TOFAUTI ON THE MOVE’S AGM MEETING HELD ON THE 9TH OF JULY, 2011 AT THE PARKLANDS SPORTS CLUB

So on the 9^th day of July TOFAUTI ON THE MOVE held their Annual General Meeting at Parklands Sports Club under the patronage of their very able patron Ms. Georgina Ndombi. 

Among the people in attendance was Mr. Pepe Minambo who is a world renowned and acclaimed motivational speaker. He challenged us to always live to inspire and make sure those around us never expire, "it is not just enough to be very good when you can be exceptional”. 

Mr. Julian Rowa, the General Manager of the Stanbic Bank was also among the invited guests and he encouraged us to be a brand in our own right, “be a brand so that when someone hears your name it resonates in their minds because of what you represent”.

Other guests included our partners represented by their heads. Mr. Tedd the local chapter president of AIESEC in  Strathmore, Mr. Dan the headmaster of Magoso,  Mr. Declan Magero, the chair of UNESCO’s Youth Forum and Ms.Njeri Gikonyo the head of Hatua. 

Key items on our agenda were to review our progress and also the way forward with emphasis on reviewing our operational structures in order to attract sponsors and also for accountability and transparency purposes. "We have come a long way since inception of Tofauti from doing volunteer work around the different communities in Nairobi to partnering with other organizations and getting international students who do their internships and community service here. We should now focus our attention to sourcing permanent sponsors of our activities in order to effectively create economically sustainable communities and therefore change lives,” were the words of the projects manager. 

With our greatest focus being re-structuring our operations, it is only realistic to hold General Elections as one way of streamlining our operations and management structures to increase efficiency, participation of all members, promote accountability, transparency and sponsorship. 

 The meeting coincided with Jack Bevan Hook’s farewell party and he was lost for words on his experience of Kenya. Highlights of his stay were the beer (Tusker) and the trip to Konza where we had a lot of fun culminating in a bone fire and barbecue in the bush! All the best Jack in your efforts to join the army.

The interns were so happy and comfortable in the Tofauti residence were they all live and especially during dinner when every one is on the table creating one big and diverse family: thats the essence of the meaning of the swahili word tofauti! 

Among the many light moments in the house was when Daily,  Chinese came, she had no good command of the English language so she did not get the jokes people were laughing to. When asked why she was so quiet even when someone made a joke, she gave an honest answer and said she could not understand anything and this sent the whole house into the biggest laughter of the night. Amber had so much fun in Konza and also some lots of beer that she decided to sleep in the bush but lucky for her we were all there to keep watch over her.

As we go into the new financial year (1^st July 2011/2012 30^th June), we are fully charged and optimistic of achieving greater things and changing the many lives that are on the verge of desperation and others that are already desperate. 

We also thank our mother patron Ms. Georgina Ndombi for her continued support and for the priceless guidance she offers to us, may she live long enough to watch us grow to the unprecedented heights that we intend to rise to!

All the friends and well-wishers tofauti and also our parents who have been with us all through the way may God bless you for your efforts towards ensuring that we succeed in our endeavors. 

  Deo omnis gloria!

JOsHuA nZuKi

Projects Manager.

ABOUT US

     Tofauti on the move is a youth group founded by a group of high school leavers in November 16^th 2007. It was formed as a result of poverty and PEV(post election violence) that had been aggravated in the country. The need to help the community progress in the lines of poverty and violence was felt strongly in the hearts of the young founders and so motivated many to be part of this group.
      In 2008 we re-structured our group and put up the constitution and strategies on how to help the community. We came up with a firm foundation and elected leaders who would move with our vision and mission 

TOFAUTI ON THE MOVE VISION & NICHE METHODOLOGY

NICHE

Sustainable development through interactive technological techniques.
The term sustain as defined by scholars is simply; something that is capable of being maintained at a steady level without exhausting natural resources or causing severe ecological damage. The term technology on the other hand is defined as the usage and knowledge of tools, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem. Tofauti is aimed at applying these technological techniques in order to sustain development in our society.
However, in many cases sustainability entails social, economic and environmental dimensions. Our methodology is to use technology to cut across these three areas so as to rise up a self-sustainable generation.

Vision
To create an innovative self-sustainable society.
Mission
To empower the youth with sustainable life skills through interactive technological techniques.

METHODOLOGY

Internship program
 Tofauti receives about 5-10 international students from AIESEC every after two months who come on volunteer to teach in the remote areas e.g. slums on financial management skills. These students together with some of Tofauti members use basic IT skills in these schools to teach financial management.
Tofauti’s goal is to introduce an internship program where all (national and international) students can practically apply their knowledge in the entrepreneurial world. We are working towards attaching these students to also other organizations in the near future not just to teach but also to learn. This will help the youth grow in developing their skills and knowledge by practically apply what they have learned in school to the companies and organizations.
Practical Education
This is a project that is aimed at teaching the youth from an early age basic IT. Tofauti  is currently working with two slum schools one at Mathare and another at Kibera in the aim of achieving sustainable development through teaching children how to use computers . The challenge experienced is that most schools do not run under electricity and even so some lack computers. Tofauti is currently working on a video game project that will teach children how to manage finances and moral values.

Connectors
Tofauti is aimed at creating a platform to link different youth groups to create sustainable development projects. These youth groups will come from different universities, institutions and clubs that have a common goals e.g. sports, career clubs, music etc all in collaboration to a common goal “sustainable development project”.  The need is “a link” that connects all these youth groups into clusters defined by common goals e.g. all football teams from different organization linked up by Tofauti to compete or have a league to raise funds for a sustainable development project e.g.  Providing solar system to a school in order for them to access computers.
Sports, Entertainment and Arts.
Tofauti comprises of talented groups e.g. Aziza band, Vision2020 (football team) and Upcoming designers who want to make a posititive change to the society through the use of their talents.
Through these four areas identified Tofauti is geared into creating sustainable development through interactive technological techniques.