Local leaders and volunteers coordinate materials and project activities.
Phase IV – Maintenance and Community Service – after the three development phases are in place, project managers will work with village leaders to develop a long-range plan to maintain environmental, economic, education, and health plans, and monitor work, providing external evaluation of project activities and feedback concerning problems and next steps.
In addition, project staff will work with village leaders to develop the Village-to-Village plan, where each successful village contributes to new village projects – providing locally-led training and mentoring to new villages.
This element of Village-to-Village is critical and unique. Many non-profits come to East Africa and do good works. However, in most cases, when the project leaves, the work ends. This is due to increasing the dependence of the local people on expertss and outside funds to sustain the work. The most important aspect of ensuring a sustainable green future for East African villages is the development of local capacity to monitor their own project, mentor their own community, and spread their growing expertise to help one another - a key component of most East African cultures.
