.

This, she adds, can "break the cycle of violence and prevent them from becoming perpetrators. But also, to help them be able to alert if something is happening to them. To help them be a better, more resilient child.” She catches herself. “It’s not right to speak about resilience when children need to just be children, to play and experience. But we find that in some cases it is not so. And so we have to build them up.” There is also an emergency refuge center for LGBTQIA+ youth, who often need to flee their home environment after coming out.

In addition to the after-school program, the space is home to a day center for the elderly. There, they can make a small supplementary income either by doing crafts or growing vegetables to use or sell. “Older people have money,” Evans explains. “This makes them vulnerable to be abused. Domestic violence is rife, but the biggest problem is that they don’t report it because it’s either their child or their grandchild hurting them.”

Theron adds context: “A whole generation was wiped out by AIDS. They were the mothers and fathers of those children who ended up being raised by their grandparents—older people who come from a different time and place and are not always equipped.”

Roughly 140 older people come to the space every day, mostly single women, a few men, and couples. Coming to the day center allows them to not sit at home, where the risk of being victimized is greater. They can socialize with people their own age; they even have a dance class. (Evans laughs: “We are a nation of dance.") As the sun sets on the children’s sports court, a group of pensioners practice their choreography with their dance instructor as Evans looks on. She begins bobbing her head, then sways to the rhythm of the music, joining in without disrupting the well-rehearsed movements.

“I want somebody to come and take the blueprint and go do it in their own community," she tells me. "I want this project to be known as the organization that didn’t see color or gender, and that helped a community heal, one household at a time.”

In Conversation With Charlize Theron

MC: How did you start CTAOP?

CT: We first got involved in the HIV and AIDS space in 2007. South Africa, unfortunately, is still at the center of the disease. And back then, we knew so little, it caused so much fear. Once I was in America, I saw that there were so many solutions that were simply not reaching places like Africa. There were some emergency measures, people who were already HIV positive were kind of cared for. But nobody was really investing any time, energy or finances towards prevention. A whole generation was wiped out with AIDS. We had a clear vision: step in and give young people information and resources to help them save their own lives.

MC: What pushed you to take that first step towards action?

CT: I think I just found myself in a position where I could do this in an effective way. When you set out to do something, it's not always what you thought it was going to be. We went in with all these great aspirations of wanting to effect change. And then you realize that you're just a drop in the bucket.

MC: What made you keep going?

CT: I remember very vividly going back eight months later after we launched this program and we were in a tent outside, where an older lady was doing an educational class on prevention: she was showing the difference between a male and a female condom. And a 16-year-old boy raised his hand and asked if a female condom can be used for gay sex. And I almost fell off my chair. In that moment, I realized that if we save that young man's life, then this does matter. Because I know for a fact that five years ago, he would have never stood up and asked that question. I was raised in South Africa, I understand how conservative it is. So, if that's what we were doing, building confidence in young people to take agency, then we were doing something real. That’s what out emblem stands for: the drop and the ripple effect.

MC: How does your fame factor into the work that you do with CTAOP?

CT: I think it's both negative and positive. Anytime celebrities attach themselves to something, people tend to not take it very seriously. But I look at it as a glass half full. I use the stages that are given to me to amplify the stories and the voices that I hear through CTAOP. Advocacy is key. There's the work on the ground that these female leaders are accomplishing, and it's really hard, so they need advocates. It's a huge reason why I decided to be a UN Messenger of Peace. I knew that that would be important. You want as many allies as you can get.

MC: Was this advocacy work something you’d always wanted to do?

CT: I’ve been part of that world since I was 19 years old. It's really hard to grow up in a place like South Africa, to see the unnecessary suffering around you and not feel like you have to try and do something. Like, you can't ignore it: it's right there. I started out in women's rights. 30 years ago, South Africa was the rape capital of the world. It's not something to be proud of, not something you want to be number one at. I was part of an anti-rape campaign that caused quite an uproar. It became an international story, which was great, because then it had a real effect. And when I saw that, I realized how I could do something without getting in the way, by putting an amplifier on what we were already trying to do.

MC: How do you feel that South Africa has evolved since then?

CT: You know, we take four steps forward and then sometimes 10 steps back. And right now, we're about 20 steps back. Look at statistics, the femicide rate in South Africa is five times higher than any other country globally. That's shocking. And that isn’t even an accurate number because I know of so many cases that go undocumented, women who just disappear and nobody cares. Women's lives are not valued as much as other lives. And women of color tend to be valued even less. That's global, but it's very prevalent in South Africa right now. Apartheid was incredibly damaging. But everyone thought that there was a silver bullet: this amazing man, Nelson Mandela, who was going to be freed and finally be the leader South Africa had always needed and solve all its problems. So, the international powers moved out just after the election and left us to our own demise. The violence that started then never fully stopped.

MC: Why did CTAOP create the Youth Leadership Program?

CT: It's one of my favorite programs. Great potential lies everywhere, but in the places where our partners work, that potential is not given opportunity. If you really want to change the cornerstone of a lot of the issues, you have to start with the people who are willing to fight. That's the future.

MC: Lucinda’s safe space brought down crime statistics in that area, just by being there.

CT: Yes, because it shows that people are caring. A lot of violence keeps happening because people think there are no consequences, which means nobody cares. But when you see safe spaces and people advocating for these girls, you realize that people are paying attention. It's a comprehensive care structure that affects entire communities.

MC: Has your continued involvement in CTAOP changed you as a person?

CT: I've never lived in a bubble. And I think when you live a life like that, you can be very overwhelmed by the problems that you see. CTAOP has given me a way to not feel that way, to feel like: sure, there's a lot of shitty things happening in the world right now, but I can do something that I know is effective. To me that's incredibly hopeful. Because I think we all need hope. Without hope, we die.

MC: What are your hopes for South Africa and for CTAOP?

CT: My hope for South Africa is to be able to live up to the potential that the country naturally has. It's one of the most beautiful places that you'll ever go to. And South Africans are a stunning people. They're special in the sense that they have endured so much and yet there is still this light, this resilience, this hope in some of the darkest moments. And my hope is that those people get what they deserve because they've endured a lot, and that it happens fast.

MC: And empowering female leadership and sisterhood is part of that?

CT: Obviously! We're the majority of the population. We're incredibly powerful if we come together. I think it's important for us to talk about it, because it can give a lot of women who have all the right intentions a direction. You can go online, read about CTAOP and now you have access to a place where you can help. You can become part of that sisterhood. You can do this.