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Volk Donations

A better life for everyone
Stories & Insights

The Volk Journal

Field reports, impact stories, program news, and perspectives from the people building a better world — one child at a time.

Programs
Programs · Egypt

Inside the Nile Tomorrow vocational center where 78% of graduates find jobs

Three years after Volk Donations co-funded the hospitality and technology tracks in Cairo, we went back to meet the young men and women who came through the program — and stayed.

Spotlight

Amara's story: from the streets of Kampala to a software engineering internship

At 14, Amara had no family and no address. At 22, she has a laptop, a salary, and a plan. This is how the Zawadi Children's Trust independence program changed everything.

News

Volk Donations reaches 14,000 children milestone in annual impact review

Our 2025 Annual Impact Review is published. Here are the numbers, the stories behind them, and what we are setting our sights on for 2026.

Health
Health · Kenya

How a door-to-door nutrition program cut child stunting by 34% in Mombasa

Malaika Amani Kenya's monitoring program didn't require a clinic, a laboratory, or expensive equipment. It required training, trust, and a bicycle — and it worked. Here is how they did it.

Programs

What we learned from building farm schools in Ethiopia

Six schools. Two harvests. One very important lesson about what happens when you let teenagers design their own curriculum around agriculture and business.

Education

Digital classrooms in rural India — the numbers after year one

The Ramanujan Future Fund and Solaris Education Trust co-funded 12 digital labs across Maharashtra. One year in, what do the test scores, attendance records, and teacher interviews tell us?

Impact

88 cents of every dollar — a deep look at how we spend

Full financial transparency is not a checkbox for us. It is a commitment to every person who has ever donated. Here is a breakdown of exactly where the money goes — and why.

Spotlight

Meet Margaret Volk — the woman who started it all

In 2010, Margaret Volk left a corporate law career in Denver and flew to Kenya with $40,000 in savings and no plan. Sixteen years later, 14,000 children call Volk Donations part of their story.

Programs
Programs · South Africa

The community mother model: how 47 women in Southern Africa are raising a generation

The Ubuntu Network doesn't run orphanages. Instead, they train community mothers — local women who open their homes to up to five orphaned children each. We spent a week living and working alongside three of them.

News

Volk Donations opens new Guatemala City branch to serve Central American children

Our 22nd country branch is now operational, piloting a community mother care model adapted from the Ubuntu Network. Here is what the first 90 days looked like on the ground.

Impact

Five years of data — what actually moves the needle for orphaned children

We analyzed outcomes from 38 programs across 16 countries. Some of our assumptions were proven right. Others were shattered. Here is what five years of honest data taught us about effective child welfare.

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