I’d like to introduce you to Moses Ssemwanga, who was blessed with a new start because of his opportunity for education. Moses together with his siblings was born and raised in a humble family by a single mom in the tiny village of Kasijjagirwa in Masaka Uganda and like so many other children, was trapped by poverty. In 2007 when Moses was in Primary Three life became hard for the entire family after their single uneducated mother was laid off from her gardening job. It became so difficult for their single mother to provide for all the basic needs of her children without a paying job. So, Moses dropped out of school to fend for the family. He did all sorts of casual jobs in return for food for the family. His hope for education withered, and he spent two years without attending school because he believed that education could be the only way he can get out of poverty, he sought support from Youth With A Vision through his area Village Council. We paid for his tuition, lunch meals, and scholastic materials and he successfully completed primary education. After Moses’ successful completion of primary education, we enrolled and supported him through high school. At this stage, we could provide him with only tuition, and he looked for other needs himself. So things become a little bit complicated for him since his little siblings had to join school too and their mother could not afford to pay for all of them. Being the elder child in the family Moses had to look for some casual jobs to see that at least he could support his mother to educate the little siblings. And it was really hard for him to balance studies and work but he persevered.
In 2015, when we introduced our Youth Finance Scheme which empowers unemployed youth to start their small enterprises and become sustainable, Moses enrolled on the scheme. He received the knowledge of business planning and management, financial literacy, business internship, start-up capital and ongoing mentorship and started Perry Brick Making Project. Since coming to Youth With A Vision, Moses has graduated from primary, high school, Youth Finance Scheme, enrolled in University and graduated with a diploma in business administration.
I quote Moses – ‘’ This project changed my family a lot as I was able to generate income which enabled me to meet our family’s daily needs, it also helped me to support my young siblings with school fees to further their studies. I was also able to buy stationery and materials on top of Youth With A Vision’s tuition support, and successfully my High School with an Advanced Certificate of Education. After completing my advanced certificate of education, the next step was to join University, but I spent two years without joining University because it was very expensive for me, and Youth With A Vision could not support me at that time. One day, in May 2018 Youth With A Vision received visitors through the Uganda Marathon, and I was one of the youths that were given an opportunity to showcase our Youth Finance Scheme enterprises story. I was so lucky that among the visitors there was a couple – Cindy and Kevin Godwin who picked interest believed in me and decided to sponsor me for a University career! Initially, I had been offered a place with Kampala University but after two years of me not joining, they declined my place. Luckily, Muteesa 1 Royal University accepted me for a diploma in Business Administration. Today, I am glad that I have completed my diploma. This is a springboard for me to start mitigating poverty. I look forward to upgrading to a Bachelor of Business Administration and Management (B.BAM. I owe this success to my sponsors Cindy and Kevin Godwin – thank you so much, I wouldn’t have achieved this without you! To Youth With A Vision - I always treasure you. May God bless you all abundantly’’ Says Moses Ssemwanga.
Dear friend, supporter, partner, donor and sponsor, while we reflect on a wonderful year behind us, we have focused on the great work ahead of us. And here, we have other impoverished children including;
Kabugo Mahad in Primary
Matovu Timothy in Primary
Ssenkungu Robert in Primary
Nabateregga Maria Hilda in Secondary
Kabuye Rahim in secondary school.
And many other children in need of someone to sponsor
Click on their links to read about there stories perhaps you can help them to find someone to support them.
They are all from the Masaka region of Uganda studying at and in different levels of education.
Among the less privileged children that are at the edges of dropping out of school is Namujju Catherine a midwifery student at International Paramedic Institute Maya
Read about Catherine's Story
She has been denied several times to access school due to the failure of her parents to raise her tuition.
Help her to access school, and have hope for a bright future, and we need your help to make it happen.
A gift of £100 a month can help her to concentrate on her studies and complete her career.
A gift of £20 or £50 or £100 or £150 or £200 can add up and help her stay at school and complete her career.
A monthly gift of £10 or £20 can enable Youth With A Vision to support the education of some of the impoverished children.
You can easily give online by following the link below https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=6HGFFB39LSNLE&source=url
No gift is too big or too small and every money is needed to allow impoverished children to access education and an opportunity to realize their dreams of breaking the cycle of poverty.