As wind up the year 2014 and the first year of our operation, we are in gratitude for how far Kyusa has come and continues to grow as well as flourish in the quality of services that are being offered. On behalf of Kyusa, we would like to thank you for your generous contributions and support. Your enduring commitment and precious investment to build and nurture change agents in Uganda is genuinely appreciated. 
As we reflect upon the past months, we are proud of the progress that Kyusa has made towards achieving its vision and mission. Here are some of the Milestones:

·         On the 6th March 2014, the team leader of Kyusa ; Noeline Kirabo was honored with the Dewey Winburn Community Service Award in recognition of the vision and mission of Kyusa and the impact that it is seeking to accomplish.

·         At the beginning of May 2014, Kyusa officially opened up its offices to the general public. Kyusa has been operating in Kalerwe for the last eight months.

·         On 19th May 2014, Kyusa received its certificate of registration and incorporation as an NGO in Uganda thus legalized to operate as a legal entity.

·         On the 18th June 2014, the Kyusa pilot project was officially rolled out with eleven participants who committed to work through the pilot project.

·         28th September 2014, marked the climax of the pilot as ten participants were able to successfully graduate from the Kyusa program. At the time of graduation 80% were already employed or had started their ventures.

·         On 17th September, Kyusa rolled out its second intake for 2014. We took on a much smaller class of five because many applicants were limited by the tuition requirements and two were able to successfully graduate from the program.

·         Kyusa launched an ongoing fundraising campaign to raise a team of 50 Kyusa heroes who will commit to giving a minimum of 50,000 shillings ($20) on a monthly basis for a period of at least one year. We have so far met 10% of the target and still pressing on.

Some of the impact we have accomplished this year includes:

Ø  We have trained 15 out of school youth this year and 12 have successfully graduated from the program.

Ø  100% of all the alumni are either employed or are running their ventures.

Ø  40% of alumni are employed in different companies while the remaining 70% have started and continue to grow their ventures.

Ø  Alumni have so far started 8 sustainable business ventures and three social enterprises. This is a result of them identifying their passions and being equipped with skills through Kyusa to turn them into sustainable careers.

Ø  Each alumni earns an average monthly income of 100,000 shillings ($50) according to the alumni report

Ø  40% of alumni are providing employment opportunities for 15 fellow youth through their business ventures and 12 volunteer placements to youth who would otherwise be idle and probably more prone to criminal activities.

Ø  One alumnus is currently supporting a young sibling through school by paying his tuition thus working towards stopping the cycle of school dropouts in his family. This is made possible through income from his business venture.

Ø  Two of the alumni have each started social enterprises that are collectively impacting the transforming the lives of 60 vulnerable children between the ages of 6 – 19 years in their communities.

It is also our pleasure to share with you some of the success stories from 2014:

Julius Afasha- a passion driven ICT personnel with a passion for catering. His passion for cooking and managing food was often deemed unreasonable for a boy by family and friends so he silently buried his passion.  Through kyusa , Julius realized the business potential in his cooking skill and was inspired to turn his passion into a profession. He has started a food and events management service company where he currently employs eleven fellow youth and earns an average monthly income in sales of 300,000 shillings $120. Julius saves 100,000 shillings ($40) weekly as he plans to expand his business and buy his own catering equipment so he can stop hiring.

Viola Nabbagala is business entrepreneur with an eye for fashion. When her parents separated, she was forced to engage in child labor so as to raise her tuition and support her family. She was often abused by some of her employers which greatly affected her self-esteem and confidence. Through Kyusa, Viola has regained her self-confidence and esteem. She is currently the proprietor of Sweet Daddies- a snack business that supplies snacks to retailers and families in her community. She currently earns an average income of 100,000 shillings ($40) monthly and has so far saved up 100,000 shillings ($40) towards her future business plans.

Henry Kireri a social entrepreneur with a passion for children. Having been raised by a single parent, Henry was often left on his own, with minimum parental guidance or emotional support. He was unable to develop any talent to help him cope with life as a school dropout.  Through Kyusa Henry has been able to turn his burning desire to impact the lives of vulnerable children into a viable project. He is in the process of registering a community based organisation that will empower street children and other children at risk with life skills through the use of creative arts. He is currently working with 30 children through their weekly weekend program. He officially launched his organisation on 6th December 2014 through a children’s creativity gala that brought together over 100 parents and children from the community. He currently works with six volunteers. He has also started a chapatti making business where he provides employment for one young man as a way of raising his daily earning power. He also plans to start a piggery business in December 2014 as a way of raising income to support his social enterprise.

