What happens when they graduate?

Caleb and I love telling the story about Beautiful Response and the kids in Uganda. It is an easy story to tell. It is a story we have told more times than any other story. We love to tell people about all the kids in school, that some of them are at the very top of their class, and about the excellent schools that they are attending thanks to the generosity of so many.

The follow up question nearly always is what the kids will do after graduation. This part is not an easy story to tell. I typically stammer through something about university for some, trade school for others and that some might return to work for the organization where they grew up. But then I find myself admitting the truth; I don't know what they will do. There are four times more people graduating from university and training schools annually than there are available jobs. The reality in Uganda—as with many other places in the world—is that the economy is not big enough or active enough to absorb, employ and engage an ever increasing educated population. This reality does not make accessing the best education available to them any less valuable. On the contrary, education continues to be a critical building block for the kids and for a country that has so much to offer.

The US Africa Summit took place in Washington, DC earlier this month. Other than a near run in with the president of Mali’s motorcade, I had no involvement in the events that week. But even from a peripheral view, I found the narrative of the meetings so refreshing. The story was not about a group of people who needed the charity and goodwill of Americans. Rather, 50 African leaders were invited to the US because over the next five years, Africa will be home to 8 of the 10 fastest growing economies. US businesses see that Africa has so much to offer through its growing middle class, increasingly educated youth and abundant workforce.

There likely won’t be a job for the kids we sponsor when they finish school. Chances are slim that a US business invests in Kampala and is able to employ the kids we are sponsoring. In fact, more than likely, the kids will need to create new jobs in new industries for themselves and their peers. But business is growing in Africa and the kids we sponsor will be a small part of a generation that is highly educated and possesses the grit and commitment to change their story.

Through education and innovative ideas, they’ll get the chance to tell their own story.

The narrative in Africa is changing and seeing this group of kids excel in school is one piece of that.

Announcing Haiti

A week before my 11^th birthday my family moved to Haiti.  We left less than a year later, before I turned 13. Our stay was cut shorter than it should have been, but those brief months in Haiti molded who I was for the rest of my life. Those months led me to study abroad in Uganda during college where Sonja and I met Patrick and William and began Beautiful Response.

In September, I’m going back to Haiti.

Ticarme with friend and neighborhood partner, Jonas

A Haitian woman named Ticarme has been a leader in her community for decades. Her dream is to see the youth in her village educated. Small groups of capable students meet together to encourage and tutor one another. These kids have families and ambition, but not enough resources to attend schools term after term.  They are forced to drop out, or they attend school for a term, drop out, and then go back to school, never advancing.

Under Ticarme’s leadership, Beautiful Response is excited to announce a scholarship program aimed at ensuring that the kids who are capable of excelling in school get the chance to do so. 

Here’s how it works: Families apply for scholarships and work with Ticarme and her team to determine how much financial aid is needed. The students receiving scholarships get academic support from tutors and from peer groups.  Ticarme and her team keep tabs on the academic progress of the students and make sure they are given the tools they need to succeed and eventually graduate.

Since 2010, billions of dollars have been filtered into Haiti. In so many ways, it has been a development disaster. The amount of money and organizations doing development work in Haiti made us tentative about launching a new project there. But we believe that growth and progress in Haiti will come from Haitian leaders longing for the good of their own communities. Ticarme is that leader.  

We’re excited to see what happens. We’re excited to meet the students who will get a chance at an education. We’re excited about good Haitian leaders seeking after the good of their communities.

On September 10^th, 2014 I fly back to Haiti.

It will be 13 years, to the day, since I left.