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Phase: Selection

'Fire Up!' - A Refugee-Run Girls Education Programme

Support urban refugee communities to increase access to education for girls in Uganda's capital city, Kampala

Photo of robert hakiza
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Refugee girls celebrating a successful product design meeting with YARID. Refugee girls celebrating a successful product design meeting with YARID.
Refugee girls giving feedback to YARID's Education team. Refugee girls giving feedback to YARID's Education team.
Potential program participants who shared their ideas with YARID. Potential program participants who shared their ideas with YARID.
Refugee children reading books in a YARID English class. Refugee children reading books in a YARID English class.

What problem does your innovation solve?

Nearly 15,000 refugee girls [between the ages of five to eighteen] from Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo live in Kampala, the largest site of refugee self-settlement in Uganda. 60% of these girls are out of school, compared to 40% of boys. These are young women who have missed multiple years of school, have lost their school certificates or transcripts or have ones that are not recognized in Uganda, and struggle to adapt to education in a new language.

Explain your innovation.

The idea—We are proposing a high-impact foundation course that uses mentoring and dual-language instruction to increase girls’ access to, and success within, education in Kampala. Our bottom-up and family-wide approach mobilizes community resources to address linguistic, cultural, and economic barriers simultaneously. How it works—We offer a year-long foundation course, divided into two levels: Level II for girls who have completed or nearly finished primary school, and Level I for girls who are three or more years away from finishing primary. The course is co-taught by a Ugandan national and a teacher from the refugee community. Classes are held at local primary schools to help students adjust to the Ugandan school schedule and curricular demands and begin to integrate into the wider school community. We will also open a library at our existing community center, to give refugee girls additional materials in English and a safe place to study after the program in the evenings. . At the same time, we will give parents whose girls are enrolled in the foundation course, access to trainings on how to save money and participate in a savings group, so that they can support their girls’ long-term success in education until graduation A holistic approach—We recruit community mentors to support our learners. The mentors have weekly home visits with refugee parents, which are pivotal to changing cultural beliefs about girls’ education, ensuring home lives are supporting students

Who benefits?

The benefits of this program will cut across both refugee and national communities, and in particular, empower the main actors who are central to the education of refugee girls. GIRLS LIKE SONA : First and foremost, this innovation will support for the pilot, 100 girls between the ages of 13 and 19 who are refugees and asylum seekers from the main countries of origin for refugees in Uganda, like Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Somalia and South Sudan. Our impact on refugee girls will be profound. PARENTS LIKE ANNIE: Parents benefit, too—parents will achieve a greater level of financial literacy and be supported to form savings groups with other parents to pool their resources and share their knowledge and experience. COMMUNITIES AND SCHOOLS LIKE IN KATWE: Schools also benefit. Ugandan teachers will be better able to understand and support their refugee students, with the help of refugee teachers and mentors and with greater support from parent

How is your innovation unique?

Our innovation is bottom-up. This idea fosters strong relationships between refugee children, parents, mentors and teachers. Since YARID is a refugee-led organization, it is the refugee community that is integrating itself directly into national structures and co-producing these solutions. It’s Human Centered and responsive to the needs of urban refugees. Our method of instruction is innovative, too. We group students by proficiency, not grade level, to meet our learners where they are, and use mentors to build self-esteem. We teach in two languages to help students progress more quickly. Best of all, these innovations are sustainable. We pair high-quality instruction with other crucial forms of support. We mentor parents and provide financial training to make a girl's education both a cultural priority and an economic reality. We partner with Ugandan teachers and host the program at Ugandan primary schools to bridge gaps between refugees and the host community.

What are some of your unanswered questions about the idea?

YARID will use its unique position as a well-known community organization to answer important, basic questions about which schools refugee students attend, how they are performing, and what support they need. At the start of our work, we would also investigate how traditional values and beliefs about education differ between nationalities and tribes among refugees. During our implementation phase, we would try to find answers to two main questions. First, is it more effective to reach refugee girls in early primary school or late primary school, or even in early secondary school? Second, how can we link income-generating activities (IGAs) with our programme so that education is an economic possibility for refugee girls ?

