A Passionate Pursuit of Vision

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 developed not learned

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: Kyusa.uganda@gmail.com

We shall be pleased to hear from you.

Kyusa Pilot Comes To a Successful Climax

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.