Foster an Ubuntu Community

What if you could become part of the story?

What if your school, company or organisation could do more than support a good cause from a distance?

What if you could get to know one community, follow its journey and become directly meaningful to the women who are building it?

By fostering an Ubuntu Community, you create a lasting connection between your organisation and five women in The Gambia.

You learn about their lives, follow what they are building and look for ways in which you can contribute—with your interest, your ideas, your experience or your network.

You do not simply support a project. You become part of its story.

The community you foster

An Ubuntu Community consists of five women who have each received a young female goat.

The women care for their goats, support one another and gradually build their own herds. As new goats are born, new opportunities are created and passed forward to other women.

The community already exists. The women have already begun their work.

What they are looking for is a school, company or organisation that wants to get to know them and remain connected to their journey.

Why you may want to become involved

You may be looking for a way to make the social engagement of your organisation more personal and meaningful.

By fostering one community, you give your students, employees or members a real story to follow. You learn about the women, see how their community develops and share in the important moments along the way.

This can help you:

• bring people within your organisation together around a shared purpose;
• make values such as cooperation, solidarity and responsibility more tangible;
• introduce students or colleagues to a different community and way of life;
• use your knowledge, experience or connections to offer practical help;
• see how a small opportunity can continue to grow and reach others.

Instead of supporting an anonymous project, you build a connection with real people and with something they are creating themselves.

What fostering means

You choose one existing Ubuntu Community and remain connected to it in a way that suits your organisation.

You can:

• follow the community’s progress;
• receive stories and updates about the women;
• share their journey within your school, company or organisation;
• celebrate their achievements;
• offer encouragement, ideas, knowledge or useful contacts;
• help when a practical need arises;
• draw attention to what the women are building.

If a specific financial need arises, you may choose to help. This is never required and is not what fostering is based on.

There is no fixed programme and no list of obligations. Your involvement can develop naturally, according to your interests, your possibilities and the needs of the community.

The women remain responsible for their goats, their decisions and their future. You do not take over their project.

You stand beside them.