User:Kbclark/Africa Rising

Africa Rising, a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina is dedicated to "building relationships with effective, grassroots African organizations." It partners with nine African-led organizations in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

History
Africa Rising was founded by a group of people from the Chapel Hill Bible Church to replicate a model of partnership that had been successful with an organization in Ongata Rongai, Kenya called Beacon of Hope. The Chapel Hill Bible Church and Beacon of Hope partnered to assist persons affected by HIV/AIDS in the Kware slum outside Nairobi by selling handmade crafts in the United States through the Chapel Hill Bible Church and other local churches. Beacon of Hope offered job skills training to residents of Kware in order to produce these goods and give people marketable skill sets.

Carolina Hope and the Hopefest
In order to reach a larger audience on behalf of Beacon of Hope, a group of people formed a non-profit called Carolina Hope, which later became Africa Rising. Carolina Hope started hosting the Carolina Hopefest Music Festival in 2005 to raise money for Beacon of Hope and raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic in Africa; the fourth festival was held October 25th, 2008.

Formation of Africa Rising
In -insert year here-, the founders of Carolina Hope transitioned the non-profit to the new name of Africa Rising in order to broaden their reach and form partnerships of a similar model with organizations other than Beacon of Hope in eastern Africa.

Criteria for Partnership
As quoted directly from the Africa Rising website, Africa Rising looks for the following criteria in every organization it partners with:


 * Are they African led?
 * Do they meet a critical need?
 * Are they effective in what they do?
 * Do a large proportion of donations result in direct benefits to those being served?
 * Are the staff and those they serve justly treated? Are they financially accountable?
 * Are they accessible for international communications?
 * Are they interested in a relationship with others beyond donations?
 * Do they have a good reputation in their community?