Kujali Orphanage Academy: equipping children with the tools for change
About You
Location
Project Street Address
PO Box 8456
Project City
Mkuranga
Project Province/State
Project Postal/Zip Code
Project Country
Tanzania
Your idea
Country your work focuses on:
Tanzania
Website URL
What stage is your project in?
Operating for 1-5 years
YouTube Upload
Holiday Campaign video that reached over 117,000 views: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gM3pOcVCvg
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
<$50
Name Your Project
Kujali Orphanage Academy: equipping children with the tools for change
Describe Your Idea
Innovation
Describe your idea in fewer than 50 words.
Kujali seeks to partner with preexisting orphanages in the developing world to establish “orphanage academies:” dynamic, rigorous and supportive educational centers where children have the opportunity to learn, grow and develop their talents. This represents a critical shift from the traditional basic-needs approach to one that builds community capacity to educate and empower vulnerable youth
What makes your idea unique?
Our Model: a comprehensive approach
Kujali’s orphanage academy model was developed in collaboration with our local partners in Tanzania (Hananasif Orphanage Center) and involves comprehensive programming for children in the areas of health, education, social entrepreneurship, and the arts. Our program areas directly correspond to what we believe are the most critical needs and challenges facing orphaned and vulnerable youth today.
Our Methodology: building community capacity
Kujali is committed to investing in the long-term growth and sustainability of the communities in which we serve. Kujali chooses to work exclusively in partnership with local non-profits and provides critical organizational support in the areas of staff development, strategic planning, and program development and evaluation. We also serve as advocates in helping our local partners secure additional resources needed in areas that fall outside of our expertise. Finally, Kujali supports partner efforts to achieve financial sustainability by identifying and securing investments in income-generating micro-businesses that will position our partners for long-term sustainability.
Our Vision: global impact
Kujali is currently focused on developing our pilot model in Tanzania, our long-term vision involves scaling out our model into other communities in the developing world- not only through our direct work on the ground, but also by promoting an idea of systemic change within the orphanage institution that will transform the opportunities available to orphaned and vulnerable youth.
What is your area of work? (Please check as many as apply.)
Children & Youth , At risk youth , Child protection , Education , Education reform , Youth development , Youth leadership , Development & Prosperity , Business , Community development , Economic development , Income generation , Information technology , Infrastructure , Microfinance , Networking , Philanthropy , Poverty alleviation , Rural development , Scholarships and grants , Social Enterprise , Sustainable development , Technology , Environment & Sustainability , Rural , Sustainable agriculture , Health care , Health education , Gender equity , Hunger , Vulnerable populations , Arts and culture , Volunteerism , Youth leadership.
What impact have you had?
Kujali International has launched its first orphanage academy on 300 acres of land in Mkuranga, Tanzania in partnership with Hananasif Orphanage Center. Our academy is currently serving 85 students from all over the country, and employing 10 local teaching and support staff. Our academy features projects in agriculture farming, animal husbandry, arts and crafts, music production, entrepreneurship training courses (in partnership with local universities), as well as an international study abroad program – the first in the world specifically serving orphaned children - through which two students of Hananasif Academy have lived and studied in the US on scholarship. We also are bringing development, resources, and employment opportunities to the local community of Mkuranga through the construction of water wells; a library launch; and our ongoing school infrastructure projects. Hananasif Academy also reserved five seats in each class of students for orphaned and vulnerable children from Mkuranga.
Describe the primary problem(s) that your project is addressing.
Whether they spend their childhoods on the streets, in an orphanage, or in the care of a relative, over half of Sub-Saharan Africa’s 53 million orphaned children are living in extreme poverty, which means that apart from the loss of one or both caregivers, orphaned and vulnerable children are in many ways positioned to fall into the same cycles of poverty and disease that claimed the lives of their parents. By providing a strategic, community-based intervention that addresses the challenges of vulnerable youth in a targeted and yet holistic way, our hope is to provide the resilient, creative, and very capable children of Africa with the opportunity to overcome poverty and pursue their chosen life paths. In doing so, a generation of children will have futures no longer determined by their pasts but by their potential; and they will be equipped to lead their communities toward economic empowerment, peace, and sustainable growth in the 21st century.
Describe the steps that your organization is taking to make your project successful.
People. Kujali is placing three highly-skilled and innovative staff members to serve at our partner site in Tanzania in three key capacities. Emily Vogelsong, M.Ed. and Teach For America alumni, will be implementing a Teacher Education Program (TEP) that she has designed as a framework for the local teaching staff of our current and future academies to build a foundation for effective instruction and student achievement – one of our key metrics of success. Alberto Vega and Alex Manchon, MBA, will be working closely with Hananasif leadership to execute their strategic plan and continue to build organizational capacity in the areas of finance, partnership outreach, fundraising, and sustainability planning. Alex will also be developing an entrepreneurship training curriculum for our school.
Planning. Kujali is currently undergoing strategic planning with board, stakeholders, and an external facilitator to ensure we are working effectively and efficiently with the resources with which we’ve been entrusted. Kujali is also in the process of developing several sub-committees to spearhead particular internal projects, such as partner organization outreach, fundraising, and program development and evaluation.
