Vision and Ethos

Africa Link seeks to do two things

1. To raise awareness of the issues facing those people in Africa who have to deal with extreme poverty on a daily basis.
2. To provide resources to those people to enable them to break out of the vicious cycle of poverty.

Communication leading to action

AL aims, through the use of a variety of methods, to communicate to those in the developed world, an understanding of the challenges faced by those living in the developing countries of our world. The country of Malawi is used as an example of this, not simply to raise the plight of those living in that country but to also make us think about those in extreme poverty all over the world. We at AL have a passion for Malawi and seek to provide resources to projects in that country. But this is one of many places which suffer from the preventable disease called poverty. It may be that you have an interest for another African country or for a country on another continent. That’s fine. The message we want to give is that we cannot simply allow this state to continue. We need to be motivated into action. That action can be take a multitude of guises. That is something YOU need to work out for yourself. See our page on ACTION which may provoke you into thinking what you may be able to do.

What Action is taken by Africa Link

Our response at Africa Link to those facing extreme poverty is to encourage a holistic approach to development. This is not new. See details of such an approach on http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/ or http://www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu/ The world is becoming aware that traditional methods of delivering aid and development assistance have not been successful. A holistic approach which tackles issues from the ground up and which is driven by the local community and not the donor community is what is needed. This theme is developed extensively in the book “Walking with the Poor” by Bryant Myers. Development is about the meeting of stories, the stories of development agencies with those of a local community. It is about the development of relationships with can empower those in poverty to break out. Myers adds a spiritual dimension to the bottom up holistic theme which considers the needs of the person beyond the material. At Africa Link we encourage this approach and seek to support organisations and individuals who seek to apply this methodology to their work.

What this means in practice…

We need to look at health, education, sustainable economic development, improved agriculture, energy and resources, infrastructure, and developments in civil society and assess these areas within a holistic programme focused on a particular people grouping (such as a village).

Needs can be assessed with the leaders of the local community to consider how that community can improve the lives of its people. Creative solutions should evolve which are sustainable by the local community and are run by the local community. Development funding should be found which can implement these plans over an agreed period of time. This is what we need to work towards.

In practice AL is starting with discrete projects which seek to deal with the most serious of the issues Malawi is facing. In the social arena these are Orphan care and HIV/AIDS. See the projects we support in these areas.

In addition we are beginning to focus our attention on economic development. This is seen as key to providing an exit to the cycle of extreme poverty. Food security needs to be followed by the development of possible cash crops and the sourcing or creation of markets for these crops. Providing links between small holders and commercial farming operations may also give new hope to those whose lives depend on the land.

We will be hoping to expand this area in the coming months and in due course focus in on the holistic approach championed by the millennium village initiatives.

Motivation

Finally our motivation is found in the commands of Jesus. Matthew Chapter 22 teaches us the two greatest commandments of Jesus –
Love the Lord your God with all your Heart with all your Soul and with all your mind.
&
Love your neighbour as yourself

For Africa Link, our neighbours are to be found in the townships and in the rural villages of south east Africa. Our desire to love these people comes from our attempt our live out the first o those commandments.