The students are equipped with IT and media skills and are then encouraged to become entrepreneurs. Through selling digital services online they become self-sustaining and can even employ new cohorts of trainees.
In 2015 we started off in Turkana county, North Kenya, where traditional sources of income are extremely limited due to infertile soil and poor infrastructure.
From Education to Entrepreneurship
Our program is structured into three subsequent units: "Learning Lions" trains talented and motivated young adults with high value skills in the areas of programming, graphic design and media production.
The students from the educational program are then invited to stay on campus as trainees of "Digital Lions", our fair-trade IT-outsourcing agency. Here, they start working with international customers and gather hands-on business experience.
When the Lions feel confident in the contact with clients, the incubator "Startup Lions" provides them with the necessary funds and tools so that they can launch their own start-up and become economically independent.
Volunteer
Spend between one and six months in one of the most remote areas of Eastern Africa mentoring a team of young adults on their way to become entrepreneurs on the global digital market. You will build relationships with bright African minds and enable them to have a successful career without having to leave their home region.
You will assess the students’ progress, develop new modules and support students with customers’ orders. Apart from a life changing experience you will receive free board and lodging and live with us in our ICT Centre in Lodwar. Practically everyone with a knack for teaching, programming or business development can contribute, ideally we look for volunteers with professional skills in:
Programming
We mainly focus on web development (often WordPress-based), but are also building up basic programming skills (mostly app development).
Graphic Design
We work mostly with the Adobe Suite and teach everything from cropping backgrounds and retouching images to layout and logo development.
Animation
Working with Blender and Adobe After Effects, students learn storyboarding, inspirational sketching and character and backgrounds design.
System Administration
For a better handling of our internal processes, we are always looking for volunteers with skills in network and system administration.
Help From Afar
Have you some free hours a month that you would like to dedicate for a great cause? There are plenty of fields where you could greatly support us from wherever you are! Mentor young talents from abroad by placing fictive client orders and give them feedback, evaluate students’ weekly work, help us reach out to the press, spread the word on social networks to get awareness for our actions etc. Don't hesitate, get in touch with us and let us talk about it. No matter if you still have pending questions, want to support us from afar or join us on site. Leave us a note and we’ll get back to you.
