When you run alone, you run fast. When you run together, you run far. Zambian Proverb The great adventure of working with young women is that it never ends. Your community will always have new challenges and opportunities as girls need encouragement and support to thrive. The more you listen to your stakeholders – the […]
Category Archives: Toolkit 1 – Youth Work: Women Upskilling Young Women
We once had a big grant for our work. We had paid a professional proposal writer and she then left after writing the first year proposal. The project continued, and the person who was asked to take this on was new on the project. We realised we needed help. We didn’t understand indicators, and many […]
No one is self-sufficient. And it’s not a one-way thing – the generosity of spirit from one side provokes a response in kind from the other side. Desmond Tutu Ask, and you shall receive There are many people looking to be generous and share their money and resources, but asking takes time and planning. Do […]
Be careful, think about the effect of what you say. Your words should be constructive, bring people together, not pull them apart. Miriam Makeba Most of us have a Marie, the family friend who has gone on to be successful, and Ibrahim, the local boy living far away who wants to give back, and hopefully […]
We believe in our work so we think others should also believe in it. But maybe we haven’t given our time to help them to really understand it. Often we haven’t tried to understand why they aren’t being as generous as we expected. We have to remember that there is no such thing as free […]
Chidi applied to a British foundation for funding. They gave her £3,000 to deliver cooking workshops – she could reach three times more girls! The money would cover the food costs, and allow her to pay the church something for rent. In return, the donor wanted Chidi to send a report at the end of […]
Chidi was determined to make her club available to more girls, but she knew that she would need more money to pay for this. Ingredients cost money, and she knew the church would want rent if she used it more. Already a couple of people commented on how much gas she used for cooking. Chidi […]
This is our Achilles heel. It’s very important to understand how much work goes into getting funds. In Africa we can sometimes feel entitled to other people’s money, because we are poor. When I meet with other NGOs we feel we deserve to be helped. Sometimes we don’t realise that donors in rich countries are […]
Chidi planned to run a summer project. She has heard through a friend abroad that there were many young people in wealthy schools in the capital, or in Europe and America, who would like to volunteer with African children in their summer holidays. They would even pay to cover their costs when they were there. […]
I’m very conscious of the fact that you can’t do it alone. It’s teamwork. When you do it alone you run the risk that when you are no longer there nobody else will do it. Wangari Maathai In the last section, you looked at Chidi’s potential volunteers, their motivations for volunteering, and the challenges and […]