LEAD Uganda
A propos de vous
Emplacement
Project Street Address
Wamala Road, Plot 1215, Ntinda
Project City
Kampala
Project Province/State
Project Postal/Zip Code
Project Country
Uganda
Your idea
Country your work focuses on:
Uganda
Website URL
A quel étape votre projet en est-il ?
En place depuis plus de 5 ans
YouTube Upload
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
<$10
Name Your Project
LEAD Uganda
Describe Your Idea
Innovation
Describe your idea in fewer than 50 words.
Locate forgotten children with innate talents and mold them into leaders. Give bright, motivated AIDS orphans, former child soldiers, youth in refugee camps, and underage workers, the world class, 21st century skills needed to lead Africa into the future.
What makes your idea unique?
Our unique contribution is creating a leadership program for forgotten children. Our distinctive, original vision is seeing that the solution to Africa’s problems exists in the hearts and minds of the current, generation of neglected and excluded children. Healing traumatized children and reintegrating them into their communities, makes the community stronger. Educating leaders expands human capitol. Our students will become judges, doctors, business owners, government administrators, journalists, scientists. They will contribute to the world.
Many NGOs pay school fees for children (at minimal schools). The Millennium Goal is Universal Primary Education by 2015. That is simply not good enough for the children of Africa. Even if every child in the third world has a 7th grade certificate, what will they be equipped to do in our computer-oriented economy? Africa will remain dependent unless children are given marketable skills.
We send our scholars to the very best schools so they can become leaders. Leaders create change. Obama validates the idea. Where would we be if he had received vocational training instead of the chance to attend top universities? Our idea is unique because we take the most at-risk children - AIDS orphans and former child soldiers - and turn them into leaders. There is an Einstein in Africa project, but it looks only at the less than 10% of Africa in university. Our idea is unique because we provide a model to harness the creativity of the other 90%.
What is your area of work? (Please check as many as apply.)
Enfants et Jeunesse, At risk youth , Boys' development , Child exploitation , Child labor , Child protection , Child soldiers , Education , Girls' development , Mentorship , Youth development , Youth leadership , Mentorship , Poverty alleviation , HIV/AIDS , Child exploitation , Human trafficking , Youth leadership.
What impact have you had?
• Two of our 2009 high school graduates received full government scholarships to university to study pharmacy and business statistics.
• One of our students was accepted at the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, one of Africa's top high schools.
• Forty-three of our sixty-four primary and secondary students (67%) received top marks at the best schools last term.
• Thirty (nearly half) received A averages or first grades on their national exams. Six compiled A-plus marks. Three ranked 1st in their classes. Three were second.
• Thirteen of our students were elected to leadership positions at their schools.
• Three of our students were selected to be delegates at international conferences or to participate in international exchange programs.
• Our students create videos, design websites, are writing books. They start community service projects, such as coaching children in slum areas and teaching art at IDP camps.
We are family to these children. The Ugandan staff, aided by community partners, imbue the children with a strong work ethic, a devotion to democratic values, and a desire to serve.
LEAD Uganda represents a compelling prototype for the kind of global educational venture that is badly needed. The education and cultivation of young leaders is a crucial, but often overlooked, component of our efforts to alleviate poverty and create a safer planet.
Describe the primary problem(s) that your project is addressing.
The children of Uganda are suffering. The AIDS pandemic and the conflict in the north has devastated whole regions of Uganda, amplifying poverty and despair. 1.9 million orphans saw their parents die of AIDS, one million children lived until recently in IDP camps, tens of thousands were abducted by rebels and forced to become child-soldiers and sex-slaves. We serve these children.
We address the need for leadership and the role of women. After Uganda got her independence in 1962, one of the challenges was finding skilled middle management. It remains an issue. The AIDS epidemic thinned the educated elite. According to the Pharmaceutical Society of Uganda, there are only 350 registered pharmacists serving a population of 30 million. Only a few women in government or business.
This fall, two of our students received government scholarships: Katongole to study pharmacy; Victoria, business.
Describe the steps that your organization is taking to make your project successful.
1. We are raising money to create a state-of-the-art computer learning center, which will train and prepare high school students from all over East Africa, including LEAD Uganda’s scholars, in technology skills, which are essential for today’s competitive global job market. The computer center will also produce income. We hope to partner with businesses to make this a reality.
