Today I began working with a group of youth from an organization called One More Child to train and mentor them through a business competition. One More Child is the organization that I work with to mentor their general manager and teach a discipleship class to their house managers. One More Child works with about 280 children from the Masese slums around Jinja to provide education, housing, food, and mentorship. These youth that I am working with are aged 13-17 and are in grade Primary 7.

The Ugandan education system is made up of 7 years of primary school and then some students go on to secondary school contingent on them passing the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE). These youth took the PLE on Monday and Tuesday and are now waiting on the results which will come sometime in January. If they pass, they go on to secondary school. If they fail, they could be finished with their education and therefore finished with One More Child and out on their own at the young age of 13-17.

The directors of One More Child asked me to organize a business training program for these youth as they await the results of their exams. They wanted to make sure these students are equipped to earn an income in case they do not pass their exam and are out on their own. We conducted this training last November, but this year we decided to turn it into a business competition.

I will give them a crash course on business management, they will develop a business plan, One More Child will give them a small loan to start, and then they will operate their business for a month. The top three youth with the most profit will earn prizes from One More Child, but all of them will get to keep the money that they earn during the competition.

The youth are very excited about this competition and I can’t wait to see what kinds of businesses they come up with! Please join me in prayer for this process and that they will score high enough on their PLE to go to secondary school.

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