Rainbow Gate Foundation Nigeria, a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Nigeria, was founded in 2009 to help youths and underserved individuals in Nigeria. One of Rainbow Gate Foundation’s programs is the New Life Education Project for Remand Home Children. Remand Homes were established by the Nigerian government to help care for abandoned children, as well as children who have behavioral problems. The objective of the New Life Education Project was to help the at-risk children in the Remand Home. This was accomplished by working with children known for anti-social behaviors to increase their knowledge about social life through a Guardian and Counseling initiative. Additionally, the New Life Education Project developed a skill acquisition program to train the children in the areas of catering, computer skills, snail rearing, aqua-culture, and poultry management. The objective was to have at least doubled the children’s skills and improved their attitudes by the end of the year. The children are counseled, trained, and empowered in order to transform their attitudes positively. The Rainbow Gate Foundation Nigeria believes children are our future, and that working to change their minds can change our world for the better.
Rainbow Gate Foundation Nigeria - Nigeria, Africa
Assess: Volunteers with Rainbow Gate Foundation Nigeria visited the children’s home and interacted with the children. They discovered that there were two groups of children in the home: the first group was comprised of children known for anti-social behavior, and the second group was comprised of children who seemed to be victims of unfortunate circumstances and had been abandoned for a long time in the home. Noting that very little attention was given to the children at the home, they initiated the New Life Education Project to help enhance the lives of the children. An additional goal of the New Life Education Project was to empower the children to contribute to society and their immediate community.
Plan: The Rainbow Gate Foundation approached the government ministry responsible for the children, called the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare. The Ministry accepted the proposal, and Rainbow Gate Foundation began planning; they categorized and organized the project into the following areas: counseling, workshop/entrepreneurship training, exams and exhibition, certification, and graduation. The mission of the New Life Education Project was formed: to make the children better citizens and to help them realize their value to themselves and to their immediate community. The project was grounded in the ideal that it is important to protect the rights of children, especially their right to education and freedom.
Act: Because Rainbow Gate Foundation is an organization run primarily by youth, they mobilized youth volunteers to begin working with the children. Next, they found partners who donated cash and in kind resources.
Evaluate: The Rainbow Gate Foundation conducted periodic monitoring on the project activities based on a monthly work plan and project indicators at the purpose, output, and activity levels. Monitoring was conducted by the PMT through periodic field visits. Benchmark information on the project was used to track the progress of activities and the effects of the project interventions during the course of the project. A monthly accomplishment report was prepared and discussed in review meetings. A database was established to track progress of activities, and the effects of the project interventions during the course of the project. An annual accomplishment report was prepared and discussed in an annual review meeting held during the 1st quarter of the succeeding year with the members of the project steering committee. A mid-term review was undertaken during every three months of the project implementation to assess overall progress and to identify, where appropriate, adjustment(s) in the project components, in the implementation arrangements, and in the overall project focus.
Sustain: To address the issue of parallel structures and systems through projects, the project worked with the existing mandated institutions and used a nationally adapted structure and system developed to support the pilot implementation of inter-commune joint undertakings. By utilizing this mechanism, the project contributes to strengthening existing national capacities of the various agencies involved in supporting the New Life Education Project implementation, and avoids the creation of parallel structures and an incentive system for project implementation.
Accordingly, the project was flexible by keeping options open and adjusting to changes in the institutional environment.
The New Life Education Project has changed the community for the better; the children who have participated in the project can now see themselves as agents of change, empowered to improve their community. The project is so popular that they now have participants from the community, in addition to the children from the Remand Home. Additionally, they frequently receive positive feedback from participants and members of the community on their website.
Rainbow Gate Foundation's Website: http://www.rainbowgatefoundation.org