Tell us more about you.

Young African Refugees for Integral Development (YARID) is a registered, refugee-led non-profit organization operating in Uganda since 2008. The mission of YARID is to empower refugees and other displaced persons through education, women’s empowerment, ICT training, and sports for development so that they can become self-reliant and integrate into the Uganda society. YARID is the leading refugee grassroots organization in Kampala and has done a lot to help urban refugees become self-reliant.

What is the primary type of emergency setting where your innovation would operate?

  • Prolonged displacement

Emergency Setting - Elaborate

In Kampala, the largest refugee-hosting area outside of a settlement in Uganda, the urban refugee population is particularly heterogeneous, with very diverse and complex needs. The largest refugee groups come from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Somalia, and South Sudan. When refugees decide to settle in Kampala, they waive their rights to formal assistance from the government and most international organizations, and must meet their own basic needs, including education

Where will your innovation be implemented?

This idea will be implemented in Kampala, Uganda. An increasing number of refugees are opting to self-settle in urban areas—by the end of 2016, UNHCR recorded a total of 87,956 refugees and asylum seekers living in Kampala. That number is expected to grow to more than 125,000 by the end of 2017, as escalating conflicts in the region force more and more people from their homes.

Experience in Implementation Country(ies)

  • Yes, for more than one year.

In-country Networks

YARID is an active member of the Forum for Education NGOs in Uganda (FENU) and is a contributor to the Education in Emergency and Refugee Education working groups. We convene periodic meetings among refugee organizations via our Refugee Grassroots Network. We work closely with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Uganda and the International Organization for Migration.

Sector Expertise

  • I've worked in a sector related to my innovation for more than a year.

Sector Expertise - Elaborate

Young African Refugees for Integral Development (YARID) is a registered refugee led non-profit organization operating in Uganda since 2008. The mission of YARID is to empower refugees and other displaced Persons through, education, women’s empowerment, ICT and sport for development so that they can become self-reliant and integrate into the Uganda society. YARID is the leading refugee grassroots organization in Kampala and has done a lot to support refugees become self-reliant

Innovation Maturity

  • Existing Prototype or Pilot: I have tested a part of my solution with users and am iterating.

Organization Status

  • We are a registered non-profit, charity, NGO, or community-based organization.

Organization Location

YARID is based on Kampala Kirombe Road, Off Kabega Lane, Nsambya, Kampala, Uganda

Website

www.yarid.org

How has your Idea changed based on feedback?

Our community has encouraged us to think bigger. For the 18 refugee girls we interviewed, this program offers more than education: it offers hope, it offers knowledge, and it offers protection. Rather than thinking of this as an accelerated learning program, which are common and fairly narrow programs, we now see our idea as a foundation course that forms an innovative support system for a girl's entire education. Specific changes to the library and mentoring components reflect these ideas.

Who will implement this Idea?

The YARID Education team would contribute full-time support to the implementation of this idea. The first year pilot, at least four staff will manage the programme, working closely with at least 4 mentors and a committee of 20 parents per class. Our partner, Katwe Primary School, is right beside our education center and we have strong relationships with Katwe Primary's teachers and school administrators. They will contribute classroom space and some materials. Four teachers, one Ugandan and one refugee per class, will be hired for the program and will report directly to the Education Manager.

What challenges do your end-users face? (1) What is the biggest challenge that your end-users face on a day-to-day, individual level? (2) What is the biggest systems-level challenge that affects your end-users?

Each refugee girl faces numerous daily challenges related to her gender. Conservative cultural beliefs about women mean that a girl is burdened with housework and kept home from school. When she is idle, she is vulnerable to early marriage and SGBV. She lacks positive role models and emotional support. The most significant systems-level challenge is a lack of educational equivalency between Uganda and its neighbors. Different languages, required documents, core competencies and school schedules make it very difficult for refugee girls to re-start their education at the appropriate level. Most girls are asked to repeat two or three years of school, if not more. This delays their progress and, since they join classes with much younger girls, demoralizes them and lowers their self-esteem.

