Givology - give to learn, learn to give

Nelson is a student in Educate!’s Socially Responsible Leadership Course that focuses on the entrepreneurial and leadership skills students need to find solutions to poverty, violence, disease and environmental degradation. Educate! trains teachers who become mentors to their students (like Nelson), building powerful relationships that give youth the confidence to lead change. The mentor also facilitates the Educate! Social Entrepreneurship Club that gives students like Nelson practical business skills while aiming to solve a community need. The amount requested covers the cost of training, salary and transportation for the Educate! mentor, as well as all materials/handouts/textbooks provided in the Socially Responsible Leadership Course.

Nelson hails from Eastern Uganda. His Educate! mentor James Katumba says of him “Nelson is not only cheeky, but serious in his cheekiness. I have seen him lead a group of boys to slash overgrown grass in the school compound keeping them motivated where they would usually have grumbled. He is also very invested in community work and club activities, mobilizing his fellow students”. When Nelson dreams of the future, he speaks of a world where parents view the education of their children as their number one investment. He urges his peers to be empowered, disciplined and build a vision for their lives. A student of History, Economics, Geography and Christian Religious Education Nelson wants to start a poultry farm to help his community in the future.

As part of the Educate! program at his school, Nelson is the Secretary of the Social Entrepreneurship Club (SEC). Pinpointing environmental degradation as their pressing issue, the students at Greenhill College started a Tree Planting Project. With no start-up capital, the Educate! students collected fruit seeds from the school compound and surrounding community. They germinated the seeds in used plastic water bags (thereby reducing community waste) and sell the seedlings to the local community. Their planting project includes jackfruit, pawpaw, avocado, mango and jambula. Their goals are to conserve the environment, provide a future source of income to the club, and improve nutrition.

Nelson is a key salesman for the SEC, convincing many an unwilling person to buy the SEC’s fruit seedlings. Educate! mentor James states “it is a pleasure to watch Nelson use the ‘profit-people-planet’ tagline to make vital sales that has kept the SEC going”. With the funds gained from the Tree Planting Project, the SEC has started a new venture of paper bead jewellery using recycled colour paper. The SEC members also cleaned the community well this term as a voluntary community service project.