Our journey begins in 2002. That year, Harvard University graduate, Kenneth Ebie was traveling in Cameroon on a Fulbright grant, researching on HIV/AIDS.
It was the first time Kenneth had to deal with and realized that Cameroon’s education system needed partners to move it forward. His research brought him face-to-face with the reality of the country’s health sector which many described as literally bed-ridden or on life support.
Instead of just complaining or criticizing, Kenneth decided to do something about it.
He was amazed by the resilience, determination and courage of citizens who allowed nothing to dampen their spirits.
Everywhere, he found people from whose hearts a ray of light seemed to beam, reflecting an indomitable spirit he had heard a lot about, finding a reason in the midst of hardship and poverty to celebrate in song, dance, art, craft, and the traditions of the country’s age-old kingdoms.
It was from this place of never-dimming hope that he committed himself and his own resources, however small, to join the fight against despair, hopelessness and darkness that his parents, unbeknownst to him, had been quietly trying for decades to inspire in him.
Therein was the birth of the Foundation for Education, Culture, and Health – FECH. He initially thought his biggest task would be to convince his family to buy into his dream and support the project.
Well – the family did not just buy into the concept. The Ebie clan generously lavished support for FECH, setting it in flight… and, as the saying goes, the rest is history.
Our programs provide basic assistance to the health and education sectors across Africa, working with education and health professionals, civil society and communities in tackling policy and systemic health challenges in ways that improve the lives of the most vulnerable people.
Our focus is in the following six areas:
In order to achieve the vision of FECH, the business model is focused on collaboration. We design solutions using a network of local and international experts and partners with a track record of success in their respective areas, relying on them working with education and health sector professionals to implement programs. Our networks and strategic allies rely on our knowledge products and lessons learnt to replicate success in our future programs.
Face-to-face, virtual workshops, study tours, exchange and mentoring programs form the foundation of FECH-Africa’s successful capacity building programs. A paradigm shift acknowledges and supports African solutions to African problems, adapting and replicating, where there is need, solutions to problems that are global. In strengthening skills, we and our partners begin by conducting needs assessments but, once this diagnosis is completed, we empower our African partners to lead the work of solving the problems they have with their schools, hospitals and institutions of training.
FECH-Africa provides education for our non-African, notably Western partners, serving as a “knowledge bank” and a platform of credible information on the impact non-Africans can have if they immerse themselves in a deeper understanding of Africa’s realities. We are notably focused on drawing in members of the African Diaspora and the rest of the global black family. We have witnessed the great value that first generation Americans, born to African parents, have in articulating a point of view about Africa that is neither commonly shared nor heard.
In addition to assisting with medication supplies, FECH-Africa programs have supplied ambulance trucks and financial assistance in the building and retooling of health facilities besides providing training for the implementation of education and health programs benefiting street children and other at-risk youth. Rigorous screening and assessment of needs help us promote efficiency and avoid waste of resources provided by our partners.
FECH-Africa has no agenda of its own. We work for our partners and we do nothing without first checking with them. That is why we are endlessly consulting with and providing consulting services to our partners in Africa with a view to enhancing outcomes in respective areas of interest. While resource mobilization is major hurdle in development models, making the right diagnosis is critical. Failure to accurately assess any problem increases the risks of a wrong prescription being handed down, with undesirable outcomes.
Working with strategic financial partners, FECH-Africa has expanded its resource mobilization efforts beyond the moral and financial support provided at the onset by the Ebie clan to jump-start the foundation. The generosity of our non-African partners in the West to put their money behind the needs expressed by our African partners has been heartwarming. The generous support we receive (in kind, material, finance and expertise from donors) is leveraged, stretching every dollar and, in some cases, reusing or recycling resources in order to implement programs.