How is your organization considering sustainable growth in order to continue making an impact over time?

For many years, YARID operated with very few resources, relying on the contributions of volunteers to deliver low-cost programs. To us, sustainability does not require making our programs more complicated or resource intensive; rather, we want to continue to operate efficiently, while providing steady income for our volunteers/teachers, most of whom are refugees. We have used two recent injections of funding to train our Education volunteers as full-time staff and to expand our livelihoods programs. We plan to continue to build these two program areas by training and employing refugees.

Tell us about your vision for this project: (1) share one sentence about the impact that you would like to see from this project in five years and (2) what is the biggest question/hurdle you need to address to get there?

VISION: By 2021, we plan to operate in Kampala's four refugee-dense areas at scale, reaching 3,240 refugee girls from 7 countries in partnership with parents and teachers at 81 schools. KEY QUESTION: How do we scale our participatory, community-driven model in heterogeneous refugee communities around Kampala and create pathways for various refugee communities to take ownership of the projects and support themselves?

How do you currently measure (or plan to measure) outcomes for this project?

During the program, YARID's education team will use established systems to measure output indicators like attendance and performance on monthly exams. Then, to measure outcomes after the program ends, we leverage our strong relationships with our partners: parents, teachers, and primary school administrators. Parents report monthly about the progress of their savings group; teachers report about student attendance; school administrators share our students' exam scores and official records.

What is the timeline for your project Idea? What are the key steps for implementation in the next 1-3 years?

The first key step is to launch the program with 40 refugee girls at Katwe Primary, where we have strong relationships. Then, we will leverage that proof-of-concept to partner with primary schools in two other areas with concentrated refugee communities, Lubaga and Kisenyi. Each pilot program also creates built-in pathways for mentors to become YARID staff who continue to manage the program in their local community. After three years, we will have a replicable and sustainable way to scale.

My organization's operational budget for 2016 was:

  • Between $50,000 and $100,000 USD

How many of your team’s paid, full-time staff are currently based in the location where the beneficiaries of your proposed Idea live?

  • Between 10-20 paid, full-time staff

Is your organization registered in the country that you intend to implement your Idea in?

  • We are registered in all countries where we plan to implement.

How long have you and your colleagues been working on this Idea together?

  • Between 1 and 2 years

What do you need the most support with for your innovation?

  • Business Development / Partnerships Support
  • Organizational Design

This inspired (1)

Education in emergencies-Broad Class Listen To Learn
Education in emergencies-Broad Class Listen To Learn

37 comments

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Photo of wilson albert
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Photo of Vanessa Sore
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Hi Robert,
I love this peer-to-peer community based approach, helping and supporting one another grow to learn. I'm interested in whether or not you'd considered if this idea would work in other communities? And if so, how would you go about your approach or partnerships?

Cheers,
Vanessa S

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Photo of robert hakiza
Team

Dear Vanessa,
Many thanks for your comment and question. Yes the peer-to-peer community based approach can work in other communities. It's workable sustainable because both community and the end users are involved in all the processes, they understand the challenges and are keen to contribute toward the solution. We have tried this several times and it has worked. We are very open to any partnership.
Thanks

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Photo of Dave Hughes
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Hi Robert, this is a great idea! My name is David Hughes and I am the Project Director for the Bendigo Inventor Awards.

Now in our 7th year, the Bendigo Inventor awards have as our focus inventions that address needs in the Emergency Services and Disaster Management space, and we offer a AUD$10,000 prize for the winning entry. The Bendigo Inventor Awards has also created an environment for inventors to obtain support for their ideas by bringing together a coalition of partners with the knowledge, skills and networks to accelerate the progression of ideas from concept through to commercialisation. Major Program Partners include Engineers Australia who are providing technical feedback, KPMG who are offering advice on commercial viability and the path to commercialisation and Red Cross, who are providing their perspective on the relevance of many inventions to disaster relief efforts. Our judging panel also contains representatives from Emergency Management Victoria, who are able to provide similar feedback on the applicability of inventions to the emergency services.

