One Day, One Job » africa

Ubuntu Education Fund

Willy Franzen — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 15:51:32 +0000

When I came across a job posting that mentioned Ubuntu, I assumed it had something to do with software. I’m kind of a geek sometimes, so I was thinking about the Linux operating system named Ubuntu (which is the #1 result when you search the word in Google). It turns out that Ubuntu, according to Wikipedia, is also “an ethical concept of African origin” that focuses “on people’s allegiances and relations with each other.” The Ubuntu Education Fund may not be teaching anyone about Linux, but they’re certainly using the idea of Ubuntu to make the world a better place. They are based in Port Elizabeth township in South Africa, where they reach “over 40,000 children with life-saving health and educational resources and services.” The Fund also has offices in London and New York City, which enable them to grow and support the on the ground operations in South Africa.

What Does Ubuntu Mean to You?

The Ubuntu Education Fund’s model for development is based on 8 pillars. They are: Community Involvement, Accountability, Legitimacy, Evaluation, Organizational Learning and Growth, Sound Financial Management, Creativity, and Long Term Thinking. These are the basis for a number of programs that include an Empowerment Initiative, HIV Prevention Outreach, a Clinic, and Child Care and Support. It’s amazing that the Ubuntu Education Fund has been able to take their community focused approach and take it to such a large scale. It goes to show how serious the needs in the Port Elizabeth township are. If you feel called to join the Ubuntu Education Fund, you can find out more by checking out their Jobs page. However, you should note that their only current job posting is on Idealist, and it’s for an Assistant to the Managing Director in New York City.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What did you think of when you first read Ubuntu?

MicroFinance Transparency

Willy Franzen — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 15:53:28 +0000

It’s been quite a while since we looked at entry level jobs in microfinance. I’m not sure whether the recession has had something to do with it, but it seems that there has been a lot less buzz about microfinance over the past year or two than there was in the preceding years. Maybe it’s just me. For those of you who don’t know what microfinance is, Wikipedia defines it as “the provision of financial services to low-income clients, including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services.” Put more simply, it’s the act of lending small amounts of investment capital to people who wouldn’t have been able to borrow money in the past. Microfinance is a great alternative to many other forms of aid, because it helps build economic foundations that respond to market incentives. MicroFinance Transparency is a Lancaster, PA based non-profit organization that is working to ensure that the field of microfinance stays true to its goals of helping to alleviate poverty. Because microfinance is unregulated and fragmented, MicroFinance Transparency acts as a watchdog that promotes transparency in the industry.

MicroFinance Your Job Search

MicroFinance Transparency’s main activity is collecting and reporting data, and most of the data that they focus on is related to the interest rates of microfinance loans. The reason for this is that microfinance and payday loans aren’t all that different in theory; however, it’s the interest rates and the intention of the loans that supposedly make microfinance a poverty alleviation tool (while payday loans likely exacerbate poverty). The best way to get the full rundown of how MicroFinance Transparency works is to read through their Frequently Asked Questions. That’ll tell you nearly everything you need to know about why they’re doing what they’re doing, and if it’s not enough, there’s plenty more on the the MicroFinance Transparency website. If you like what you see, you’ll probably want to check out their Jobs page. Right now they have two positions posted, but they’re both located in Africa—Accra, Ghana to be exact. The positions are Administrative Assistant and Research Associate, and both seem like they might be interesting for an adventurous new grad. Check them out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever participated in microfinance?

Grassroot Soccer

Willy Franzen — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 15:55:29 +0000

Now that we’re done celebrating a hockey victory here in Chicago, it’s time for World Cup fever. I’ve never been a huge fan of soccer—probably because it’s not the most suitable sport for someone who was both chubby and asthmatic growing up—but even I can get into the World Cup. If there’s any sport that bridges all cultures, it has to be soccer. And that means that it’s particularly well suited to international non-profit work. That explains Grassroot Soccer, a Norwich, VT based non-profit that was started by former professional soccer players to help fight HIV in Africa. They do this by training “African soccer stars, coaches, teachers, and peer educators in the world’s most HIV-affected countries to deliver an interactive HIV prevention and life skills curriculum to youth.” They’re especially focused on using the excitement surrounding the 2010 World Cup to increase engagement with their programs.

