My name is Peter Nakamura and this is my first post on this blog. I’m currently in Pemba, Mozambique working at a microfinance bank with the Aga Khan Foundation so I was quite excited to find out about Village Reach’s logistics and social business programs as I find them very interesting. As a matter of fact, I own a Vida Gas tank in my kitchen!

In terms of Question #4 that you raised, Alexa, I think there’s great potential for Village Reach to connect with high school and college students, and have them become “ambassadors” for your cause. I started up a chapter of Free the Children (a Canadian-based international development charity – http://www.freethechildren.com) at my university and they provided incredible amounts of support and resources to our chapter. In fact, they have dedicated staff members for elementary/high school/university chapters across Canada. Most of their funding comes from these chapters rather than from private donors. So, there’s an example of a development organization that has successfully connected with students who have then spread the organization’s message and fundraised.

My caveat for connecting with students is that you need to be committed to providing support, resources, and campaigns. That will mean having a staff member that is constantly available for these campus chapters, that can create resources or campaign materials/ideas, etc. It’s easy to start a chapter but to maintain it (especially after the founding group of students graduate) is another question.

Hope this helps!

Peter