I believe your idea would be a fantastic entry into the awards. Applying is easy and can be done through our website www.bendigoinventorawards.com.au/apply. Simply select the category that your invention applies to – ‘Concept’ or ‘Product and Prototype’, and answer some questions about your invention. All judges are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement, so your idea is protected. Entries close 5pm Friday 29th September 2017 AEST.

I very much look forward to seeing your invention go on to great success, and hope we are able to assist you in enabling that to happen. If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to get in touch on the phone number above, or via my email at dhughes@bebendigo.com.au.

Regards,
David Hughes
Project Director
Bendigo Inventor Awards

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Photo of robert hakiza
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Dear David,
Many thanks for your comment and for sharing with us this great opportunity. We are definitely going to apply and of course if there is any question we will contact you.
Thanks a lot!

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Photo of David Boze
Team

Hi Robert,

I love your community-based approach to addressing the obstacles refugee girls are facing in urban environments. I'd like to learn more about how you'd be involving the parents of these girls. How will the sensitization meetings be facilitated? Changing behavior and perceptions is quite difficult. With your experience, what do you think is the best approach?

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Photo of robert hakiza
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Hello David, Thanks so much for your comment and question. As you may know one of the main barriers to access education is the financial situation of the parents and when we look at the girls education particularly there is the attitude of some parents toward girls education. The way we are trying to address these issues is to fully involve the parents, we want the parents to feel they are part of this project, we consider them as partners. Parents will be trained in financial literacy and supported to form savings groups with other
parents to pool their resources and share their knowledge and experience. Many meetings will be organized with parents in the way to show them the importance of sending the girls to school and change their attitudes, on top of this there will be mentors who will be playing a big role of visiting the families, discussing with the parents to make sure they play their role. We tried this in our other project "Bridge to formal Schooling" and it was successful, all the thirty children we had in our pilot and who were out of school, some for years managed ti integrate the Ugandan schools and the parents were able to support them and up to now they are in chool

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Photo of Ruth Nara
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Hello Robert,

Congratulations on the well-written proposal. This idea addresses a significant gap, while using integrative approaches to hopefully have an impact.

As you know, refugee women and girls are the most vulnerable groups of displaced populations. Further, with religious and cultural beliefs, their are significant challenges and barriers to their success and development. This vulnerability increases when their is no emotional/psychosocial support and also education. I was wondering if you could clarify the specific topics covered in the curriculum/course you hope to implement. The challenges that this group of girls face is different than that of nationals, and as such, these differences should be reflected in the education (i.e., topics on SRH given the risk of SGBV and early marriage). Further, many of these girls have been forcibly displaced from their country of origin due to conflict, and may have endured trauma (sexual or non-sexual). Could you elaborate on how your staff will be able to manage and deal with these issues effectively to ensure the well-being of the child?

Looking forward to hearing on the progress of this project.

Regards,
Ruth

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Photo of robert hakiza
Team

Hello Ruth,
Thank you so much for your comments, questions and support to this idea. Yes it's true that refugee women and girls are the most vulnerable groups of displaced population. I am happy that you have brought the issues of sexual reproductive health especially as it's about refugee girls who have been forcibly displaced. Yes to implement this project will require a curriculum/guideline that will be developed by a team of experts. I anticipate to say that the guideline will be adapted from existing Ugandan primary curricula and will include topics like English that refugee children must learn, so all primary school subjects will be taught. English and English literacy are still given more time than other subjects though, as these are the main areas where refugee children are behind. I support the idea of including the topics of SRH in the curriculum and for this we will have to seek for guidance from people who have expertise in this field to advice us on what exactly we should include. For refugee girls who may have endured trauma (sexual or non-sexual) the mentors will be there to provide support for minor cases but for serious cases they will be referred to identified partners who are specialized to deal with these issues. Thanks so much and will be happy to respond in case of any other question.

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Photo of Elizabeth
Team

Helo Robert
I don't know if it has been asked before but how are the disabled girls going to benefit in this programme...