Isaac Kasibante is a splendid entrepreneur with a love for football. His childhood dream of being a footballer was shattered because his parents could not afford to buy him a football kit or pay his tuition to attend a professional football academy. Isaac through his training with Kyusa has ignited this passion, he has started K.Isaac Football Academy that seeks to empower boys from low income families with life skills through the use of football training and coaching. He is currently working with 30 vulnerable boys on a weekly basis. He is also part timing as a primary school teacher at his former primary school where he teaches mathematics and science. This supplements his income to enable him run the social venture while he works towards making it financially self sustaining.

Joan Nampijja is a proactive entrepreneur with a passion for catering. After failing to score any principal pass at high school, her mother told her she would never amount to anything and vowed not to pay any more tuition for her. As a result of her training at Kyusa, Joan has turned her cooking passion into a snacks business that currently supplies restaurants, school canteens and families in her community. Her day starts at 4 am and she currently earns an average weekly income from sales of 300,000 shillings ($120) she saves 50,000 shillings ($20) daily from her business profits. She plans to employ one person to help her with the work load at the start of 2015. Her life purpose is to equip in school youth with business creation schools youth entrepreneurship clubs. As a result of her testimony, New Hope secondary school has signed her up to train 25 students in the next school term as a pilot for her project.

All this has been made possible through your generous giving and continued support. We are grateful and appreciate this far you have walked with us.

Our goal for 2015 is to empower 40 out of school youth in urban slums to turn their passion into sustainable careers through four training cycles of ten participants each. We need your help to be able to make this a reality. We here by invite you to be part of this great movement by becoming a Kyusa hero. A hero is a person who commits to giving a minimum of 50,000 shilling ($20) on a monthly basis for at least one year. This enables us to offer this program free of charge to one participant who may not be able to afford to subsidized tuition fees. Your generous gift will go a long way in changing not just lives but generations of Ugandan youth.

Wishing you a peaceful and joyful holiday season, May 2015 be a blessed and fruitful year for you.
Many blessings from the Kyusa family

We all live with untapped potential- perhaps because we’re not aware of it, like the late-career changer who finally figures out they’re passionate about teaching- or perhaps because our community has encouraged us to focus elsewhere, like the investment banker who is an incredible pianist.

How much better would the world be if we could harness all that untapped potential? How much happier would each individual be?

The answer is we don’t know, it’s hard, maybe impossible, to have a quantitative answer. But we do know that the world would be better and we would be happier. That teacher might be the reason one student becomes the scientist who figures out how to reverse climate change. That investment banker, if she spent her time playing the piano, might become a virtuoso player and composer, giving joy and inspiration to all who hear her play.

At Kyusa, we believe that the solutions to the hardest, most intractable world problems can be solved by harnessing this untapped potential. And we believe the key to tapping into potential is passion.

It has been referred to as intrinsic motivation, or being in a flow state, but we call it passion. Your passion is the fuel that keeps you running when everything else in you gives way. It allows you to work harder and more creatively at a task. Your passion opens the spigot to your potential. That is why we specialize in passion-driven education at Kyusa.

Isaac K. came to Kyusa because he couldn’t afford to continue his education. He was unsure of what he wanted to do with his life but he knew he needed a job. When he first came to Kyusa, he was keen on becoming a business entrepreneur.  Deep down he knew had a passion for football and a desire to nurture young people, but it didn’t seem to him to be a valid career interest.

Today, Isaac is the founder and head coach at K. Isaac Football Academy in Nabweru and a science teacher at a primary school. Through our three month training program, Isaac identified his passion, verbalized it into a purpose statement, set goals for himself, identified the skills and resources he would need to be successful, and created a plan to achieve his dream that took into account his financial needs. He is happier and more satisfied with his life than he thought he would ever be.

Through the academy and the school, Isaac is working with 30 young people, empowering them, nurturing them, and teaching them. That is the true power of Kyusa: a multiplier effect led by our alumni like Isaac, and Henry (who has started a social enterprise that benefits 30 vulnerable children), and Julius (who started a catering company that has created six jobs), and Sharon (who is currently employed as an office assistant in one of the clearing and forwarding agencies in Kampala). Each one of our alumni is leveraging their passion to develop a career (3 months after the program our alums are making 50% more income than before the program) and make a difference in their communities.

Uganda, like all countries, suffers from a myriad of difficult challenges- unemployment, illiteracy, violence against women, and the list goes on. Through passion-driven education like our training program we can solve these. Thanks to the natural diversity of interests we have, we can be sure that someone will be passionate about addressing each of these challenges. And because they’re passionate, they will put their most productive and creative selves towards it.