Kick HIV’s Butt

I actually spent some time on the phone with Grassroot Soccer’s Founder Tommy Clark last year, and learned about how the organization has grown since it started as an idea. Since you probably can’t do that, you should check out this wonderful video that Grassroot Soccer has put together.

Grassroot Soccer has been so successful because they’ve connected two seemingly unrelated things. By taking the excitement around soccer in Africa to bring attention to the plight caused by HIV, they’ve built an organization that is extremely capable of achieving their mission of education and development. If Grassroot Soccer sounds like something that you want to be involved with, then check out their Join the Team page. They don’t actually mention jobs there, but there have to be some opportunities available in an organization of 60+ employees and 300+ volunteers. You’ll just have to use their contact information to inquire about more.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about Grassroot Soccer?

TechnoServe

Willy Franzen — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 13:00:09 +0000

As an entrepreneur I am a strong believer that businesses are often the best way to solve problems. Don’t get me wrong—I love non-profits, but the ruthlessness of the business world breeds efficiency and effectiveness. We’ve seen plenty of non-profits try to cure poverty, yet poverty remains one of the world’s biggest problems. Lately we’ve seen more and more business based solutions aimed at eradicating poverty. TechnoServe, is a non-profit (the irony!) that is doing just that. They help “entrepreneurial men and women in poor areas of the developing world to build businesses that create income, opportunity and economic growth for their families, their communities and their countries.” What they’re doing may sound like some new social entrepreneurship startup, but they have a 40 year track record of successfully transforming the lives of the world’s poor. I guess business based solutions to poverty aren’t a new idea at all.

TechnoServing Up Some Exciting Jobs

When I first heard the name TechnoServe, I imagined some sort of technology related non-profit; however, that’s not what they are at all. In fact, what TechnoServe does could be considered quite basic. They’re helping people do what other people have been doing for thousands of years—building sustainable businesses. Last year they helped 1,350 businesses generate $149 million in total sales, while in the process touching the lives of 1.2 million people. TechnoServe does this through three key practices: Developing Entrepreneurs, Building Businesses and Industries, and Improving the Business Environment. Over the years they’ve expanded to more and more countries, so they now cover: Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Peru, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, and India. Their U.S. based offices are in Norwalk, CT and Washington, DC; and you can find information on their jobs here. Most of their job openings don’t profile for new college grads and they don’t accept applications for unlisted positions; however, with the right background (they really like consulting experience) you may find a few of their job listings to be a good fit. Additionally, they have a three to twelve month Volunteer Program that can groom you for a job with TechnoServe. Check it all out and see what works for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you heard anything about TechnoServe?

Trickle Up

Willy Franzen — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 15:41:19 +0000

I’m not going to start an Economics debate on a Saturday morning, but I’m tempted. Trickle Up is a non-profit organization that was named as a slap in the face to the theory of trickle-down economics. Regardless of their economic philosophy, they appear to be doing great work by empowering “people living on less than $1 a day to take the first steps out of poverty, providing them with resources to build microenterprises for a better quality of life.” Trickle Up is based out of New York City, and they believe strongly in microfinance, micropreneurship, and microenterprises as being the solution to worldwide poverty. Their website does a great job of telling their story, so I recommend that you check it out to get a full feel for whom Trickle Up helps and how they do it.

Trickling Up

Trickle Up’s Jobs page is extremely simple and doesn’t include many details about what it’s like working for them, but it does include job postings with in-depth descriptions. There’s a Development Associate – Individual Giving position that doesn’t appear to require very much experience. It’s not explicitly entry leve, but if you have any fundraising/development experience, then it’s certainly worth a look. The deadline for applying is January 19th, and you can apply by sending a cover letter, resume and one writing sample to jesseg@trickleup.org with “Development Associate” in the subject line. There’s also a Program Associate for Africa job available (although the deadline was yesterday, 1/9/09). It looks like a really cool opportunity, so it might be worth trying to sneak in a late application by sending a resume and cover letter to africa@trickleup.org with “Program Associate” in the heading. It appears that the Development job is located in New York City, and the Program Associate job is in Africa. Trickle Up also has headquarters in India, Mali, Uganda, and Guatemala and projects in even more countries, but there don’t appear to be any other jobs available.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Trickle Up or Trickle Down? Both?