Thread by @Rukwengye

The idea that's now known as Boundless Minds first occurred to me in 2013.
Here is a short thread of our story; why what we're doing is important – and why we hope you'll get everyone in your circles to recommend us to win this grant.
missionbox.com/organization/8…

A Muzungu friend casually mentioned that by the age of 21, she had volunteered on community projects in 3 different countries.
I'd just been telling her how I had grown from volunteering with 40-40 in just one year; and wondering where I'd have been had I started 5 years earlier.

She'd been volunteering in India at 19. At 23, she was running a small time initiative in rural Rakai.
Where was I at 19? At 23, I was still at campus, hoping to get out and find a job.
How many young Ugandans were like me? How many Muzungu kids were like her?

Then it occurred to me. Part of the reason "they" are way ahead of us is because they have a 5 year head-start on us. They have the benefit of exposure and experimentation of ideas way before we do.
We 'start' in our 20s but by then it is too late (to catch up)

So I started to think about Uganda:
1. How many can't get jobs coz they have no experience or don't know where to start?
2. How many can't start enterprises coz they aren't trained for it?
3. How many can't innovate to persistent local challenges coz they aren't educated for it?

I also wondered why we couldn't have our own (contextual) programs that enable young people to start early, to have a headstart....because if we don't we'll never innovate ourselves out of unemployment and into opportunity.

Then I started to talk to people. Friends. Teachers. Parents. Students. Employers. Experts.
It took a long while (4 years) before we came up with the training model we have now:
1. Community Service
2. Entrepreneurship
3. Mentorship for professional devt

Over the last 2years, we have worked with 30 young people who are now at different levels of career leadership (in and out of university) and entrepreneurship.
The one thing we can guarantee is that they will not only find/create jobs but will also create opportunities for others

We can't afford to wait. Our challenges only get worse. Our young pple are not short of ideas&solutions.
But they need a structure in which to experiment&develop them.
We need business leaders, entrepreneurs&social justice champions...and that's what we're nurturing at Boundless

And we're already seeing results.
What happens when we task them to test their limits&ideas?
They've become boundless.
They're starting businesses, leadership, volunteering in communities, aspiring for me.
And that's what we need.
A place for young people to become.

To continue to do this (and especially more), we need adequate financing.
That's why winning this grant and funding opportunities (private and corporate) mean a lot for our continuity – especially for teenagers from low-income backgrounds.
We can and shall do more.
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