Social responsibility is a joint venture in success

Regular readers of the Enfys Acumen eBriefs and blog posts will be familiar with our commitment to social responsibility and the initiative that has led to our work with Aid for Orphans and the Disabled (AFOD) in The Gambia.

We don't just see social responsibility as a good thing to do, but it really is part of our overall understanding of the kind of business and organisation we want to be and the quality life we want to live. We also try to encourage other organisations, businesses and people to become more socially responsible.

Earlier this year I read a book called "Success built to last - creating a life that matter" written by Jerry Porras and others. The authors interviewed over 200 people: some famous, some were not, they weren't geniuses or magicians, just ordinary human beings like you and I, but they all had one thing in common. All of the people they interviewed shared powerful patterns of lifelong success, patterns of thought, patterns we can all learn and deliberately weave into our own lives.

They found that every single successful person they interviewed had three things in common: an individually defined meaning; a creative thought-style and an effective action-style.

In developing the Enfys Acumen and coaching people in the develop of their organisations, businesses and lives, these three factors form the cornerstone of our own work. A commitment to social responsibility is a demonstration of the meaning behind the Enfys Acumen, our though patterns and particularly our behaviour.

We also encourage other people to develop the meaning behind what they do, how they think and their actions.

Taking on this project to support the development of AFOD in The Gambia is very much part of this ethos, both for our own success and the success of my new friend Lamin Fofanah, the Chief Executive of AFOD and his team of members and volunteers.

Our work in The Gambia has been supported by a host of special people who provided cash sponsorship, help raise funds, provide advice and donated gifts and needed equipment to support our work.

We are especially indebted to the representatives of the following:

Fellow coaches

Members of BNI Quinell Chapter

Members of 4Networking

Scouts

St John’s Youth Group

Members of the Voice if Wales Speakers Club (Toastmasters)

Friends and Family

What can the Enfys Acumen do for AFOD?

Aid for Orphans and the Disabled (AFOD) is a charitable company registered with the Gambian Government. It started in 2005 and is led essentially by a team of young and enthusiastic people, championed by their Chief Executive, Lamin Fofanah. The needs of orphaned children and disabled people in The Gambia, as in most of Africa, are great and so far AFOD has been trying to be all things to all people. AFOD's activities have included an education opportunity addressing malaria; raising community awareness of the issues faced by orphans and disabled people, specifically targeted at addressing cultural stereotypes and beliefs relating to these people; and sponsoring orphaned and disabled children through the school system.

In order to be more successful in accessing funding and other resources, the AFOD team recognise that they need to be more focussed in setting their priorities and aims.

This is where the Enfys Acumen can really help and make a difference

As an organisational development and coaching practice we work with all kinds of organisations and businesses to clarify their goals, determine the values behind what they do, be specific about their starting point and agree the action steps to achieve what they want to achieve. This is exactly the kind of help that AFOD needs.

Current ideas from the AFOD team include developing training and workshop facilities to help orphans and disabled people to lift them selves out of the despondency their circumstances so often put them in.

They would like to establish a micro finance scheme to provide the basic equipment people might need to set up their own business ventures.

AFOD really wants to develop the capacity to create new opportunities for orphans and disabled people.

The Enfys Acumen is prepared to make a long term commitment at our expense to provide organisational development and coaching support to AFOD, but to truly get the ball rolling and help key people on the right to track, we have been advised that it would be beneficial to spend ten days or so, working with AFOD in the Gambia to develop plans and strategies.

Over the last few weeks we have been exploring ways of making a trip to The Gambia to work with AFOD feasible and have been fortunate to raise the sponsorship to cover travel and subsistence costs.

My flight is now booked and I travel on Friday, 2 November 2007.

It is my plan to keep a daily blog when I am in The Gambia, chronicling the sights I see, the people I meet and the work we do together.

If you want to be kept informed of what is surely an adventure of a lifetime, make sure you subscribe to this blog using the tools on this page.

How can the Enfys Acumen support AFOD?

