CorpsAfrica: Development Redefined

Summary:

Currently operating in Morocco, Senegal, Malawi, and Rwanda, CorpsAfrica models sustainable, community-led development through yearlong opportunities for motivated, college-educated Africans to serve in a rural community in their own country (or another African country) and facilitate a locally-identified project. The CorpsAfrica model empowers local communities to lead their own development, inspires African youth to become changemakers, and promotes African philanthropy and collaboration within the social sector. 53.3% of all community members in all CorpsAfrica sites took an active role in identifying which project would best address their own community's unique challenges. 93.7% of CorpsAfrica Volunteers in the past year report understanding their country of service better after serving, and 98.5% expanded their professional networks. Moreover, in 2018-2019, CorpsAfrica has collaborated with over 200 development stakeholders in facilitating projects and training CorpsAfrica Volunteers. The CorpsAfrica model relies on ambitious and educated youth, an asset that exists in every country. Each office is locally-staffed with autonomy over their program, partnership, and fundraising strategies. One constant across all countries is the empathy and humility Volunteers develop by learning about and living in their assigned community. Volunteers are trained in Human-Centered Design and Asset-Based Community Development to facilitate conversations that reveal local capacities, assets, and interests. They use these conversations to identify a project that comes from the community and then connecting them to outside resources. By engaging community members, African youth, and African philanthropists, CorpsAfrica mobilizes Africas best assets in directing genuine, self-directed social change.

Background/Objectives:

When it comes to rural community development, the beneficiary knows best. While outsiders have traditionally dominated Africas development sector, African-led development can facilitate economic growth, local leadership, and African philanthropy to break cycles of rural poverty, youth unemployment, and aid dependency across Africa. CorpsAfrica leads this shift through local, yearlong opportunities for college-educated African youth (currently in Morocco, Senegal, Malawi, and Rwanda) to serve in rural areas in their countries or other countries in Africa. The CorpsAfrica model promotes grassroots, self-directed development at every level- from the African Volunteer, from the community members, and from African philanthropists.

Description of Intervention and/or Methods/Design:

CorpsAfrica staff recruit motivated, talented college-educated young Africans who seek to be part of the solution for their own countries. After a rigorous selection process, the CorpsAfrica trainees undergo one month of Pre-Service Training (PST). They are subsequently sent to an assigned community in rural areas of their country, where they spend one year integrating, proposing a locally-identified project, and facilitating project implementation alongside community partners. Volunteers use Human-Centered Design and Asset-Based Community Development tools learned from training to assess the challenges and potential solutions unique to their sites. This transformative service opportunity helps rural African communities lead their own development projects, opening space for young Africans to become agents of positive local change and prepare for purposeful and successful careers. Finally, by engaging African donors and diverse development stakeholders across Africa, CorpsAfrica catalyzes development projects that are locally-led and locally-funded.

Results/Lessons Learned:

Because Volunteers utilize listening and collaboration to both identify and implement their projects, each small-scale, high-impact project has been uniquely sustainable. In 2018, CorpsAfrica volunteers backstopped 62 projects ranging from school and community center building to initiating enterprises and irrigation systems. They facilitated 233 project related trainings for 708 community counterparts who have vowed to maintain project activities. 53.3% of all community members in all CorpsAfrica sites took an active role in identifying which project would best address their own communitys unique challenges. CorpsAfrica has learned to measure and communicate the impact of these unique projects to potential donors. Staff train volunteers to develop project-specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that are measured at baseline and endline; indicators such as the number of girls in school or the amount of income generated, to help tell the unique project stories while also measuring cross-cutting patterns of change.

Discussion/Implications for the Field:

CorpsAfrica harnesses the power and intention of the development sector while challenging the notion of the outside savior knowing what is best for marginalized populations. Volunteers contribute to Africas social sector by serving as a crucial bridge between a) professionals in the NGO community (Development Partners) with theoretical knowledge, outside innovations, and funding, and b) local communities with lived experience and on-the-ground understanding of challenges. By bridging this gap, CorpsAfrica Volunteers lead the process of creating a social sector that positions locals as the leaders, rather than beneficiaries, of their own development.

Abstract submitted by:

Abdelaziz Noujoum - CorpsAfrica
Abdelhamid Hassani - CorpsAfrica