Youth Driving Development

When COVID-19 spread across borders, concerns grew for the world’s young people, who were hit hardest by the pandemic’s economic impacts.

 For many youth navigating an already complex job market, finding a job or starting a business became all the more challenging, and we weren’t sure how young people might respond to such a significant disruption

 However, we weren’t surprised to see youth like Bridget take hold of their futures with optimism, undeterred by the pandemic’s challenges.

Samuel is an Educate! Scholar and Student Business Club President in the Educate! Exchange in the Rwamagana district of Rwanda. Amidst school closures and lockdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Samuel set out to find ways to support his community during as well as put into practice the skills he’s acquired through the Educate! Exchange.

As we all learn to adjust to the challenges caused by COVID-19, we continue to be inspired and encouraged by our students, who have overcome difficult challenges to become young leaders, entrepreneurs, mentors, and role models in their communities. One student who has particularly inspired us is Irene Kisakye, one of Educate!’s first Scholars and superstars in Uganda.

Flipping through the pages of a newspaper one morning, Adeline, a Rwandan secondary student, came across a story which instantly captivated her.

The article profiled Esther Mbabazi, the first woman in Rwanda to be certified as a commercial airline pilot. Deeply inspired by Esther’s journey, Adeline soon set her sights on flight school. “Why can’t I be the second?” she wondered

Born in the Mountainous Rwenzori region of Uganda, Benson was first introduced to computers by his father, who began teaching him basic computing skills at an early age.

At just 21 years old, former Educate! Scholar Benson is not only a young entrepreneur and avid computer programmer with his own business, but a budding philanthropist as well.

Daniel Okurut, a former Educate! Scholar in Western Uganda, leveraged both his medical education and his business skills gained through Educate! to open a rural health clinic in his community. Today, he splits his time between his role as a Youth Leader and his clinic, where he employs two people and conducts 350 checkups a month.