At Kyusa we empower out of school youth in urban slums to turn their passion into a sustainable career. We are building a movement that uses passion-driven education to create a generation of change makers. Join us by:
Donating
Volunteering
Refer a Participant

Leave us a message on the contact page, we shall definitely get in touch with you.

Thank you

Doreen Nabakka, is a 20 year self-driven farming entrepreneur from Entebbe- Uganda . She has a passion for music and her life mission is to inspire the young generation to live productive lives by equipping them with relevant skills. She has a calm personality that projects unwavering commitment, resilience and focus. She believes that the key to being a successful entrepreneur is to have a clear and well defined vision for your life and your business that guides your day to day decisions.

Doreen had so many dreams while growing up. She aspired to be a business woman, a musician, a social worker, children worker, dancer, chef and tour guide. But in 2011, she was forced to drop out of school due to lack of tuition. With each passing day, her dream moved further out of her reach. Her light grew darker every day and she resolved to do whatever she could to survive and make ends meet. Fortunately her sister introduced her to the hair plaiting and styling business which kept her going for a while. A couple of months ago, her half-brother who happens to be a former participant introduced her to Kyusa and she signed up for the second intake.

Through her studies at Kyusa, Doreen has rediscovered her dream and has developed strategies to fulfill it. She has learnt that entrepreneurship is all about vision and passion. In learning about how to turn her passion into a profession, her life has opened up to endless business possibilities and opportunities that she had never anticipated. She says; “I envision setting up an organisation in the near future that will help the young generation acquire skills on how to do business and how to live productive lives based on purpose, courage and joy”. Just like any other successful entrepreneur, Doreen is passionately pursuing her vision.

Doreen, unlike many other school drop outs, has identified her life purpose and is living a meaningful life. She is no longer going through the motions of survival but building a legacy that will change her generation and make the world a better place.

Kyusa empowers out of school youth in the urban slums to turn their passions into professions by exploring the use of ICT tools and the development of employable as well as entrepreneurship skills. This is done through a twelve weeks program where participants undergo a rigorous training regime that equips them to successfully launch into the labor market. We invite you to be part of this drive to ‘Raise Generations of Change Agents’ by either recommending a young person for the program or becoming a Kyusa hero (financial partner). Our next intake will be in January 2015

For further inquiries and insights please contact us: Kyusa.uganda@gmail.com

We shall be pleased to hear from you.


Thank you

Perseverance is not a skill that can be learned out of a training session or theoretical class but rather a trait developed through real life experiences. When she talks about perseverance, Joan draws from years of resilience, persistence and consistence. Joan is a 19 year old lady currently enrolled in the Kyusa program aspiring to become an entrepreneur.

Joan was raised by a single mother who had to fend for them as a family. She was charged with the responsibility of catering for all their basic needs. One of the major challenges was paying school fees in time. She was constantly on the list of people sent back home for being unable to pay school fees in time. Her friends came to associate her with the ‘fees defaulters list’, something that she soon grew to embrace. This routine affected her academic performance because often times would be forced to miss school for close to a full month while waiting for the mother to raise her school fees before going back to school. This not only affected her but also her siblings.

Even in the midst of these hardships, Joan developed a resolve to never give up or settle for less. She purposed to keep her head up and to keep pressing on. She took the initiative to copy notes from her classmates and to engage in group discussions so as to catch up. Her esteem was slightly affected but her dignity remained unwavering. It is with this same attitude that she now approaches her entrepreneurship career.

Joan believes that perseverance is an outstanding quality that every entrepreneur should possess. In her class presentation on the subject of; ‘Perseverance as a characteristic of an entrepreneur’, she said- “Not everyone can persevere. Perseverance moves hand in hand with inner drive. An entrepreneur is someone who is capable of persevering in all aspects of business and has the potential to initiate and drive others towards a common goal”.

Every entrepreneur will go through trying times as s/he establishes their business. The times can come in form of making losses, bad business decisions, theft, damages, over production among others. Such moments can be molding moments for an entrepreneur but what will keep her/him going is their attitude towards their work. An entrepreneur must have an intrinsic motivation to keep going no matter what happens. Joan says; “drive is simply the possession of the intrinsic energy to accomplish business goals even in the face of adversity. An entrepreneur must be organized and focused in their pursuit of establishing a successful business”.

