Start 2011 by founding a new school for social entrepreneurs in Uganda

Social Enterprise Africa is starting 2011 with an appeal for money to support the development of a new school - the Chrysalis School - for capable young teenagers in Uganda. The school is a unique strategy to seed disadvantaged rural areas all over Africa with selfless, well-informed and reliable social entrepreneurs, who will create change in their home areas over the next few years.

The Chrysalis School is based on the outskirts of Kampala and, in 2011, will consist of just one year group and two classrooms. It is located a few minutes walk from the Chrysalis Centre, which provides a stimulating living environment for school attendees and activity resource for youth in the local area. The school will provide free places to children from remote rural areas from Northern Uganda - Kitgum and Lamwo districts, which is an area desperately in need of development, following a decade of war. It will also provide training in social enterprise, ethics and international citizenship in addition to its core curriculum. Students will also have access to ICT and be able to develop any talents they may have in art, music or drama.

In Northern Uganda, senior schools are extremely poorly-equipped and are unlikely to be able to provide the education that capable children need. There is no market for private schools, which can provide a better service, as people live almost exclusively in poverty, either in a camp or in a remote homestead or village.

However, Northern Uganda has a tropical climate and miles and miles of unused land that could be cultivated with crops, that are in demand elsewhere in Uganda and internationally. So, the opportunity for our young social entrepreneurs is substantial.