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Photo of robert hakiza
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Hello Elizabeth,
Thanks again for your question. I am happy that you have raised the point of refugee girls with disability and it's clear that we shouldn't leave them behind. We will definitely consider them during the recruitment process. Thanks s lot

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Photo of mbaire franchie
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Hello,
Thank you for such a mind thought of idea more especially for girls who are not educated. I see this as very outsatnding ideal developed in our community because such a scheme will equip these girls with more aptitude which will help them increase there level of understanding. My suggestion is, adding hands on skills will also help young refuge girls who have brain struggles to retain information.

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Photo of robert hakiza
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Hello Franchie,
Thanks so much for your comment. As far as your suggestion is concerned, yes I believe that vocational training will be another option to consider in this programme to give a chance to the girls who will not make it to the formal education for various reasons.

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Photo of Ayla Bonfiglio
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Hi Robert, Elvis and the YARID team!
Congratulations on putting together a comprehensive proposal that goes beyond traditional bridging programs by bringing together parents, school communities, and students' wider refugee communities in a holistic and novel way. For anyone who has worked on issues of refugee education, you are addressing an important gap.
Could you tell us a bit more about your implementation plan for years 1-3? Would the pilot run for just the first year?
Many thanks!

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Photo of robert hakiza
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Hello Ayla,
Thank you so much for your comment and support to this idea.
To respond to your question on our implementation plan I would say that the first year we are planning to pilot the idea at Katwe Primary school where we have a good partnership, the second year we will expand the programme to other two public schools (Nakivubo P/S in Kisenyi and in Lubaga), the third year we will expand to other two schools, that will make a total of five schools. All this will depend on resources available

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Photo of mwadjuma
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hello Rebort
for sure refugee's girls need this support and with this it will reduce the level of illiteracy in our community and most of people can get job and that can reduce also the level of jobless. i hop that this idea will help girls to going on with their education and i encouraging mentor in what they have done by visiting those families who got that chance of receiving mentors in their home visit and mentor-ship.

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Photo of robert hakiza
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Hello Mwajuma,
Thank you so much for your comment. Thanks for your support!

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Photo of judith
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Hello Robert,
I really appreciate this idea since girls have always been left behind especially when it comes to education in our community and I think this idea will empower these young girls with more skills which will increase their knwoldge and level of self esteem.My suggestion that there should be more trainings in different skills for these young refugee girls.

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Photo of robert hakiza
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Hello Judith,
Thanks for your comment and suggestion. You are right, training skills is also important for the young girls. Thanks for your support!

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Photo of muhumuza micheal
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I think if we also Look at the implementation of the program, peer Educators should also be considered to teach the young girls about their hygiene which is very sensitive when it comes to young girls and also social life especially on how to relate with other people.

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Photo of robert hakiza
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Hello Michael,
Thanks once again for your comment and your support to this idea. I understand and agree with you that information about hygiene and social life is very important and will definitely be considered in this program

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Photo of Olivia
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Hello Robert,

I think this is a great idea! I would be interested to know how you plan on training the mentors to communicate with the girls' families, so that they are trained to deal with the social barriers that you mentioned many girls face when persuing an education? For example the belief some families may have that education is a burden to their daughters/themselves. Also how will the mentors be trained in providing the emotional suppot you mentioned was lacking?

I was also wondering how the collaboration between parents to save money will work? Will that be monitored by you, or will the parents be more independent from the project?

Thank you for anwering my questions, and for persuing this wonderful, important project!!
Olivia

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Photo of robert hakiza
Team

Hello Olivia,
Thank you so much for your comment and questions.
The mentors will be refugee themselves who will be selected from the community and of course trained. here we are looking at people who have a certain level of education that will allow them to easily deal with these issues. We believe that as they will be selected from the community it will put them at a position to communicate easily with both parents and girls. Our experience from our Bridge to formal schooling programme has demonstrated that the parents and children felt more comfortable to share anything with the mentors that they wouldn't share with another person out of the community.
For the saving money, after parents being trained they will be encouraged to form a saving group where they will start saving money for their children's education, the saving group will be manged by parents themselves, they will form a committee and decide about it's management. We will only be there to monitor provide support when needed.

