Dadamac website now live

Dadamac information can now be found at www.dadamac.net. Please visit us there.

Our website includes:

• Lively blogs covering our ongoing work in Africa, UK and on the Internet.
  
• Background information about our projects
• Ways to collaborate with us through Dadamac Limited and Dadamac Foundation

At last - we have a website.

Our website is being developed at www.dadamac.net and will go live any time now. This blog was a temporary solution to our lack of a website.

DadaMcLean Ltd - Knowledge Brokers for Development Solutions in Africa (now known as Dadamac)

Dadamac and You
Dadamac can be your eyes, ears and feet-on-the ground in "non -elite" Africa

• Easily accessible in the UK - no need to travel unless you want to
  
• Connecting you with grass-roots networks
• Online or face-to-face
• Working with existing projects
• Starting new projects
• Building your project on our skills base
  

People Behind Dadamac
The directors of Dadamac are Dr John Dada and Pamela McLean. They are best known for their pioneering work on community projects in rural Nigeria and on the Internet, including micro-credit services, and innovative uses of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) all driven by grassroots needs.

• John is programmes director of Fantsuam Foundation and is on many advisory committees in Africa.
• Pamela is designer and director of the Teachers Talking programme in Nigeria and Kenya, leads the LearningFromEachOther group in Minciu Sodas, and was closely connected with Minciu Sodas Pyramid of Peace
  
• John and Pamela have worked together in the voluntary sector for many years, and are now making their knowledge and networks available to you.

Why use Dadamac?
If you have a project for "non-elite" Africa - and want it to really work - then you need to connect with people on the ground. Traditional top-down approaches may involve unproductive middle-men and cumbersome bureaucracy.

It's possible, but painful, to go it alone, struggle up your own steep learning curve, and make all your own contacts. It's more effective to take the Dadamac route, benefiting from our knowledge and networks. We can work for you, or alongside you, or simply arrange introductions to people you need to know - our networks are probably not the networks of your usual comfort zone. For business initiatives, academic research, philanthropy or any new endeavour that needs grounding in grass-roots realities Dadamac is the ideal starting point.

Where do you connect with Dadamac?

• Your first point of contact is in the UK, with Pamela McLean
• Pamela will help you with initial planning
• Your next point of contact is online - at an e-meeting with the Dadamac team in the UK and in Nigeria
• If you want to visit your project in Africa that can be arranged - or everything can be done at a distance
• The most likely locality to start a Dadamac project is Fantsuam - where all the structures are in place - people and places and projects - and Internet connectivity is good
• We can also connect you to projects elsewhere in West and East Africa - mostly in rural areas but some in deprived urban areas too.
  
• Fantsuam is in North Central Nigeria, in a rural area a couple of hours drive from the federal capital, Abuja.
• Dadamac at Fantsuam is at the heart of an extensive rural social network covering nine chiefdoms.
• Internet access is through the Fantsuam Foundation VSAT.
• Dadamac in the UK is your ongoing point of contact throughout your project.

How does it work?
As soon as you are interested in working in "non-elite" Africa let us know and we'll work out a plan to suit you. Pamela will discuss your needs, and help you to design a project that will fit the local realities of rural life. She will introduce you to appropriate people via the Internet or she will act as your agent.

Levels of involvement
You can be involved as little or as much as you choose. DadaMcLean will set up a virtual office system for your project which will be used by DadaMcLean in the UK and in Africa. If you like the Internet, you can work with your team online and be actively involved from a distance. If you want site visits we can arrange that. Or, if you prefer to delegate, you can simply agree the overall plan and leave the details to us.

Contact Pamela McLean:
Tel: +44 20 8402 6344 or email: pam54321@googlemail.com