Since returning from the field I have spent three days in Kisumu, the capital of Nyanza province. It is one of my tasks to find strong local partners for co-operations. The number of NGOs operating in Nyanza is very high, the potential for synergies is enormous. TaC is currently exploring possibilities of co-operation in the following areas: health, holiday attachment, and higher education. In 2010 only one girl will graduate from form 4, but next year TaC will present 22 candidates! That means, there is only one year left to come up with a strategy for what I like to call "phase 2". What was the impact of the work of TaC, if we abandon the children after form 4? What have we then really done in the end of the day?
I therefore established contact with a good college in Kisumu that has a lot of experience in educating orphaned youth and assisting them to create a meaningful and bright future for themselves. The director has agreed to give a career talk during our beneficiaries' annual gathering in December! That will enable them to start thinking about their way forward.
The health co-operation will be the easiest to set up, Tac will soon have a solid policy and a reliable medical partner to refer her emergency cases to. At the same time, I was exploring possibilities for attachments and career exposures during holidays. The time off school is such a high risk area for our beneficiaries. Their homes can be hazardously dangerous for their mental and physical health, we better find alternatives for our harshest cases, before the schools close again by the end of November. And lastly - what to do with future drop-outs? There is no way to guarantee that all beneficiaries will clear form 4 and make it to university. But there are at least two wonderful NGOs around here, who are specialized in absorbing and empowering drop-outs by training them in life skills. It's all there, TaC doesn't need to reinvent the wheel! Isn't that good news? Partnership is the way forward!
No comments:
Post a Comment