Impact
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Success in Year 1:
Our success in the next year will be measured by the outcomes of our field staff in their respective projects: staff development, program development and implementation, and sustainability. Specifically, our success indicators include teaching staff’s independent use of instructional strategies that result in improved student achievement at Hananasif Academy; staff’s independent use of a reliable financial management system that supports fiscal health; local staff’s independent use of fundraising and networking strategies and resources; the development of a sustainability plan for Hananasif and the development of an entrepreneurship training program that can be implemented in the 2010 school year. We will also measure success by our ability to secure funding to complete school infrastructure so that Hananasif Academy can pursue government registration, a pressing need for Hananasif.
Success in Year 2:
Our success in year 2 will be measured by how effectively we begin to implement the plan we develop for Hananasif’s sustainability. As we move toward the final stages of our partnership with Hananasif, we want to ensure they are positioned for long-term success. We will also begin reaching out to other orphanages, and more seriously engaging those which have already expressed interest in partnering with Kujali, to begin the groundwork for establishing our second partnership. Reflection on our experience with Hananasif will be critical as we gear up for a second launch, as well fundraising and continuing to cultivate partnerships across sectors.
Success in Year 3:
Our success in year 3 will be measured by a successful phasing out of our partnership with Hananasif; our establishment of a new partnership with another local orphanage that shares our vision for youth empowerment through a comprehensive academy model; and our capacity to assess their strengths, areas of need, threats, and opportunities and work collaboratively to develop a strategic plan for moving forward with the vision. As the leadership of Hananasif has already expressed interest in replicating in Mbeya, Tanzania, we may continue to work in partnership with Hananasif to support their second launch.
Do you have a business plan or strategic plan? (yes/no)
Kujali is in the process of developing a strategic plan with stakeholders, board members, and staff. This process is being led by Deanna Cherry, a Los Angeles-based consultant.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization? STEP 1:
We need to finalize our strategic plan so that we have a clear vision of our goals and objectives over the next three years, while continuing to fundraise and secure resources for our projects in Tanzania.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization? STEP 2:
We need to pursue strategic partnerships with specialized non-profit organizations, businesses, and stakeholders who share our vision and are willing to invest in our work, whether by offering resources, time, or shared expertise.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization? STEP 3:
We need to continuing executing in Tanzania in the areas of infrastructure expansion, staff development, program implementation, and sustainability, while providing ongoing support to our field staff.
Describe the expected results of these actions.
These actions will serve to build our own capacity, and in doing so improve our ability to support our local partners as they carry their vision forward. Our strategic plan will be an important tool for establishing partnerships and for securing resources; and our continued efforts in Tanzania will move us closer to finishing our work in Mkuranga and successfully establishing a pilot orphanage academy that is fully functional, sustainable, and every year transforming the outcomes of the 120 students it serves.
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
My experience living in Tanzania in 2005 and working with Hananasif Orphanage as a volunteer had a tremendous impact on my life: the vision behind Hananasif deeply resonated with me, and Kujali International emerged rather organically as I began to explore ways that I could personally be involved with this truly inspiring work, as a partner and as an advocate. Kujali has come to embody that role, and continues to draw people to the vision who value our appreciative approach and our commitment to building community capacity.
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
Hezekia Mwalugaja, the founder and director of Hananasif Orphanage Center, is the visionary behind the idea of restructuring orphanages into boarding schools that have holistic programming for children. Together over the last three years we have refined the academy model, and focused the program areas based on research and the needs most relevant to Hananasif’s children. Through my experience as an international partner to Hananasif, I have developed Kujali’s social impact model in collaboration with our board and staff. Kujali provides support to our local partners in four key areas: physical and technological infrastructure, staff development, program implementation and evaluation (health, education, entrepreneurship, and the arts), and sustainability.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
I was directed to Changemakers by one of my board members.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
What would prevent your project from being a success?
The typical response might be “lack of resources,” but I actually don’t believe that’s typically true. I believe one of the greatest causes of failure in any endeavor is lack of leadership; if there were anything that would really prevent Kujali from success –or any other organization - it would be this. However, I have great confidence in the team of individuals leading Kujali and I believe even if we lack resources, we’ll find a way to secure them. If we lack a particular skill or expertise, we will find a partner to work with us. And if we make mistakes along the way, we will reflect and adjust and grow wiser and stronger in the process.
Financing source
no
If yes, provide organization name.
How long has this organization been operating? (i.e. less than a year; 1-5 years; more than 5 years)
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
Kujali is led by a small, diverse, and very hands-on Board of Directors.
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with NGOs? (yes/no)
yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with businesses? (yes/no)
yes
The Story
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with government? (yes/no)
no
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
Partnerships are critical to our success, and provide support in ways that help us to continually expand our impact and maintain our focus on what we do best. In Tanzania and in the US, partnerships with local businesses have enabled us to host outreach events at low-cost, share our vision, and grow our network base. Partnerships with other NGOs have also helped us expand our network, but we have identified the need to pursue partnerships with specialized non-profits relevant to our current project areas, and plan to carry this out in the next 2-4 months.
How many people will your project serve annually?
100-1000
What is the total number of employees and total number of volunteers at your organization?
Kujali has three employees (starting August ’09); five part-time volunteer staff, and a fluctuating number of 10-15 volunteers.
What is your organization's business classification?
Non-profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
Have you received funding from any of the following groups? (Please check as many as apply.)
None of the above.
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