2. We are building partnerships with schools, faith-based organizations, and NGOs. Our partnerships with schools and places of worship in the U. S. have expanded our network of volunteers and raised money. Our partnerships with other NGOs and communities in Uganda help our children.
3. Our partnerships with an advertising agency and a public relations firm helped our marketing efforts.
4. We plan additional training to expand the skills of the Ugandan staff and volunteers.
Impact social
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Success in Year 1:
We are successful. Our student are excelling. To further our success we need to build our computer center so we can sustain ourselves financially. The computer center will generate income to pay school fees for 25 to 50 of our students. It will also further our leadership goal by giving marketable computer skills to our students. It will be the most advance computer high school in southern Africa.
Success in Year 2:
We need to be on track with the computer center. We need to do a better job marketing so we can raise enough money to reach our goal of 300 students by the end of year three. We need to refine our outreach so we can find the best future leaders from all over Uganda. We need to enlarge our partnerships with businesses and faith-based organizations.
Success in Year 3:
We should have started construction of the computer center. We should be approaching 300 student-members. We should have land and a house so our students (mostly orphans) have a permanent and stable home.
Do you have a business plan or strategic plan? (yes/no)
Yes. We have a strategic plan that includes building a computer center and establishing partnerships.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization? STEP 1:
We need to build the computer center and initiate other income-generating projects to insure financial stability and independence. The computer center will further our mission of providing 21-century leadership skills to our students. In line with this, we will refine our outreach and marketing and develop additional income-generating activities so we can raise additional funds and grow to 300 students.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization? STEP 2:
We need to build strategic partnerships with governments and businesses. We need to do more public outreach to sell our approach as a viable model. The partnerships and outreach will ensure our model is brought to scale so millions of "forgotten" children around the world can become leaders. We need to develop a curriculum that can be used by other organizations.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization? STEP 3:
We need to become more professional. This has a few compnents. We will provide additional training to our staff, senior students, and guardians so the skill level of the organization is enhanced. We need to do more workshops and ongoing leadership training efforts for staff and students. Training includes counseling but also fund-raising and marketing so the Ugandan staff can become an equal partner and attain financial independence.
Describe the expected results of these actions.
Expected outcomes are:
(Step 1) The computer center will be the most advanced IT high school in east and southern Africa, enabling our students to help Uganda.
(Step 2) We will become a model that will be used to provide an excellent education to children in Africa, Asia, and the Americas — an education that gives them world class skills and trains them to be leaders. Today, infrastructure is intellectual. Knowledge is the pathway to economic growth. Education will transform lives, build economic self-sufficiency, create hope from despair. This will help reduce poverty, strengthen democratic institutions, and spur sustainable economic growth.
(Step 3) LEAD Uganda will become economically viable. The Ugandans will be an equal financial partner. This is a big step as most aid - while it helps - also fosters dependency. Control remains with the donors.
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
There were three defining moments. First, the Pursuing the Dream project took me to Oregon where I met Zach who transformed the life of a troubled child through intense mentoring. I became friends with Mike Forzley the director of the program Zach worked for - Friends of the Children, an intensive mentoring program that helps young children most in danger of school failure, abuse, teenage pregnancy and criminal behavior by putting caring full-time people from the community who act as “aunts” and “uncles” into their lives. Mike taught me that in addition to "heart", you also needed a good plan if you were going to create lasting change.
Second, In 2000, on assignment in Uganda doing a story on AIDS, I photographed the funeral of a woman who had died of AIDS leaving behind five orphans, the youngest a baby named Sarah. I formed a special relationship with Sarah who now calls him “Dad.” I paid school fees for Sarah and her four siblings. That small act set things in motion. It changed my life.
Third, was seeing that the local village school Sarah attended was not teaching her anything that would allow her to escape their poverty-ridden life. I realized that it was not enough to have good intentions and do the minimum. You needed an excellent plan. Sarah needed the best possible education if she was going to attain the velocity to escape poverty. Forming LEAD Uganda to turn "forgotten" children into leaders was the logical extension of that idea.