AFOD currently has the use of some premises with limited office equipment and is run by one paid member of staff, Lamin Fofanah - a truly genuine young man, with a fantastic sense of vision and a commitment to hard work to benefit his community. There is a membership of thirty people and most of the current funds are raised from holding monthly dances.

Activities to date have included an education opportunity addressing malaria; raising community awareness of the issues faced by orphans and disabled people, specifically targeted at addressing cultural stereotypes and beliefs relating to these people; and sponsoring orphaned and disabled children through the school system.

The needs of orphans and disabled people are huge and to be fair, there is so much that Lamin and AFOD would like to achieve, that up to now they have been trying to be all things to all people.

This is where the Enfys Acumen can really help and make a difference

As an organisational development and coaching practice we work with all kinds of organisations and businesses to clarify their goals, determine the values behind what they do, be specific about their starting point and agree the action steps to achieve what they want to achieve. This is exactly the kind of help that AFOD needs.

Current ideas from the AFOD team include developing training and workshop facilities to help orphans and disabled people to lift them selves out of the despondency their circumstances so often put them in.

They would like to establish a micro finance scheme to provide the basic equipment people might need to set up their own business ventures.

AFOD really wants to develop the capacity to create new opportunities for orphans and disabled people.

The Enfys Acumen is prepared to make a long term commitment at our expense to provide organisational development and coaching support to AFOD, but to truly get the ball rolling and help key people on the right to track, we have been advised that it would be beneficial to spend ten days or so, working with AFOD in the Gambia to develop plans and strategies.

Why do we want to work with AFOD?

Aid for Orphans and the Disabled (AFOD) is based in Bundung Borehole on the outskirts of Serrekunda, the largest conurbation in the Gambia.

The charity’s aims are to address the social needs of orphaned children and disabled people in the area. With very little statutory support for these people like we have in the UK, their plight is very much in the hands of other people in the community, but unfortunately prejudice and stigma remains high.

A recent survey carried out by AFOD has shown that in their own local community alone there are nearly 1000 people who are orphaned children or disabled. Some of the greatest challenges are concerned with:

• Education - most orphaned children and disabled people miss out on educational opportunities not because of academic reasons, but because of financial reasons: they cannot afford fees, transport to school, books, uniform and shoes. With very few practical skills, they quite often become street beggars with no hope for a future

• Nutrition - many orphaned and disabled children experience a very limited diet. Research has shown that many such children only have one meal a day, consequently they are at greater risk of other illnesses and early death

• Health - in addition to AIDS, other illnesses like malaria, severe headaches, stomach problems and fevers are rife especially amongst AFOD’s target groups. Medicines are expensive and many orphaned children and disabled people simply cannot get to health centres because they cannot afford transport costs.

No doubt just like us, you are bombarded with appeal letters from dozens of very worthwhile charities. I have to admit that when AFOD's Chief Executive, Lamin Fofanah first got in touch with the Enfys Acumen by subscribing to our eCommunity, I did wonder what was going on and had to stop and think carefully before I responded.

At the Enfys Acumen we are supporting a number of charities in the UK, both with pro bono professional services and as volunteers and donors, so what is special about AFOD?

What has really attracted us to support AFOD is that it was formed and is led by young people who are working together to try to improve quality of life in their community.

Their passion for wanting to make a difference is so encouraging and equally important is that they are not really looking for handouts, but rather the help to develop their skills and resources to move from dreaming to action.

They want to be in a position to improve their lot themselves. Coaching people like this is just the kind of work we relish the most.

Tell us some more about The Gambia

Before I received an email asking from help from Lamin Fofanah, the Chief Executive of Aid for Orphans and the Disabled (AFOD) back in April, I have to admit that I didn't know much about The Gambia, other than it was to be found in West Africa, so I very quickly did some swotting up.

The Gambia is one of Africa's smallest countries and unlike many of its West African neighbours has enjoyed long spells of political stability since independence in 1970. This stability has not translated into prosperity however.

