Philosophy

Tiruzer Ethiopia for Africa (TEA) has a very strong mandate to use the vast majority of our resources for actual programming in the field. Our board of directors is adamant about this! Over 75% of the money we receive gets to the beneficiaries for whom it is intended, and we are very proud of that fact.

TEA is an inclusive community based organization that recognizes and respects the culture, values and expertise of the communities it works with. By engaging with local individuals, organizations and community representatives, and by always asking "what are the priorities for the local community?" TEA works to serve local people with initiatives that are welcomed, which offer external support while also promoting a sense of village ownership, and which are fully sustainable.

Humanitarian Accountability is a cornerstone of our philosophy and we live it and see what’s happening on the ground, check the financials of each activity, and properly audited financial statements of our organization. We strive to ensure that each project achieves the maximum impact while helping the maximum number of people and that we are always giving a hand up and not a handout.

Our development strategies include:

Partnership & team work - TEA believes that Together Everyone Achieves More (TEAM) and hence promotes working in teams and partnerships. TEA shall work in partnership with all like-minded development actors inside and outside the country and wants to make itself a model nonprofit for promoting mutually beneficial and development partnership. Government agencies, the private sector, academia, professional associations, foundation and civil society groups are partnership targets of TEA. TEA will always try to harness resources, materials and personnel from diverse sources and locations to implement our projects in Ethiopia. By bringing and working with local and international development actors and volunteers together in partnership, we promote the view that shared approaches and cultural exchange are fundamental principles of sustainable development.

Impartation, Learning and Sharing Knowledge - TEA believes that everyone is blessed with some kind of wisdom and knowledge. And learning and sharing is the most important mode of knowledge transfer and accelerated growth. Hence, TEA shall arrange student exchange and volunteering programs, forums and platforms of learning and sharing so that one can learn from the other and successful people can teach those aspiring to be.

All TEA projects are assessed on merit for their ability to eventually be owned, operationally and economically sustained in-full by the local community members in-question. In particular, our volunteer programs are designed to allow members of the international community to share their knowledge, expertise and experience with Ethiopia youth, women, smallholder farmers, children and families. The well known adage 'Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime', is a sincere aspect of our operational model.

Village Ownership - All our projects and programs primarily focus on bringing together people who have the right skills, knowledge and experience to share with village actors to help village people solve village development challenges themselves. By taking this approach we pass on knowledge, allowing village people to become self-sufficient and to take charge of their own futures. We build village capacity, strengthen village approaches, and eventually render our organization’s services redundant, as village people no longer need our support. Our primary aim, then, is that our organization will no longer be required in project target areas.