Joan, unlike many young ladies that are forced to drop out of school has had the opportunity to tap into her innate potential as a launching pad for career development through the Kyusa training program. Many of the young ladies who drop out of school are forced into early marriages and some are taking jobs overseas only to find themselves forced into prostitution, according to Ugandan police.

Kyusa empowers out of school youth in the urban slums to turn their passions in professions by exploring the use of ICT tools, development of employable and entrepreneurship skills. This is done through a twelve weeks program where participants undergo a rigorous training regime that equips them to successfully launch into the labor market. We invite you to be part of this drive to ‘Raise Generations of Change Agents’ by either recommending a young person for the program or becoming a Kyusa hero (financial partner).

For further inquiries and insights please contact us by leaving a message on the 'Contact us' Page on this website.

We shall be pleased to hear from you.

In June 2014, Kyusa rolled out its pilot project with eleven out of school youth. The project was piloted in one of the urban slums of Kampala. The eleven embarked on a twelve weeks journey to be empowered on how to turn their passions into professions. Unfortunately one of the participants was unable to work through the entire program because he had conflicting schedules with some other commitments.
We are happy to report that through the use of free online courses, mentoring, skills development and entrepreneurship training, Kyusa turned participants’ mindset of hopelessness into determination and confidence. Kyusa’s pilot class graduated on September 27th. As a result of the program, 80% of the participants are either employed or have started their own venture.

During the training, facilitators teach a research-based curriculum composed of 12 modules that develop professional skills, computer skills, and financial literacy while also improving their self-awareness, self-confidence and self-management. In the afternoons of the first month, students complete a basic computer skills training so that in the remaining afternoons they are able to successfully complete an online course on the topic of their choice.

In order to graduate from the program, students must complete the online course as well as hand in an assignment for each of the twelve modules. Assignments help the participants continue to define their interests and plans- for example, a personal SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis or a life plan- as well as set them up for success when looking to start a venture or for employment- for example, a CV or a business plan.

We expect that within 6 months of graduating from the program at least 80% of participants will be earning an income of 100,000 shillings on average per month this goal is based on the performance of the pilot class, where 60% of participants were earning an income of at least 75,000 shillings before their graduation ceremony.

"Have you ever wondered what you would do with ten thousand shillings?", was the opening remark for the Kyusa business development training module. Participants came up with several business ideas that they could start with as little as ten thousand shillings while two totally had no idea besides being amazed at the fact that some one could start a business with ten thousand shillings. It is interesting the answers that came up. We were able to see that business is not a monster that only the people with muscle can conquer but it is all about putting what you have to use. It is a matter of focused and creative thinking. The other question is “now that you have all these ideas what are you going to do?”

In one of the participants words, “I am so grateful to Kyusa because for me I never knew I could do business but now I see that it is possible”. One of the points that the facilitator stressed is Goal setting and meeting targets in business. It is a very common practice for small business owners to work without setting daily or weekly targets. A person wakes up and just goes to work whether or not he sells, it makes no difference. The participants were admonished by stressing the fact that targets help you push yourself to work and achieve. Its important to set goals and work towards achieving them for success.

The first step to getting a business off the ground is getting started. Many people have brilliant and viable business ideas but they are only ideas until someone puts it into practice. Any successful business person will tell you that the key to succeeding in business is getting started and keeping at it until you reach a break even point. Research has shown that a lot of businesses do not make it past their first year and this can be attributed to poor planning and management systems.

In starting up a business, there are key issues that need attention. One of them is Management. Under this is Job Descriptions, Terms of Pay, Purchasing Procedures, List of Equipment(Assets) and  the second key issue is Marketing. Marketing has to do with being able to define your service or product. One of the things that came up under marketing is Risk Management. This is an issue that is highly neglected until the problem occurs. This provoked a discussion among the participants about different case studies and scenarios that could risk different businesses which included everyday examples like oil burning, an electric shock and the like. How prepared are you when such things happen?

The planning for any successful venture must focus its greatest efforts on laying the right foundation. Just like it is in building, so it is in business planning. When you take the time to lay the right foundation for your business, you can guarantee its success both in the short and long term. More than having a brilliant idea, you must put in place the right management systems to ensure the smooth running of the business more so in the initial stages. More importantly, your passion and commitment is what will keep you going during the low and dark moments of your business growth. For every valley, remember that there is a mountain top that awaits you.

On behalf of Kyusa, Noeline Kirabo was  selected to join SXSW Interactive as one of the 10 Dewey Winburne Community Service Award winners. This award exists to honor those that are using digital technology to level the playing field for disadvantaged people all over the world.

