Finally! Our first moonshot is up
The First Elevate Booth Placed in Katanga.
The oft used proverb; a journey of one thousand miles begins with one step reads a lot different for a social entrepreneur: the journey of one step comprises thousands of miles!
Three years ago we dreamt of a journey in which we would empower young people who many would refer to as the underserved; youth in slums, refugee camps and impoverished communities. At era92 we refer to them as the brilliant without opportunity. We dreamt of equipping them with various IT skills to enable them grow in spite of their circumstances, earn an income and be better equipped to make an impact in their communities.
On 25th November, we took our first step. We launched our very first Elevate Booth in Katanga, Uganda’s largest slum which is host to over 20,000 Ugandans and refugees living in extreme poverty.
The Booth will act as a skilling and ideation hub, providing 21st century skills like website development, graphics design, photography and filmmaking. Many of the era92 alumni were born and raised in Katanga and know the huge difference a skill makes.
You should have been there, that moment when the Booth was being offloaded and placed onto the concrete blocks on a small plot we purchased just for this purpose, right in the middle of Katanga. The joy of those who spent sleepless nights fitting all the details together, the celebration of the community at a promise kept and the satisfaction of our partners at seeing the fruit of our labours!
As our friends from Lift Up cut the ribbon at the grand opening, we all sensed the beginning of something new, something lasting. The journalists took notes, the community members ululated, the Elevate team and alumni danced at the fulfillment of a dream come true.
A 21st century ideation hub, the Booth features fully furnished and state of the art facilities to equip the young people of Katanga with top notch digital skills, to enable them stand out in the job market.
era92 Elevate: Moving Forward for Future impact
Our target? Skill 10,000 youth, in the next five years in four locations around Uganda. And then to East Africa! Wherever there is brilliance, we want to provide the opportunity
This one year walk towards the first Elevate Booth is the result of a close partnership with Lift Up. Long journeys require good friends. A big thank you!
As we sometimes say in Uganda, twakatandika butandisi , we have only just begun!