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Photo of muhumuza micheal
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hello, i have really liked the idea but i suggest that the idea should also focus on exploring knowledge about sexual reproductive issues such as family planning, early pregnancies, menstrual cycle to avoid challenges that come along with them

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Photo of robert hakiza
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Hello Micheal,
Thank you so much for your comment and question. I totally agree with you that information on sexual reproductive health will be very important especially as we'll be dealing with girl adolescents. we will make sure that this information be incorporated in the guideline that will be developed specifically for this programme but also the mentors will be sharing this information during the outclass sessions with the girls. Thank you so much!

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Photo of Elizabeth
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Hello. Robert!
This is a well built idea and the fact that it's targeting a very sensitive group of people the girls I believe the support is greatly needed and it's a good thought thanks to the team. Great work.

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Photo of robert hakiza
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Hello Elizabeth,

Thank you so much for your comment!

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Photo of Brendah Bisikwa
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Hullo Robert with this challenge i believe alot of focus will be put on mentorship considering they are teenagers and some have been out of school for a while. What has been put in place to handle such a situation as it is an important part of the program.

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Photo of robert hakiza
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Hello Jocelyne,
Thank you so much for your comment and question. Yes you are right, mentors will play a very big role in this program. Each class is supported by two mentors. Mentors will be refugees themselves who will be visiting refugee children’s families at home and visit the children at school. Mentors, with assistance and permission from children and their families, compile a background story on each child that is shared with the teachers. Mentors encourage refugees about life in Uganda and help them plan for how their children will join school after the programme. Mentors help refugees to understand the Ugandan education system and ensure good communication between them and the school.

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Hi Robert and Team!

We’re excited to share feedback and questions from our experts with you. We encourage you to think about this feedback as you continue to improve and refine your Idea. You are welcome to respond in the comments section and/or to incorporate feedback into the text of your Idea. Your idea and all associated comments will all be reviewed during the final review process.

Based on your knowledge and experience, is this a new approach or bold way of answering the challenge question?

One expert shared, “This idea constitutes a novel approach to addressing challenges to girls' interrupted education.”

Another expert shared, “Unclear. Community-based education of refugees isn't innovative in and of itself, though it is valuable and important. In this case I'd like to hear more about what makes this programme different and truly innovative. Perhaps it's the involvement of refugees as teachers themselves?”

Is this idea human-centered?
“This design is directly based on the experiences of a local NGO, including with respect to the relevant target beneficiaries.”

“It is clear that the ALP is drawing upon existing evidence/research (principles of ALP) to mobilize communities - girls, families/parents, teachers, etc. Though, as ALP is an "innovative" yet widely used programming response in EiE contexts, wondering if more could be shared on how this ALP is a 'new' solution around desirability, feasibility and viability.”

Expert’s thoughts on your business model:
No mention is made about the funding strategy. Would like to learn more.

Final thoughts and questions:
What ideas do you have for working towards the sustainability of this idea in the longer-term?
Who else is doing similar work? How is yours different or better?
How have you used design thinking to develop this idea?

In case you missed it, check out this Storytelling Toolkit for inspiration for crafting strong and compelling stories: http://bit.ly/2uXI0xN Storytelling is an incredibly useful tool to articulate an idea and make it come to life for those reading it. Don’t forget - August 6 at 11:59PM PST is your last day to make changes to your idea on the OpenIDEO platform.

Have questions? Email us at hello@openideo.com

Looking forward to reading more and thank you for the important work you are doing!