Despite the presence of the Gambia river, which runs through the middle of the country, only one-sixth of the land is arable and poor soil quality has led to the predominance of one crop - peanuts. Most of the poulation are however subsistence farmers.

The population of the Gambia is 1.5 million and the country covers an area of 4,360 square miles - both are about half that of Wales, my home country.

The extent and effects of the AIDS virus in Africa are well documented and no doubt we are all aware that the majority of people with the disease can be found in Africa. The Gambia is equally affected by the AIDS epidemic and currently over 20,000 of the population of this small country are infected. AIDS tends to affect people between the ages of 15 and 49 years - the time when people should be most productive and have the greatest economic and familial responsibilities.

The orphans of AIDS victims and disabled people in most of Africa are very much the poorest of the poor.

At the Enfys Acumen, we have over twenty years experience of working in some of the poorest communities in the UK and with organisations tackling a wide range of social issues, but working in The Gambia would be something quite different.

It would be a fantastic challenge to apply our skills in organisational development and coaching in a new setting, with a different culture of people and with some of the greatest social needs we have come across.

What is the Enfys Acumen doing in The Gambia?

Early in 2007, the Enfys Acumen made a social responsibility commitment to make available up to two days every month for pro bono organisational development and coaching support to charities that could not otherwise afford our professional fees. One of the charities that has asked us for this help is called Aid for Orphans and the Disabled (AFOD) and is from the Gambia in West Africa.

AFOD is registered with the Gambian government as a charitable company and started its work about three years ago. We have received endorsements from international aid agencies in the area that are familiar with the organisation, but do not have the resources to support AFOD themselves.

Over the last few months, we have been exchanging regular emails and have had a number of telephone calls, including a mini workshop by phone at our expense to clarify the support needs of the charity. Communications of this nature, although wonderful in so many ways, are hampered by the fact that the only email access my main contact has is at an internet café and due to a poor telephone network, calls tend to cut out every few minutes or so.

So we bit the bullet, discussed options with AFOD and our mastermind team and thought about what we could really do to help.

Read on to find out more.

What is this blog all about?

At the Enfys Acumen,we try our very best to be a responsible business and believe all businesses and organisations have the social duties to:

• Treat employees fairly, equitably and with respect
• Protect the environment for future generations
• Manage the impacts on society and the environment of business operations, products or services and through interaction with key stakeholders such as employees, customers, investors, communities and suppliers.
• Being a responsible neighbour by understanding the local environment and adapting to local needs
• Observing basic human rights

How do we we do this?

• We strive to be socially responsible in our own daily business practices
• We raise social responsibility issues in our development work with businesses and organisations

As one example of how we try to live up to these principles, we put aside every month, up to two days for pro bono organisational development and coaching support for charities that could not otherwise afford our professional fees.

Why have we offered pro bono support to small charities?

One of the central values behind our work at the Enfys Acumen is a commitment to the concept of giftedness. By this we recognise that no matter what kind of background, level of experience or skills people possess, we all have gifts we can use to benefit others.

One of the ways people can demonstrate their gifts is through community action, volunteering time for the benefit of our community, whether that community is geographically defined or a community of interest or need. We sometimes hear this referred to as active citizenship.

If we could we would dearly like to be able to freely support community action all of the time. Working with volunteers and community organisations can give a great buzz. Unfortunately we all have to make a living, we are already committed to regular voluntary commitments and we know from experience, that doing work for free isn’t always valued or appreciated as much as work that has been paid for.

We also know from experience that there are many voluntary and community organisations out there that would truly benefit from the kind of support provided by the Enfys Acumen, but simply do not have the resources at the present to pay us a fee.

We also know that good quality support for voluntary and community organisations can be a postcode lottery. This is unfair and a barrier to lots of people being able to use their gifts for the benefit of others.

So we have stated some very clear criteria that a charity must meet to qualify this support.

More details about our offer of pro bono support for community action can be found at our website www.enfysacumen.com

This initiative has proved very satisfying both for us at the Enfys Acumen and the for the charities that have received our support.

This blog chronicles an example of our pro bono organisational development and coaching support for one charity.