OUR APPROACH

MEMA believes the indigenous can recognize effective solutions to their daily challenges if their empowered  accurately than addressing them openly through the following ways

  1. MEMA works with the community to put together a year strategic plan that spans projects across the spectrum of needs which is jointly reviewed and revised annually. We seek consensus from a wide circle of leaders and clarify and share those plans with the whole community to ensure the indigenous’ support for the projects and their view of MEMA as a trusted partner.
  2. MEMA does not give directly to individuals. MEMA mission is to uplift the community by supporting projects that will benefit the community as a whole. We try to leverage and strengthen existing structures in the community whenever possible.
  3. MEMA requires that all construction projects have a committed maintenance plan at the outset to begin construction. Maintenance may be provided by the community, the government, or a combination thereof. MEMA works with the local community to define and implement an effective plan for inspecting, funding, and repairing buildings. In this way MEMA assures that projects are locally sustainable without long-term dependency on MEMA.
  4. MEMA volunteers and staff try to develop strong working partnerships with government officials, heads of health centers and schools, village leaders, and the community at large. MEMA also works with local government, schools, health centers, partners, and other groups to assess the progress and impact of the projects and support sustainability objectives. We often introduce or augment data collection and analysis processes and share aggregated data publicly via our online dashboards to keep both our constituents and donors informed.
  5. MEMA is run by volunteers world-wide — teachers, business people, professionals, and others All are motivated by the chance to help rural communities overcome poverty. MEMA hires only a handful of employees living and working in the local community who are needed to drive our projects. Because MEMA secures commitments for local ownership and ongoing maintenance up front, there is no need to establish permanent maintenance staff. Together, this means that MEMA has a very low overhead so that over 99% of donor funds go directly to the projects.