CorpsAfrica is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2011 by a former Peace Corps Volunteer seeking to recognize and build on Peace Corps's enormous success by offering the same transformative experience to emerging leaders in Africa - giving them the chance to be a part of the solution for their own countries. CorpsAfrica applies some of the best approaches to international development, including empowering local communities, promoting collaboration among NGOs and our development partners, monitoring and impact evaluation.
CorpsAfrica recruits men and women to move to high-poverty communities within their own countries for one year, after successfully completing four weeks of training built around experiential learning to empower and equip Volunteers with the skills and mindsets they will need to be successful at their sites. Volunteers gain the community’s trust and understanding by engaging people in conversations and facilitating community meetings to identify and address changing and complex local needs in education, health, small business development, urban planning and infrastructure, agriculture, the environment, and more. They then initiate and facilitate projects that fulfill these key needs in their communities and whose impact and success can be carefully measured and monitored.
CorpsAfrica recruits men and women to move to high-poverty communities within their own countries for one year, after successfully completing four weeks of training built around experiential learning to empower and equip Volunteers with the skills and mindsets they will need to be successful at their sites. Volunteers gain the community’s trust and understanding by engaging people in conversations and facilitating community meetings to identify and address changing and complex local needs in education, health, small business development, urban planning and infrastructure, agriculture, the environment, and more. They then initiate and facilitate projects that fulfill these key needs in their communities and whose impact and success can be carefully measured and monitored.
|
|
CorpsAfrica's Core Values
|
Locals Helping Locals
We believe that qualified Africans can be part of the solution for their own countries. The Volunteers relocate to remote communities in their own countries for one year and fully integrate by learning local customs, participating in day-to-day activities, and becoming trusted members of the community. Listening and Empowering We stress the importance and power of listening. Volunteers lead change by engaging people in conversations and facilitating community meetings to identify and address changing and complex local needs. We believe that development efforts are most effective when they are “demand driven” – giving women, men, and youth at the community level the opportunity to identify problems and take the lead to solve them. |
Collaboration
Volunteers serve as liaisons between their communities and the outside world. CorpsAfrica is uniquely positioned to collaborate with a wide range of Development Partners. These Development Partners include NGOs, development-related businesses, government officials, academics, social entrepreneurs who share their expertise and assist the volunteers with project implementation. Monitoring and Evaluation We think that no effort is complete without thorough monitoring and evaluation. Before beginning their service, Volunteers are taught how to facilitate a needs-assessment in local communities. After their service, Volunteers measure the projects' impact on the community or targeted population. Furthermore, CorpsAfrica measures the impact on the lives of the Volunteers who complete the program and have gained valuable grassroots community development experience. |
Accountability and Transparency
We strive to demonstrate our successes as well as our errors to Development Partners, targeted communities, and all interested outside parties so we can be held accountable for everything we do. It keeps us motivated and encourages us to be the best that we can be.
We strive to demonstrate our successes as well as our errors to Development Partners, targeted communities, and all interested outside parties so we can be held accountable for everything we do. It keeps us motivated and encourages us to be the best that we can be.
|
|
CorpsAfrica's Goals
Promote the professional and personal development of young Africans.
Inspire a strong pan-African community and network of public service.
Connect rural areas to the vast resources and innovations of diverse NGO partners.
Build the capacity of rural villages to create self-sufficiency in every sector.
