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LEAD Uganda locates forgotten children with innate talents and molds them into leaders.

www.leaduganda.org

We give our 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.

While many non-profits in Africa pay school fees for children, what makes LEAD Uganda unique is its emphasis on training leaders. LEAD Uganda’s student-members attend the very best primary and secondary schools, then go on to university. The LEAD Uganda initiative provides our scholars with everything they need to succeed: books, school supplies, medical care, food, clothes, emotional support, and a family. 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.

In a few years LEAD Uganda has transformed the lives of seventy-plus youngsters, turning outsiders into leaders.

• 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.

LEAD Uganda is a joint project of the Stephen Shames Foundation (which raises money and awareness) and Concern for the Future, an indigenous Ugandan non-profit, that looks after the children.

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.