TASTE believes that its support for communities must be appropriate and sustainable.  If we deliver a solution that is inappropriate, it will not last long.  Similarly, if we deliver a solution that is not sustainable, our efforts  will not have a lasting effect.  Africa is littered with projects that were delivered by well-meaning philanthropists but which stand idle today.  Unless the community takes ownership of the project and commits to long-term maintenance of it, we'll just add another failed project to the debris littering the continent.

So, TASTE utilises an approach based on the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) model:

1.  When a community asks for help, we ask them to explain what they want; why they need it; how they can help towards the development.

2.  We ask them to form a committee to run the project – e.g. a Water & Sanitation Committee would be responsible for clean water & latrines – and ask the committee to see how the people can help towards the project and how they will ensure that the project stays working after we have left.  This could mean the people contributing a few Nira; someone donating land to the community for the project; some people being trained in maintenance.

3.  TASTE will then work out the full for the project and share that with the community.  

4.  Once we have got this sorted out and told the community the cost, the first step is to get the community to approach the British Embassy to ask them for funds to complete the work.  We would not expect the community to know how to do this, TASTE will help them with the information they need.  The British Embassy does have a small grants scheme that can only be accessed by local communities.  If the Embassy has no funds, we should know where else we can apply and we will help the community to do so.  

5.   If there are no funds available in Nigeria, we will try to source funding for the project from UK or North America.

6.  Once funds have been found and the building completed, TASTE will arrange a Thanksgiving Service to commission the project.  If this is not appropriate in public, a private service will be held and opened to everyone to come in.

7.  The community will be contacted by TASTE on a regular basis to make certain that everything is running well and that the project is delivering as it was hoped.

Want to help us raise funds?  There are a number of ways.  Just look at our gifts & support page.