Sustaining Growth in Africa - Can The West Help?

http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/e/1/e/8/600_266697832.jpeg Today most people in the semi-arid countryside in East Africa live in extreme poverty, living on less than $1 a day. In these areas it can be up to 12 miles to the closest well. Yearly 40 billion hours are spent in Africa to get water. It is mainly the children and the women that that do this.

Many argue that traditional aid is not reaching those most in need. However a number of collaborative projects and social enterprises have emerged to make development less aid driven and more sustainable. We look at three of these at this meeting and ask – is this the way forward for Africa?

Johan Dahl is passionate about contributing to solving the challenges that people in East Africa face. He hopes to help create a more sustainable environment for both our planet and the people on it, through his involvement with “Better Globe”.

http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/e/6/3/e/600_266698942.jpeg He was attracted by the inter-related claims of Better Globe as an investment opportunity and as a project bringing local benefits. He has been financially involved since and visited one of the project sites in Kenya.

Pamela McLean is passionate about collaborative learning. She set up Dadamac to help people in UK/Europe/USA and people in rural Africa to learn from each other and with each other.

http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/e/6/7/a/600_266699002.jpeg Much of her work draws on projects successfully developed over a period of 10 years of successful collaborations between rural Nigeria and the UK. Dadamac specialises in enabling collaborations related to community development in Africa, education and training, and the development of online communities.

Julliet Makhapila is a community development innovator. Although she lives in London, she is still closely involved with the community in the RIft Valley in East Africa. From London she works with local volunteers in East Africa and has wide practical support from the local community. She works with them collaboratively and her case study shows how it is possible to make a difference from a distance using new technologies. Through this she offers support, training and mentoring to young people in Kenya.

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