Akilah has successfully completed the first step of our vision: to develop a strong educational model and to create a nurturing environment for students to learn and achieve their full potential.
The next step is to transform Akilah into a self-sufficient campus, as campus social enterprises will generate the revenue streams to support ongoing operational costs while providing practical training for students. Akilah will generate its own resources and improve the relevancy of the educational programs by producing and selling goods and services as part of skills and entrepreneurship training. This model supports a conscious shift away from the dependency on foreign aid and international donors.
These young women will experience a living and learning environment unlike any other institution in Africa. Hospitality students will work in the ecolodge and restaurant that will be constructed in 2013. These facilities will be located on the edge of Lake Cyohoha and attract regional and international tourists and host local conferences and events. The agricultural land and livestock farms will provide students with fresh meals, with excess produce and other products sold in the capital of Kigali. All students will participate in the operations of the campus by assisting the Akilah staff in preparing and serving food, running the kitchen and agriculture operations, assisting with administration and office tasks and serving as tour guides for visitors.
Akilah is working with Teach A Man To Fish, a network of self-sufficient schools based in London. TAMTF provides technical assistance and expertise in the process of developing business plans for schools that run campus businesses to generate earned income streams to cover operating expenses. Akilah is in the final stages of developing a five-year business plan that will serve as a road map to self-sufficiency for the Bugesera campus, reducing the dependency on fund raising and external donors.
