Educating Africa Youth Project
By Greg Stevenson
The Educating African Youth project started in 2010 in concert with Rotary’s Taking Rotary Assistance to Communities and Youth (TRACC). Educating African Youth targets students in Uganda. Long time Club members will recognize that this was originally named the Curly Galbraith Memorial Fund. Three Ugandan Rotary clubs provide logistical and hands on assistance. Each of them chooses two or three students each year to be recipients of the support. As well as being High School graduates, the students must either be AIDS orphans, or living under extremely poor circumstances. No family members of Rotarians are eligible.
The youth’s educational costs are fully paid by funds raised in Rotary clubs in Canada. Covered educational costs include University, College, or Trade School tuition as well as their room and board while studying. It only costs ~$3,000USD per student for up to a four-year program.
Here are some key points:
- The program has graduated 49 students.
- Students are mentored by Rotarians in Uganda.
- No student who has started this program has ever dropped out.
- All graduates end up gainfully employed, almost always in their field of study.
- Culturally these graduates tend to support other family members and allow them to gain education and start climbing the ladder out of poverty.
- The Calgary Downtown Rotary Club audits the program to make sure all funds are properly used.
- Calgarian Rotarian Garth Toombs and his wife, Anne, have personally visited Uganda and met with students and administrators of the program.
- All proceeds go to the benefit of Ugandan students in the program, with no administration fees charged.
There is no shortage of qualified and needy candidates in Uganda. Click “Read more” below to find out about the latest batch of students that we will be funding and a letter from one of the current students. Donations come from various Rotary Clubs and individuals from our Club and the community. Donors can be advised which specific students they fund and their progress as they move through the program.
Thirteen students have been accepted into the Educating African Youth project this year. Their stories are so compelling but too long to include them all in the COG. A compilation of their stories to give you a picture of them, though, would show that they are typically orphans who have been raised by a grandparent or aunt, or have one living parent. They have several siblings (up to 6) and live on small plots of land with garden plots. They work on weekends and holidays to help support their families and perhaps save a little toward school fees. They are very good students who like school and have dreams of continuing on to post-secondary education. They have been carefully assessed by Rotarians from three Clubs in Uganda and have been guided in their decisions regarding fields of study and educational institutions. Two will study for a Bachelor of Education degree, to become teachers; three will study Nursing and Midwifery; another will study Nursing but with an ultimate goal of becoming a Medical Doctor; two others also wish to become Doctors; three will study Fashion and Design, one will enter the Technical Business School for a degree in Telecommunication Engineering and one will go to Makerere Business School of Education for a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Management. They will continue to be mentored by the Rotarians, who will keep us updated on their progress. The students have also been asked to send us the occasional letter to let us know how they are doing. Below, you will find one of these letters, which just arrived from one of the students already in the program.
Dear Educating African Youth,
I am writing this letter to convey my honest ,genuine gratitude and appreciation to you through the Educating African Youth program in the 2019 - 2022 academic year at St Lawrence University. Your scholarship is priceless and has definitely helped me in my educational endeavors. I was more than excited to hear of my selection for this privilege and I am profoundly thankful for your help.
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to you, I am MN and I am 22 years old. I was raised by a single mother after their separation with my dad when I was three years old. I have three brothers and I am the only girl .Other two older brothers left home and we take long to hear from them and when my mom ask them what they are doing ,they say that they are struggling and my younger brother has just finished primary seven. My mother struggled so hard to look after us but it was not easy on her side and then my uncle decided to help me with my education after my primary seven. I thank God that I finished my ordinary level, things become different when my uncle lost his job and he was unable to help me continue with my advanced level .I decided to work at the same time learning which made my situation so hard that most times I missed a lot of things taught because I had to hustle for my school fees until I finished .My mom now sells second hand clothes in the market for someone.
I am presently pursuing diploma in business administration and management and I look forward to become an accountant because of the wisdom God provided with and with the help of my theoretical work I have learnt from the course. The monetary help you offered facilitates me to pay for my learning costs as well as my hostel fee . It also helps me to devote more of my time for serious studying for better grades .I am a good standing member of the Rotatact Club of St Lawrence University and I joined this club on 31st May 2021 and I am the acting treasurer of the club.
My challenges were overwhelmed when I joined the organization because my tuition and hostel fee were paid in time ,the other personal requirements are provided to me by Rotarian Ssekagya John and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all. I can be a bad child if I forget to thank all the three Rotary Clubs of Masaka ,Kalisizo and Kyotera for effort they put to see all of us studying as well as the board members of Educating African Youth for being parents to us ,loving , wishing well and advicing us so that we don't go in a wrong way . Love you all for the love you shower us that makes us feel loved. May God bless you and may he award you abundantly because we can't give you all you want in this life but our prayers will always will always answer your needs.
Thank you once again for your bounteousness and assistance. I guarantee you that I will make use of this opportunity to study really hard and to win a successful job. Your kind favor also motivates and inspire me in many ways one of which is to give something back to the community through sponsorship when I am able in the future.
Your Sincerely, MN