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Supporting local economies
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Date: 2016-04-25
Our health projects are helping the local community in more ways than one!
Fundi is a Swahili word for an expert work person – whether they be a male or female, a cobbler or a tailor, or someone who fixes mobile phones. Fundis are handy, skilled workers and business people who play a strong role in community life in Kenya.
Positive Aid focuses on improving health in remote villages, but we also see opportunities in other areas along the way. The money we fundraise in Australia goes in part to buying things like medications, phone credits, emergency food assistance and bicycle maintenance. Instead of collecting or buying goods here in Australia and paying for them to be sent to Kenya, our monthly financial support goes there directly, to be used carefully and on the things most needed. This way we save costs (everything is a lot cheaper in Kenya!) and get to support the local economy. With every shilling we spend in the community, the stronger it gets.
The picture here shows a typical bicycle fundi at work giving one of our project bicycles an overhaul after tackling the dusty, rocky paths throughout the villages. Punctures and other issues are common due to the rough terrain, but bicycles remain one of the most practical forms of transport in the project area (where there are no roads for health workers to use when visiting clients). Our advocacy materials are designed and printed locally; we photocopy our data reporting forms at little shops in the centre; we organise village women to prepare lunches for training sessions; we buy emergency food stuffs from farmers. In short, we take every chance we have to uplift people in the communities in which we work, including supporting fundis and their families. This approach has continued to build even stronger rapport for our health projects, and the commitment from local people to make them succeed!
Positive Aid directs 91% of funds raised in Australia towards project costs, with only 9% channelled into administration and fundraising – this proportion represents a fantastic edge over other, larger NGOs who commonly spend 20-30% on administration and fundraising costs. To donate to Positive Aid and help us change the lives of people in remote Kenya, please visit www.positiveaid.org.au/donate
Positive Aid focuses on improving health in remote villages, but we also see opportunities in other areas along the way. The money we fundraise in Australia goes in part to buying things like medications, phone credits, emergency food assistance and bicycle maintenance. Instead of collecting or buying goods here in Australia and paying for them to be sent to Kenya, our monthly financial support goes there directly, to be used carefully and on the things most needed. This way we save costs (everything is a lot cheaper in Kenya!) and get to support the local economy. With every shilling we spend in the community, the stronger it gets.
The picture here shows a typical bicycle fundi at work giving one of our project bicycles an overhaul after tackling the dusty, rocky paths throughout the villages. Punctures and other issues are common due to the rough terrain, but bicycles remain one of the most practical forms of transport in the project area (where there are no roads for health workers to use when visiting clients). Our advocacy materials are designed and printed locally; we photocopy our data reporting forms at little shops in the centre; we organise village women to prepare lunches for training sessions; we buy emergency food stuffs from farmers. In short, we take every chance we have to uplift people in the communities in which we work, including supporting fundis and their families. This approach has continued to build even stronger rapport for our health projects, and the commitment from local people to make them succeed!
Positive Aid directs 91% of funds raised in Australia towards project costs, with only 9% channelled into administration and fundraising – this proportion represents a fantastic edge over other, larger NGOs who commonly spend 20-30% on administration and fundraising costs. To donate to Positive Aid and help us change the lives of people in remote Kenya, please visit www.positiveaid.org.au/donate