About Friends for Africa
The board members of the foundation do not receive any financial reward for their efforts. The aim is to use 100% of the donations for aid in Malawi. The foundation wants to help build a sustainable Malawi. As a foundation, we have put the primary focus on education, in which we work together with you to significantly improve the level of education. You can think of building schools, supplying school materials, knowledge transfer and active participation in maintenance.
Mission
We want to increase the general knowledge of the young generation in Malawi by structurally improving and financially supporting primary and secondary education.
Vision
General knowledge is the basis for development. As a foundation, we want to contribute to high-quality education in both primary and secondary (technical) schools. By improving education, people's level of knowledge increases. When this knowledge is increased, people are better able to cope in various situations. The areas of expertise are, for example: agriculture, irrigation, entrepreneurship, further development of vocational education, hygiene, health, et cetera. In this way, we contribute to the development of the people in Malawi. The Christian identity is central to the actions of the foundation. The values from which the foundation acts are: involvement, compassion and standing up for injustice. The foundation strives for equality, so that everyone in Malawi has the opportunity to receive an education.
Strategy
The above mission and vision become a reality by funding education initiatives in Malawi. Education is a broad concept, which specifically includes school buildings, teaching materials, education and training materials and the provision of school fees.
In the next three years, the focus on education will be further specified, whereby it will become clear within which spectrum of 'education' the Friends of Africa Foundation will remain active.
The initiation of new projects will be done in cooperation with local agencies in Malawi. The reason for leaving the initiation phase to these agents has to do with the actual 'needs and wants'. We, the Dutch, live in a completely different society and cannot possibly determine from a distance what people actually need in the villages, regions and cities. For this reason, any authority, resident or organisation can fill in a project application form and submit it to us. In addition to the choice of local agents, the local population is made the owner of a project and the responsibility and maintenance will be entirely in the hands of the local administrators.
In this way, we are in line with the priority and therefore with the needs of the people. The projects are managed on site, so that the local qualities are optimally utilized. We are not the experts, we are our local agents or partners.
The vision is not a fixed fact, we want to meet the needs of the local partners. In addition to education, the foundation will consider continuing to install water pumps if there are areas where clean drinking water is not available. In addition, the foundation will continue to provide emergency aid in the form of food in times of extreme drought. Emergency aid will only be provided if the official authorities call on the foundation. Nothing happens on your own initiative without consultation with our agents.
