In October we start a new project cooperation with the biggest NGO we have collaborated with so far: SOS-Children’s Villages. We’ll explain why we’re working with SOS-Children’s Villages, how it came about, and what’s in store for this collaboration in the future. So stay tuned!

The goal of the cooperation with SOS-Children’s Villages

The goal of the joint project is to create job prospects in tourism for young adults. By establishing an Impact Homestay in Botswana, young people can gain experience as entrepreneurs and build their own tourism product.

Last November, SOS Children’s Villages hosted a matchmaking event that brought together ten startups and over 300 representatives from 40 African countries – and we were part of it! Our task was to present socialbnb in this context. Thabo from the regional office of SOS-Children’s Villages in Botswana contacted us and expressed interest in a joint project. This was the start of our cooperation.

Together with Thabo and Moiko from the community in Chadibe in Botswana we were in Kenya in February to work on the project idea, to understand the needs of the locals and to define tasks and responsibilities. You may remember? Here you can read it again.

Since we are back in Cologne we have been working closely with the Chadibe community in Botswana. Now the project is starting and we can finally present you the extent of the whole cooperation today.

Together with the regional office of SOS-Children’s Villages in Botswana and the community in Chadibe, we are developing a new tourist offer – with the aim of creating as much impact as possible on site.

A local community trust, represented by Moiko, together with Thabo from SOS-Children’s Villages in Botswana, has identified rooms that are no longer in use and are now being renovated in a timely manner. The renovation process has already begun.

At the same time, we started to conduct on-site tourism trainings together with young community members. The aim of these was to ensure that the local people were well prepared for the guests in every respect.

During this training, participants develop the on-site experience. The development of the offer on site is completely in the hands of the community. They decide what to offer, what the accommodation should look like and what will be part of the socialbnb experience.

After the completion of the renovation and training, the tourist offer is on site and ready to receive visitors. You can then book this special homestay through socialbnb, as well as additional activities provided by the community. We support the process of finding suitable partners to spread the word and promote the Chadibe Community Homestay.

VERY IMPORTANT: In Chadibe itself, there is no typical SOS-Children’s Village. However, the NGO is now increasingly working in local communities to raise awareness of child protection and to strengthen families through job placements, etc., so that children can stay with their families. This is also the case in Chadibe, which is why there are good contacts with the local community. Of course, the children’s villages generally remain protected spaces themselves and no travelers are brought there. This contradicts our own child protection policy and was also extremely important to those responsible at SOS-Children’s Villages in discussions about possible further cooperation.

Why SOS-Children’s Villages?

At socialbnb, it was and is an important concern for us that the projects and organizations listed on our platform are locally run. After all, this is the only way to create a sustainable impact (on the one hand for the region and the local people) and a really good travel experience (on the other hand for travelers).

That is why we have so far mainly worked with very small, local projects and social businesses. Cooperation with large international NGOs has not been a focus for us.  SOS-Children’s Villages is one of the largest NGOs in Germany with many locations worldwide. Therefore, we were initially skeptical whether such a cooperation would work and really achieve the desired impact.

However, through direct contact with Moiko from the Chadibe community in Botswana and with Thabo, the regional officer on site, our worries were eased. We found out that there is great potential to create impact together. What convinced us most was the participatory approach of the organization. The management of the projects on site is completely in the hands of the regional offices – in other words, it is in the hands of locals. The association in Germany rarely takes on operational tasks and is instead responsible for financing and fundraising.

Thus, this cooperation also offers the opportunity to use social business approaches to help the projects of large NGOs achieve greater sustainability and thus maintain the impact in the long term. SOS -Children’s Villages brings an international network to local communities and projects, as well as a lot of experience in the execution of projects.

We are very excited about what is to come and look forward to welcoming the first guests to the new Chadibe Homestay. What do you think about this cooperation? Would you visit the community homestay?