In the winter of 2012, WPDI provided our key partner in Uganda, Hope North, with a grant to support its operations and also to address the needs of the youth in our program. Hope North is a school based in northern Uganda that provides education and healing to former child soldiers and orphans. The youth directly involved in WPDI’s Harmonizer Program in Northern Uganda (30 youth in total) have a diverse range of personal experiences, aspirations, talents and personalities. Of course, this is not unique of any group of youth anywhere, but what is unique about this group is their sheer determination to become social entrepreneurs and peace-builders in their communities. Why is it so? It is because they have all been impacted by the war that marred northern Uganda notably through the exactions committed by the Lord Resistance Army (LRA). Many of them were forced to fight on the frontlines as soldiers or even child-soldiers. Many of them were forced to starve while fighting for their lives. Many of them have lost loved ones or have been marginalized in or excluded from their own communities. However, rather than repeating the cycle of violence at the origin of their trials, these youth want to break away from the shackles of war and violence, and create a new era for themselves, their peers and their communities so that their country may thrive on peace and experience positive social change.
Simon Owor is a young man in the Harmonizer Program in Northern Uganda who caught our attention from the moment that we met him. Back in the winter of 2012, at the age of 23, he stood out to WPDI staff as a young man who had a bright future ahead of him. His poise, maturity, thoughtfulness and compassion left a lasting impression on the WPDI team when we first met him – and it has stayed with us to this very day. We quickly learned from him that he dreamed of creating his own electric shop – a business that he could call his own and develop with the skills he possesses and the passion with which he does everything. Unfortunately, he did not have the seed money needed to launch his venture – until a very small portion of the grant we gave to Hope North was distributed to him. Just like that, he had a small sum to help him create his own electric shop – his own business, his own source of income, his own community-impacting shop.
What Simon has done with the small grant is demonstrative of the power of microloans and scholarships in developing countries. In these countries, there are countless young women and men who have passion, determination, abilities and skills to undertake their projects, but they lack the necessary funds to materialize their aspirations.
Microloans have transformed lives and communities around the world, and there are many organizations such as the Grameen Bank and Kiva that have directly made positive impact for millions of people around the world. Microloans are not a silver bullet to fight poverty in all its forms, but it is certainly a tangible and realistic step in the right direction. The small grant that WPDI gave to Simon is an example of this tangible change not only for Simon but also for his customers who now have access to devices and electronics that they previously did not.