A teacher and one of the original co-founders of the SXSW Interactive Festival, Dewey Winburne worked to train at-risk youth to make use of digital technology. Dewey believed that the new media revolution could help level the playing field between the haves and the have-nots in our society. Although Dewey passed away in 1999, his legacy continues via the lives of the many digital creatives he touched.

Each spring, SXSW Interactive honors his vision with the Dewey Winburne Community Service Awards. In this ceremony, 10 community do-gooders are recognized for their use of digital technology to level the playing field between the haves and the have nots.

The award has been offered based on the basis of the Kyusa model that empowers school dropouts to build professional careers through the use of free online resources.

The award not only offers Kyusa a great networking opportunity but also broadcasts what we are doing to potential partners and donors for future reference.

The awarding ceremony will be held in Austin, Texas in March 2013 at the Austin Conventional Center.  This is a major step in the right direction for Kyusa as an organisation.

To know more about the awards you can follow the link: http://sxsw.com/interactive/awards/dewey


By: Noeline Kirabo

In the education system of Uganda, ability of a student is decided by an exam. In this system there is no place for performance of a student in full academic session. Scoring more and more marks in exams has become the only aim of a student.
   Impact of this stressful examination system is immense. Those who are in favor of this system should think about those bad impacts. First of all, if this system is good then all those who secure good marks in these must be brilliant and successful in life but reality is different. Now days most of the institutions don’t give admission on marks basis. They have a separate test and this trend is growing rapidly because they have no faith in this examination system. Unfortunately, these institutions too rely on exams for assessment of a student.

   The mindset of the society is also responsible for making exams a source of stress. If someone scores good marks in examination then society starts treating him like a hero. On the other hand if someone scores less marks then society treats him just like an untouchable.  At this point one question arises. What is the importance of getting more and more marks in an examination? Just getting admission in a reputed educational institution or making first impression to any employer firm? If anyone gets a job then he must have to perform well on practical front. Marks of any examination won’t work there. Only practical knowledge will work there.
   We should think about the essence of education. In calling a person educated we make a positive value judgment. There is an expectation that education will improve the person. We expect that an educated person will behave in a better manner than one who is not educated. There is a sense of being let down, disappointment and dismay if an educated person does not conduct himself in a manner that is rational, morally good and socially responsible.
   It is clear that education is meant for all-round development of a person. Education is not meant to produce only specialists and professionals.  Educationists too stress that education is a holistic process and not only a training of the intellect. It is development of moral, social, aesthetic as well as rational capacity. People might differ on the degree of importance that they place on these various dimensions but most would include all these in their notion of an educated person and these qualities can’t be developed by any examination. If these qualities can’t be developed and assessed by any examination then we should think about some different way.

‘It has been said that people do not care how much you know until they know how much you care’. The art of empathizing is the ability to step into the shoes of another person, feel what they feel and see things from their perspectives. The ability to empathize begins with the ability to actively listen to others. Unless we understand where others are coming from, we are unable to appreciate where they are at.

Our ability to empathize also has a lot to do with where we are at as individuals. It is a known fact that hurting people hurt others. It is only logical that we give to others what we have experienced. When we are peace with ourselves, we will be at peace with others and vice versa. If we feel valued, we will find it easy to value others. How we relate with others is a reflection of how we relate with ourselves.

So the question is how do I empathize with you if I have never gone through what you are going through. I believe you do not have to experience what a person is going through so as to empathize with them. Often times we only need to be humanistic to be able to empathize.

Take an example; you walk into a ‘classy restaurant’ expecting the best customer care only to be met by pathetic attitudes of the people waiting on you. We are quick to judge and conclude that the people serving are unprofessional and may be uncultured. We rarely stop to think about what they could be going through that is pushing them to that point. Unfortunately we rarely make the time to empathize with them and appreciate them for the little effort they put in to attend to our needs. 

I believe that being able to empathize comes down to first of being able to see others as fellow human beings with dignity. The perceptions we have about others are reflected in how we relate with them, if we change our perceptions, we will be able to change the way we relate with others. Empathy is more of an attitude than an action.

It is not our responsibility to evaluate the thoughts or actions of others but to simply be empathetic in how we think and act towards them. the ability to actively listen depends on having an open mind, a mind that is free of judgment and free of expectancy. How we choose to respond to life shapes our own continued perception. We all reap the results of the thoughts we have sown.

To see things accurately, we must understand our emotional investment in a situation as well as its external appearance or behavior. Both inner and outer realities must be taken into account. Our dignity lies in becoming fully human, fully receptive to our own needs and those of others.