Baobab Initiative Thrives

The Baobab Initiative, a student-run enterprise formed to help a small village in Zambia, has thrived on campus since its creation in October, 2004. The efforts of the students have been so successful that current co-head coordinator Meije Gernez ’11 reports that all the village’s children have new school uniforms and the village is able to fully sustain itself through the next dry season with enough corn for everyone. The state of the village now is a far cry from when founders Laura Marsala ’06, Justin Niles '05 and Danielle Bennett '04, on Academic Travel to Zambia with Professor Anne Flutti, witnessed a village sustaining itself on meager cassava roots and boiled rats with none of the children attending school.

Baobab leaders get updates two to three times a year from two contacts in Malawi who travel to Zambia to check on the village and deliver school fees and other supplies to ensure the initiative’s direct benefit to the village. The village is almost  self-sufficient agriculturally and is learning how to sustain itself economically. Since its inception, the Baobab Initiative has revolved around the village: planning trips, helping the residents achieve agricultural sustainability and raising money for farming supplies and scholarships. Since the projects have been successful and the village is now able to be independent with less investment from the student group, the Baobab Initiative is expanding to support other organizations that have the same mission in mind – helping Africa develop sustainable agriculture, economies and water supplies. 

“By focusing on sustainable grassroots organizations that we believe in, the money we donate and raise will be much more productive, especially as, for a grass-roots organization, $700 to $1000 makes quite a bit of difference,” says Meije.

Two other organizations that the Baobab Initiative is supporting are Kiva micro-lending, which provides small, manageable loans to start or improve businesses, and African Solutions to African Problems, which works with women providing support to orphans and children affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The students are also focusing their efforts on supporting organizations involved in sustainable water purification and harvesting. The Baobab Initiative plans to continue to support the village while simultaneously educating the Franklin campus about becoming involved in finding long-term solutions to the many problems faced by Africa.

“We still have the general upkeep of the village, but also we are trying to show some diversity in our work,” says Ryan Fisher ’10, head coordinator along with Meije.

Students have raised money on campus for village gardens and school fees by hosting events like the braai, or African barbeque, held in the spring of 2009, and by selling burritos at special events. “Most of the money we have raised in the last few years goes to supporting school scholarships within the village, and also for biyearly ‘checkups,’” explains Ryan. “This money is spent on transportation of our African contacts along with scholarship money, school supplies and uniforms. Money is also spent on some purchases such as seeds and general tools.”

The Baobab Initiative does not want to give handouts but rather to facilitate educational opportunities and sustainable solutions. The organization believes in the words of Desmond Tutu: “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.”

For more photos, see our Photo Gallery . 

May 2010