About Development Support Initiative:
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- Our core expertise includes capacity building, community engagement, building public-private partnerships, and helping to initiate locally-driven change.
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- Our core services are women's empowerment, youth empowerment, community and livelihood development, nutrition and food security, and environmental management.
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- We believe in the principle of people first. DSI does not decide what marginalised communities should do; rather, we support communities in addressing self-identified problems. DSI helps to empower communities to lead the change themselves.
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Where We Work:
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- We currently work in the Kagera region in northwest Tanzania, near Lake Victoria. Our initial community needs assessment and projects are taking place in Nyakahama village in Kagera. In the future, we hope to expand our work to other villages and regions of Tanzania.
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DSI's Core Values:
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Collaboration
Empowering marginalised people to take charge of their development, sharing skills and knowledge to create sustainable change, and building collaborative partnerships that promote innovative growth.
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Knowledge
Leading volunteering for development, setting the standard for ourselves and others, using evidence and insight to guide our actions, and recruiting the right people and work where we have the greatest impact.
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Inclusion
Standing beside and advocating for those who have been denied choice and opportunity, promoting diversity and equality throughout our work, and encouraging different, inquisitive perspectives.
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Integrity
Treating others with respect as equals, being open, transparent, and accountable in everything we do, and taking a zero tolerance approach to abuse and harm.
Village Community Banking
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Since 2021, DSI's core projects have taken place in Nyakahama and surrounding villages in the Muleba district. DSI has supported the community to establish a system of VICOBAs (Village Community Banks), a micro-finance programme that enables the community to pool their savings and borrow money to start their own small businesses. To learn more about the principles of VICOBA, click here.