By Norah Owaraga | Project Leader and Managing Director
“I chose to learn welding skills during the Covid-19 induced lockdowns. As a graduate, you need to look beyond your transcripts (academic papers). It's high time we equip ourselves with hands-on skills. It's time we think beyond just getting a salaried employment. Let's maximize the potential in us by valuing whatever business you're doing. It may look small, but to your surprise, by committing yourself at it, it will end up becoming a great business than what you had thought of before,” shared Okello
Okello, embodies the kind of young persons that we, at CPAR Uganda, target to mentor into a proactive innovator against poverty in their respective community. He is a university graduate with a degree, but isn’t afraid to get his proverbial hands dirty. He doesn’t look down upon certain jobs or honest livelihoods as not suited for a university graduate.
His education has not negatively altered his attitude to believe he is better than his fellow human beings, particularly those without formal education qualifications. His true educated can be deduced from his humbleness and affinity to work for the betterment of humankind in his community.
Make no mistake, Okello’s journey hasn’t been easy. He was orphaned while young – both his parents died. His sister and other extended family have been there for him, but he too had to significantly work hard to get to where he is now. While a student at a prestigious university, in the city, for example, in his free time, after lectures, he resorted to doing a job frowned upon by his peers - selling second hand shoes on the pavement, in order to make ends meet – contribute to school fees and pay for his upkeep at university.
When he couldn’t get a white-collar job for which his education prepared him for, he despaired, but picked himself up. He revived his shoe business. This time not in the city by at roving markets in a rural setting. Travelling in lorries to pop-up markets deep in rural areas in places most will not expect to find a university graduate hawking shoes.
Okello continues his mentorship with CPAR Uganda and with effect from March 2023 he is among the two young innovators we have chosen and has agreed to revive and transform our Lira Learning Centre into a vibrant facility providing much needed services with our community. There are students of more than three tertiary institutions in the neigbourhood of our centre that really need its services – CPAR’s kitchen, the Business Centre, the Reading Room, the Training Hall, and meeting rooms and spaces.
In his true Okello style, this month Okello and his team of three others have been getting their hands dirty, re-opening and cleaning our Lira Learning Centre. The plan is that with a little help, they will officially open our Lira Learning Centre for business during the first week of April 2023 and they will run it as a self-sustaining enterprise.
Since Okello is continuing his mentorship with CPAR Uganda while he is based at our Lira Learning Centre; and since there are many young people in Lira City who can benefit from welding apprenticeships we have decided to re-locate the project to Lira. In the future, in 2024, we will revisit the idea of relocating it back to our Pader Learning Centre.
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