Junior Achievement in Kampala

Wednesday November 25th Risa, Dennis, Vicky, and I took about 25 students up to Kampala to attend the 2nd Junior Achievement Exhibition in Uganda. There were about 15 companies from various schools represented there. Some of the businesses that students had started up included: hair salon, selling popcorn, selling chapatti, selling fruit salad, selling paper bags and book covers for school, and embroidered cups, shirts, and pens. We arrived at the event when all of the schools were being judged on their businesses. So our students went around to each of the companies and asked them questions. After lunch we heard speeches from all of the companies regarding their successes and failures. Then they had a man come and speak (who had clearly spent a lot of time in the states because his accent almost sounded American!). He is a prominent businessman who shared with all of the students about the first company he started when he was 16 years old. He found a need and met it and was able to employ other kids and earned enough money to fly himself to Nairobi to go shopping! He said I know that Uganda has a lot of problems and a lot of poverty but you need to look at the problems as opportunities to make money! He did a great job of encouraging and inspiring the students to go out and create their own jobs in a country where the unemployment rate is high. Our students left that afternoon with some new ideas about businesses that they want to start creating here in Jinja. This afternoon (Dec 5) a group of the students that went to the event came over to the guesthouse to create a name for their new company. They are going to start producing “dirt shirts.” They have a lot of work ahead of them in terms of creating a business plan but they are creative and eager to start. We are so excited for these kids who are involved in our Junior Achievement Program.

This is the chairman of JA in Uganda, giving the overall award to this group of girls who's business was embrodiering mugs, pens, and shirts.

This was one of the many "companies" explaining their business. They were selling paper bags.

I LOVED the slogan on the bottom of this poster. This company made chapattis at school because kids could not get them at school. The slogan says "Try me once and buy me always"

This is one of our students who is in the JA program. Isn't she the cutest ever? She was modelling all of the things that one of the company's made and sold.