Creative Capital
Londoner Nik Kafka was working as a banker in the city before he left for Paraguay. It was here that he discovered a pioneering school that not only taught students how to become entrepreneurs, but worked as a self-sufficient social enterprise.
Kafka decided to take this “school-business” model and spread it across the world. The charity Teach a Man to Fish was founded in 2006, and now works in over 100 countries, reaching 250,000 young people.
The model is based on a concept of education paying for itself. It allows students and teachers to set up and run their own profitable business, and the money that’s raised can then go back into the school and community. They’ve supported projects from an envelope-making business in a lunchtime club at a Ugandan secondary school, to a vocational bakery course at a school in Kigali, Rwanda.
“The school-business model is a way of tackling poverty long-term,” says Teach a Man to Fish’s communications and marketing officer, Susie Worth. “It’s giving young people those 21st-century skills – after graduating, they can go on to set up their own business because they have the skills to be entrepreneurs.”
Teach a Man to Fish is an international charity, but its roots are firmly based here in London. In fact, the city's creative energies have helped influence the charity’s work.
“"The school-business model is a way of tackling poverty long-term. It’s giving young people those 21st-century skills – after graduating, they can go on to set up their own business because they have the skills to be entrepreneurs." – Susie Worth, Teach a Man to Fish’s communications and marketing officer.”
Worth attended a meeting with independent designers at Greenwich Peninsula’s SAMPLE market last year. She says the charity is always on the lookout for advice and expertise from creative entrepreneurs to inspire business ideas they’re supporting abroad.
Award-winning designers Tracey Neuls, Wayne Hemingway, Harriet Vine and Rosie Wolfenden of Tatty Devine spoke at the event. Worth says she saw a lot of similarities between them and the young people the charity supports, even though they may be worlds apart. “It’s inspiring to look at these big brands. We’re seeing students having to be creative and entrepreneurial – exactly what these big brands have done,” she says.
“"There is definitely a creative energy to london which i think we are very lucky to be part of. I am always on the lookout for new ways to express our mission, and regularly take inspiration from my surroundings, whether that’s going to the latest exhibition at tate britain, meeting independent designers at sample market, or walking through the stranger things tube station takeover at oxford circus." – Susi Worth”
“They all started their businesses in their local street market, and because we have offices in Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, a lot of businesses these young people set up are in the market, too.” Wayne Hemingway, of Hemingway Design, spoke about coming from a working-class background, making a business from what you’ve got, and “using the resources around you – literally on the street in some cases,” Worth says. “That was really helpful because so many of the students we’re working with have to respond to the local context, and have to be creative with the materials that are available.”
She adds: “There is definitely a creative energy to London which I think we are very lucky to be part of. I am always on the lookout for new ways to express our mission, and regularly take inspiration from my surroundings, whether that’s going to the latest exhibition at Tate Britain, meeting independent designers at SAMPLE Market, or walking through the Stranger Things tube station takeover at Oxford Circus. “I think living and working in somewhere as diverse as London is invaluable for a charity like Teach a Man to Fish. Although our headquarters are in London, you never lose sight of the fact that our work has a global impact.”
For more details, go to teachamantofish.org.uk.
