How it all began |
OUR APPROACH |
Baraka Community Partnerships is a charity which began in 2007 when three much travelled friends, who had witnessed so much inequality and poverty first hand, decided to get together with a view of making a difference. Starting with one project in The Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Baraka has since evolved to encompass a multitude of projects concentrating in Zambia and Laos whilst still helping out in Morocco where needed.
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We don't give cash handouts because we want to look at long-term solutions. We want the changes in communities to come from them - their ideas, their goals and aspirations.
By developing schools, promoting healthcare and instigating water and sanitation projects, we try to galvanise communities to build their own sustainable, self-sufficient futures. We have a bias towards education with approximately 80% of our funding supporting educational projects. Most projects (apart from our Learning Centre) are suggested or initiated by locals, so we can help them build their own vision for their community to make it a reality. Where possible we ask the community to contribute in some format such as labour or local materials. |
Baraka Community Partnerships is run on a day-to-day basis by our Co-Founder Andy Mckee (pictured right, in Zambia). Andy is supported in the UK by a six member Board of Trustees who all give their time and expertise voluntarily. Andy's sister Louise Mckee and Jo Sutton work on a part time basis and oversee much of our administration, finances and in Louise's case our educational strategy in Zambia.
We are registered in Zambia as a Non Governmental Agency (NGO) and here we have a team of twenty full timers who coordinate and deliver our projects in the field. We are also registered in Canada where the six member Board of Directors are primarily concerned with our Zambia projects including our medical volunteer trips. We have a network of wonderful volunteers who support the work we do, sometimes in person at our projects. |