Africa-Based organizations - introduce yourselves

[Daniel Bassill]

We have had a number of people from Africa join this community. Why not introduce yourself, and add the web site of the group you work with.  Through this you can learn from each other, and work together to try to attract volunteers and donors to read this list, and choose who to help, based on where you are, and what you do.

[kayiwa]

I start by my Self
I work with youth sports and i love to ensure that there is a change in sports and youths can have a good future through sports in Uganda
here is my main website http://www.beyondyouthsport.org/
although i do work with others like
http://www.ugandayouthfootball.com/
http://www.kampalajuniorteam.org/

[Daniel Bassill]

Thanks Kayiwa. I created the Tutor/Mentor Connection in 1993, and have led a volunteer-based tutor/mentor program in Chicago since 1975. My first 17 years of involvement (1973-1990) were as an employee volunteer at the Montgomery Ward corporation in Chicago, where I held various retail advertising management jobs during that time.

From my advertising background comes much of what I do to support the volunteers and students in our own Cabrini Connections program, and to help similar programs grow all over the world. At Wards we operated 400 stores and had teams of people making sure each store had well-trained people, the right mix of goods and services, locations near customers, and advertising that drew customers to the stores.

If you think of a youth serving organization as a "retail store" the customers are kids, volunteers, parents, donors, and the services you offer are like the merchandise and services offered in any store. The more things you can offer, the more likely you appeal to your customer and keep them coming back to you.

If we adopt this thinking, then our first goal is to make sure "customers" know about all of the "stores/program" that are available in their neighborhood/city/country, and the "merchandise/services" that each "store/program" has. This introduction is one way to do that. At http://www.tutormentorconnection.org I have a GUEST MAP on the home page, where you can post an introduction for your organization on that map. In the LINKS library on the same site, you can add a link to your organization.

On your own web sites, I urge you to post links to this forum and to each other. If enough people do this we'll create the higher level of visibility (advertising) needed to draw more customer (kids/volunteers/donor) to each organization that has identified itself.

[Daniel Bassill]

Aliyu Solomon Barnabas joined this group awhile ago and now has launched a blog and mentoring program in Africa. His blog is titled CORPORATE MENTEESHIPand has some very interesting articles and perspectives on mentoring. 

If any of you are writing blogs about mentoring and your work with youth, please add them to this forum.

[Daniel Bassill]

I was introduced to "Invisible Children" today via an on-line forum.  Take a look at the web site and see what they do. http://invisiblechildren.com/about

[Collins Kipkoech Togom]

I hold a B.A. in Community Development and currently doing MA in Development studies in Kenyatta University. I am fully equipped with skills and know-how of the same and am well-versed and experience in community based organizations (CBO) and NGOs being a founder and former Executive Director of Lukenya Pillars of Transformation a community based organization.

 The skills that I have been exposed to and posses include people and project  management, community and resource mobilization, curriculum development, Project and Programme design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, proposal writing as well as research. I am trained in Trainer of Trainers (T.O.T), Economic Empowerment and Leadership and Management and conflict transformation. I am a lead consultant and the founder of Pillars of Development Consultancy which its key role is development and research. http://lukenyapillars.org/

 Currently I work with Daystar University in AIDS & Drugs Control Unit (ADCU) which is concerned with community mobilization, HIV/AIDS and Drugs training, awareness, advocacy, community projects, resource mobilization and peer counseling in the capacity of Deputy Coordinator.

[Daniel Bassill]

Thanks for introducing yourself. I encourage you to look at the work being done in this group and this group and read some of the blogs. I think individual organizations any where in the world could be using maps and graphics to show strategies and where they are located and could be using network analysis to show the way their organization connects youth, volunteers and the organization itself to a wider range of support systems.  Furthermore, I think the organizations connected in the Africa group on this forum could band together to create a NGO that does what I'm trying to do, but focused on all of Africa, not just one or two countries.  I'd like to coach and be part of that effort.