Purpose and Impact
More Africa was founded in 2015 by the Dutch Ellen van Beers and is runned by local talents who are trained by Ellen.
The main objective of More Africa is the special school, which offers every child the right to education, therapy and a meaningful day. More Africa has a nursery, primary, daycare, advanced and 16+ group and also offers space for an “inclusive kindergarten”.
More Africa also offers work experience placements in its own guesthouse focused on bar/restaurant, reception, housekeeping and gardening for young adults aged 16 and older.
On Zanzibar, education, counseling or therapy for children/young adults with disabilities is not self-evident. More Africa offers these children and young adults the opportunity to develop themselves in a familiar and safe environment. More Africa works with individual care plans and all children have their own personal goals which are worked on daily.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.
We are proud to announce that we support 15 out of 17 SDG's.
1. No poverty
Many of the world's vulnerable population remains uncovered by social protection. In low income countries only 8.5% of children and 7.9% of vulnerable people. We work with very vulnerable children in low income countries. Therefore, we also see it as our job to protect the children.
2. Zero hunger
Our children all get fed at school and go home with a full belly
3. Good health and well-being
We pay all the medical expenses our children need. In this way, we ensure that the children are as healthy as possible, as they often already have a deteriorated medical condition due to their disability
4. Quality education
We provide special education to children with disabilities. Everything tailored to their own level. We observe and report daily to ensure quality and challenge the children as much as possible.
5. Gender equality
We feel it is very important to give women a voice, which is why only women work at our school. We train them ourselves and they get a place in the school when they pass this training well
6. Clean water and sanitation
The toilets at school are cleaned daily and we buy water in recyclable barrels, so we both have clean water and reduce the plastic pollution.
7. Affordable and clean energy
It is our dream to run the entire school on green energy/solar. We are actively raising funds for this.
8. Decent work and economic growth
We offer our staff a local but fair salary and we buy locally as much as possible to stimulate the local economy
9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure
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10. Reduced inequalities
Globally, woman are twice as likely as men to report experiencing discrimination based on their sex. At More Africa, we stand for woman empowerment. Girl power!
11. Sustainable cities and communities
1,1 billion urban residents are livig in slums (2020). 2 billion more are expected in the next 30 years. We currently and in the past have been paying some parents their rent for their homes. This is because they have found themselves in a difficult (family) situation and do not have the financial means (anymore) to pay for it. As a result, they have to move and their child can no longer attend school. In consultation, we then pay the rent for a few months to help the family back on its feet. But always with the understanding that the parent(s) concerned take action themselves to get their lives back on track.
12. Responsible consumption and production
On average, each person wastes 120KG of food per year. We try to reduce our carbon footprint, recycle, reuse and reduce as much as possible.
13. Climate action
The rate of sea-level rise has doubled in the last decade.
In Zanzibar, we have also seen a huge increase in sealevel in recent years. Especially hotels on the beach are experiencing this. We are not doing much about it ourselves, except living as consciously as possible.
14. Life below water
In Zanzibar, many beach cleanups are organized. We encourage our volunteers and guests to participate in these. With our children we organize cleanups on our own property. We do not use plastic in our hotel, so it cannot end up somewhere in the community or in the sea. We inform our guests NOT to sit on a jet ski, not to stand on the coral while snorkeling and not to fish starfish from the sea.
15. Life on land
We love greenery, so we plant as many trees as possible on our property. We also have a vegetable garden. It's not enough, but it's a start.
16. Peace, justice and strong institutions
We stand for inclusiveness for our children. Also, some of our children have been victims of kidnapping/abduction and rape. When this happens in the community, we assist the parents and go to the police with them to make justice work.
17. Partnership for the goals
We believe we can expand our network on Zanzibar even further to really make more impact.