Educating the youth of Uganda

77% of the 38 million people in Uganda are under 30.  The unemployment rate for young people aged  15-24 is 83%.  That’s part of the reason that AEE Uganda puts so much effort into education, as investment for the future of the country.   Most of the 1,000 students are not on campus at Nile Vocational Institute.  (By the way, it is situated at the point where the water in Lake Victoria flows into the Nile.  6,853 kilometres later, the Nile discharges into the Mediterranean Sea. How long is the Nile?  It is more than 3 times the distance from Hong Kong to Beijing.)  

Nevertheless, some of the youths remained.  Some are practicing hairstyling skills on each other.  I was told it takes 3 hours to do this one.  Yet when I asked them whether it is hard to do this, they giggled and said “no”.  

Three students cooked our lunch.  

Some were preparing for a public examination in Accounting. 

Some were taking a test on basic Computing Science.  How can you study computer science with 18 ancient computers for 1,000 students?  Much is done “in theory”, I suppose. 

It is an enormous task educating the youth in Uganda.  But there is no other choice.  Not investing in it would be suicidal.  For AEE Uganda, this is the "deed" part of their mission - to serve in both word and deed.