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Photo of robert hakiza
Team

Is this approach truly innovative?
YARID is indeed proposing an innovative solution to the challenge of improving the educational outcomes for children and youth (particularly girls) in emergency situations, through its holistic and community-centered approach. More than half of refugee girls are out of school – this is evidence that programs to date are not meeting the needs or accounting for the specific challenges that refugee girls face in accessing education. We know this. For the last two years we have been carrying out interviews and focus groups with different refugee communities around Kampala to identify what are their main needs and obstacles when it comes to educating their children, particularly girls. Overall, parents want to educate their children, but they want to do it on their terms and be assisted to generate the fund for their children themselves. Similarly, educators want to help refugee children realize their right to education, but they do not have links with the refugee community or the support to help them overcome displacement-related or socio-linguistic barriers.
For all of these reasons, we have come to the conclusion that any education solution will require the entire community to take part. That means:
-Training refugee parents in financial literacy and supporting them to participate in savings groups, to share resources and knowledge with one another;
-Offering schools support in educating refugee students by providing teachers from refugees’ origin countries to work alongside and assist national teachers, to help female students cross the language and curricular divide;
-Providing refugee girls with a crucial foundation course, a library at YARID’s offices where they can visit afterschool to do homework and receive extra help, as well as an individually-assigned mentor that ensures consistent communication between the students, schools, and homes.
These different components have never before been put together, most likely because implementers have been from outside the refugee community. As a grassroots refugee-led organization, we are uniquely positioned to carry out this innovative human- and community-centered idea. We hope you think so too!

If more could be shared on how this ALP is a 'new' solution around desirability, feasibility and viability.”
While, indeed, accelerated learning programs (ALPs) are a widely recognized programming response in education in emergency contexts, they are largely absent from urban refugee contexts in cases where refugees must wave their rights to assistance once they leave settlements. This is the case in Kampala. The few education programs for refugees that do exist are primarily focused on language instruction or on helping children with school fees to attend primary, secondary, and (rarely) tertiary schools. Bridging programs or ALPs are not at all the norm in Kampala (and possibly other urban contexts). In fact, to our knowledge, our “Bridge to Formal Schooling” program developed and implemented in 2015 for refugee boys and girls was the first of its kind in Kampala. For ‘Fire Up!’ we are building off of our past experiences to create a girl-centered ALP that also tackles harmful assumptions and prejudices about educating girls.

Funding strategy.

To establish this idea will require a lot of work and materials during the pilot phase. This will involve hiring teachers, mentors and facilitators for trainings for parents etc. but some of the extra costs, like rent, may be reduced or eliminated if a good relationship with the school is maintained. Running this programme for one year would cost around $70,000.
Moving forward, bearing in mind that the refugees who are the target of this intervention have usually arrived recently and are often poor, this program will always need some financial investment from outside refugee communities. So the will to support education initiatives like this one should be maintained for it to grow and continue. YARID will continue to look for more external funds and to build relationships with Ugandan schools, the refugee community, UNHCR and other organizations assisting refugees.

What ideas do you have for working towards the sustainability of this idea in the longer-term?

The integration of this programme within existing schools will improve its sustainability.YARID will try to create a self-sustaining education culture and community for refugees in Kampala and will lobby the Government of Uganda and UNHCR to see if in the future this program could be part of the broader refugee education strategy, and national education strategy.
Who else is doing similar work? How is yours different or better?

As mentioned previously, to our knowledge, our own Bridge to Formal Schooling (BFS) project was the first of its kind ALP for the refugee community in Kampala.
How have you used design thinking to develop this idea?
This idea was developed using the Human centered Design Approach

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Photo of Brendah Bisikwa
Team

Hullo thanks Robert for putting up this idea, we could include some more activities like vocational hands on skills for the period the children will be in school since they are teenagers.Capacity building training like reproductive health will definitely be useful to the teenage girls as we help support their formal education.

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Photo of robert hakiza
Team

Thanks so much Joselyne, I totally agree, vocational training would be another option for the girls who will not be able to join formal education.

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Photo of Elvis Wanume
Team

Thank you so much Robert for this Idea. What do you think about adding some hands on skills to the idea?

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Photo of Brendah Bisikwa
Team

Hullo Elvis i agree with you that it would be a great idea to think about.

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Photo of robert hakiza
Team

Hello Elvis, I think this is a nice idea especially for the girls who can no longer go for formal education, vocational training would be best option for them

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