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
Stephen Shames is an artist and photojournalist who creates award winning photo essays on social issues for foundations, advocacy organizations, the media, and museums. For the past quarter century his specialty has been using photography to help organizations and foundations create educational media campaigns to produce social change on issues affecting children and families. His skill is translating convey complex policy issues into images that move ordinary people and policy makers to act. His past projects -- including five books -- have a solid record of affecting public policy:
* Outside the Dream: Child Poverty in America shows 13 million children of poverty adrift in an affluent society.
* Pursuing the Dream: What Helps Children And Their Families Succeed documents community-based solutions to poverty. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in collaboration with eight state governments, created a three year campaign using the photos to build public will for The States Project, a multi-year effort providing technical support to states seeking to improve their family service delivery systems.
* NYC DADS advertising campaign by the City of New York to promote better fathering. Dads. exhibit was toured by the Open Society Institute.
* Free to Grow book helped keep funding for Head Start during the Bush years.
* African Children Receive AIDS Medicine at Kenya Clinic.
* Street Children in India, Bangladesh, Brazil, Honduras, Uganda, & Romania.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Yuting Beverly Lien emailed me this week. I know Yuting from when she worked at African Leadership Academy. One of our students was admitted there on scholarship.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Viabilité
What would prevent your project from being a success?
I do not see much that will prevent our project from being a success. LEAD Uganda is bigger than one or two people. We have built a good "corporate culture". The staff and students are family. Our children are focused on becoming leaders. The older students nurture and mentor the younger ones. Our students and their guardians are survivors. They have surmounted many challenges in their lives. They are the rock upon which our organization is built.
However, a number of factors could affect our project's success or slow things down. The main thing in this uncertain economy is money. Not being able to raise enough money to keep our students in school if the world economy deteriorates further is the main thing that could hamper our success.
Civil unrest in Uganda resulting in martial law or unrest in the region would make it difficult to function. The recent troubles in Kenya destabilized the region and its' economy by increasing prices - especially food and fuel costs - in Uganda. This caused school fees to go up. Our expenses went up 20% in a matter of weeks.
Organizational problems and bad leadership would create problems causing our partners to loose faith in us. Not being diligent when selecting students would hamper our efforts. In essence, not doing the best job would be detrimental. I do not see this happening for the reasons outlined above.
Financing source
Yes
If yes, provide organization name.
LEAD Uganda
How long has this organization been operating? (i.e. less than a year; 1-5 years; more than 5 years)
Our 5th anniversary is July, 2009. LEAD Uganda was started by Stephen Shames in July, 2004. In July, 2007, the program was turned over to Ugandans, who now run it.
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
Yes. Both. 5 person board in US . 6 people Advisory Board. Recruiting more now. 10 member board in Uganda. 12 advisors.
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with NGOs? (yes/no)
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with businesses? (yes/no)
Yes
The Story
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with government? (yes/no)
No
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
Partnerships are critical because they ensure LEAD Uganda will continue to evolve as we gain knowledge, skills, and volunteers. People from partner organizations have gone to Uganda and taught workshops for our students in academic subject and life skills. They correspond with our students and offer personal and professional advice. Partners have suggested innovations . They improved our marketing. They host fund-raising events. We partner with churches, schools, and businesses. Businesses include an ad agency, a public relations firm, and a law firm. Our church connection is a major one for us. Church members travel to Uganda once a year. They volunteer their time. We partner with community organizations in Uganda who help us find deserving youngsters. They are on our advisory board. The guardians of our children parent those whose parents have died from AIDS or war.
How many people will your project serve annually?
300 students plus their families is our three year goal. These are in the program. Our idea will serve tens of thousands as we train leaders who will help their communities, their country, and the world. An example. Obama became a leader because he received a scholarship to go to a top university. The program that helped him did not just help one person. How many people dis they help?
What is the total number of employees and total number of volunteers at your organization?
7 employees. 30+ volunteers.
What is your organization's business classification?
Non-profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
Have you received funding from any of the following groups? (Please check as many as apply.)
Aucune de ces réponses.
 | il y a 191 semaines Naveen Shakir said: On July 28, 2009 the judges reviewed the entries for the Changemakers “Champions of Quality Education in Africa” competition ... about this Competition Entry. - lire plus > |
| il y a 198 semaines carla thompson said: Fantastic ideas, helping people help themselves! Keep up the good work and I totally support you on this! about this Competition Entry. - lire plus > |
| il y a 208 semaines Stephen Shames submitted this idea. |