Tage and Dorte Budolfsen
The couple – who have six children themselves – draws on twenty years of experience in development aid. Tage, our village director, is an experienced farmer who also holds a degree in anthropology. Dorte, an experienced teacher, heads our education department.
“We want this village to become an agent for sustainable development rather than a charity. That’s the only way forward. In the long-term, we hope that some of our children will step into our shoes and run this wonderful village which is, at the end of the day, created for them.”
One of the challenges for charities is that they can create dependency and sometimes even undermine sustainable development. During their many years of work-experience in Africa, the Budolfsen couple have seen the opportunities but also the challenges and sometimes problematic aspects of development aid. As they draw on their wealth of experience, their unimitable charm and their very practical, “no-nonsense-approach” to running the Kids of Africa-village, they have been an invaluable help for us.
Maybe most important, they have supported their management team as well as other members of our staff exceptionally well. Today, Kids of Africa can draw on a strong pool of resources when a new project comes up or when somebody takes a temporary leave. Through all of this, the Budolfsen’s have made Kids of Africa a stronger, more sustainable venture.
Tage Budolfsen: “As we teach and educate not only our children but also offer public education, we hope that one day our neighbours will say that Kids of Africa has been an important driver behind the development of our neighbouring Bwerenga community. We hope that our older children will find it easier to find jobs because we emphasize values like quality, reliability and a positive work-attitude. We emphasize reaching out into our local Bwerenga community and we hope that our community will continue to reciprocate as it has done so marvellously in the past. That’s the most sustainable way in which we can truly become partners in development.”
