Sarah Creates Sustainable Futures for “You and Me”

Throughout her life experiences, Sarah has developed an incredible zeal for the importance of self-reliance. As a former Educate! Scholar and current Mentor, Sarah has an incredible passion for empowering others.

When we last talked to Sarah in 2019, she was running a series of small businesses in Jinja, Uganda, including an enterprise tailoring fabric. For Sarah, these endeavors paved the way for independence when her father’s sudden passing left her family unable to support Sarah and her siblings.  

Coupled with entrepreneurial knowledge and skills, Sarah’s determination not only led her to finish secondary school and secure financial freedom but also inspired her to help those in a similar position. She ultimately dreamed of starting an orphanage. Today, Sarah is one step closer to this goal. 

Aimed at providing youth with increased opportunities, Sarah recently began the You and Me project, which supports 50 orphans from different districts across the country. Through this initiative, Sarah is using the skills she gained from Educate! to teach orphans in her community how to produce soaps, paper bags, and cakes. Sarah is also providing ongoing mentorship to her participants to help them get their businesses off the ground, like directing them to local suppliers for materials.

“They're going to become fathers and mothers. We train them so that even after school, they can start up something on their own because they have skills."

Using the funds from her own ventures, Sarah hosts these learning sessions each December and charges a small fee to join the training. Her efforts have attracted attention from various individuals within her community, and she’s planning to charge a subscription fee for adults who would like to participate in the project. With the help of those around her, Sarah hopes to purchase a structure and scale her social enterprise, creating a ripple effect.

"Using the skills I learned from Educate!, I train the people around my community and also task my friends to train people around their communities."

Like Sarah, many other young people are the primary source of income for themselves and for their families. They need marketable skills that enable them to secure employment and build a sustainable livelihood.