Our approach is...
Sustainable
In 2010, FVS-AMADE transitioned from direct humanitarian aid to sustainable development. Our goal is to empower local communities to become autonomous so that they can take care of orphans and other vulnerable children themselves. This is the reason that we created the approach "Nawe N'uze." With this approach, we can increase the level of our impact.
Holistic
At FVS-AMADE, we understand that there are many aspects of development that interact with each other. It is impossible to have sustainable development without addressing each of these aspects. FVS-AMADE has interventions in several focus areas in order to respond to the multiple needs of our beneficiaries. Our groups are the perfect venue for reaching our beneficiaries with other services.
Community-Based
In Burundian culture, family and communities ties remain very strong. Our model of solidarity groups uses an approach that corresponds to this culture of solidarity and empowers communities to solve their own challenges as a group. The members who join are committed to ensuring the orphans in their community are looked after.
Adaptable
At FVS-AMADE, we act when we observe that our beneficiaries are facing new difficulties. We continually adapt our services and create new programs to better serve them. Our solidarity groups help us to not only identify the children in their communities that need support, but also their specific needs.
FVS-AMADE's core program is the formation and supervision of solidarity groups, whose members are composed of foster parents of orphans and vulnerable children. These groups practice a system of credit called « Nawe N’uze ». Each week, they meet to put aside savings in three different cash boxes that each has a different purpose: a pool from which they are able to take out loans, savings to buy school supplies for the orphans, and a fund for emergency needs within the group.
Among these groups, the organization also provides other opportunities such as microcredit and entrepreneurship trainings to increase their incomes. FVS-AMADE also uses these groups as a way to disemminate information quickly, for example on family planning, HIV awareness, and opportunities to join our community health mutuals.
In 2013, we saw our first big success toward the ultimate goal of the economic autonomization of these groups. The solidarity groups purchased 100% of the school supplies for orphans on their own, a cost that the organization had previously partially subsidized. Through this group model, FVS-AMADE empowers communities to care for orphans and vulnerable children.
Our Approach: Solidarity Groups
