Community Projects
In order to be awarded the Tutu Fellowship, participants are required to complete three assignments, one of which is a community project in keeping with the servant leadership tenet that underpins the programme. The community project is how the Tutu Associates, individually or collectively, can start to make a difference in Africa while still on the programme. The scope of the project is deliberately left broad, to encourage innovative thinking, and allow Fellows to apply their skills where they would be most beneficial to the broader community and how they would most like their input to benefit Africa. This section showcases some community projects, from over the years, captured as mini case studies to illustrate the impact the Tutu Fellows are making.
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Agricultural project for disenfranchised youth in Kenya
In one of the most troubled counties in Kenya, 2017 Tutu Fellow Samuel Kariuki has launched a project called Fort Hall Eye. Located two hours from Nairobi, Murang’a County is one of Kenya’s more densely populated rural districts. Historically, the county was a leading coffee producer, accounting for the bulk of Kenya’s world famous Arabica exports. However, mismanagement has led to a decline in the county over the last two decades, with a majority of farmers, often small-holders, abandoning the crop and resorting to subsistence farming. The resulting increased poverty levels over the last 20 years has had a significant impact on the social fabric. The Fort Hall Eye Project is an agro-entrepreneurship program coupled with micro-loans for vocational training offering skills training and mentoring, starting with a 15-acre farm being used as a kind of live incubator.