L.E.A.D. Uganda: Changing the Future of Africa
NEIRAD enilno edition
“Life is really not easy in Uganda” said Julius, one of the kids that have participated in the L.E.A.D. program. Children in Uganda are struck with AIDS, war, and poverty and when it comes to life, striving to take care of their families comes before an education.
L.E.A.D. Uganda, founded in 2000, gives children a high quality education, removes them from poverty, and gives them opportunities to become leaders in their communities. The organization finds children with academic promise in refugee camps and small poverty stricken villages. The children that are in the program are former child soldiers, orphans, and child labors. A lot of orphans have to take care of their younger siblings and become adults at a very young age. The majority of children in Uganda have to drop out of school at a very young age to help provide for their families by working in a field or mine and making only 75 cents a day.
The organization’s success comes from the policy that they do not remove the children from their villages or families or overload them with a westernized education. According to the organization’s pamphlet, “L.E.A.D. transcends tribal and religious differences, which are very important to the communities in Uganda.” They make a big point to encourage their students to go back to their village and lead after their education because a big problem in Africa is that the educated people go to wealthier countries. Programs such as L.E.A.D. are helping to build the community and future of the country.
Children in the program are given medical care and encouraged to do well, they make the most important thing in their lives school. L.E.A.D. tries to take away all other stress in the student’s lives so that focusing on school is possible. They roughly stay in the program for their schooling age year, and leave when they go to college.
Another aspect of the program is “healing their pain” because a lot of the kids have had a difficult life, so the program focuses on making them feel secure. They all live together and have a very close-knit neighborhood. Their “clan” helps with their loss and pain from the past.
The organization was founded by the famous photographer, Stephen Shames, who has been taking photographs for the New York Times and many other famous publications. He has been working as a photojournalist for most of his life, capturing striking pictures that have changed the way people think. He wanted to use his haunting pictures for a good cause, showing people how poor some children are in Africa so he could raise money to educate them.
If you would like to donate to this very special organization and give the kids of Uganda a chance please donate at www.leaduganda.org or send a check to:
L.E.A.D. Uganda
202 Saint Marks Ave #4
Brooklyn, NY 11238
