Community Outreach Projects

Community Outreach & Projects

Develop Sustainability hosts a Student Scholarship Program that assists over 100 students with school fees and/or school supplies, every term. This is a crucial program for these families, as most of them would not be able to provide an education to their children, without this assistance. We pair this with ongoing mentorship for student & families, social worker intervention and bi-monthly Student events & meetings.

Community outreach & empowerment are essential. There are an over-abundance of families lacking school fees, food, income resources and basic needs. Community homes desperately need improvement; local schools and communities do not have proper toilets, there is little access to running water (let alone clean), families have inadequate structures to take shelter in and the poor-quality of roads makes certain areas unreachable during rainy seasons.

We engage our Apprenticeship programs to meet some of those needs through outreaches like;  community food distribution, providing clothing & blankets, distributing excess farm harvests, and even building new homes for single mothers!

Our Apprenticeship Program also offers a “Sewing Space”, where we host classes during the week and young mothers and ladies can come from within the community— to create, to practice, to enhance, to collaborate and to learn new ways to expand their trade and business potential.

We are passionate about continuing to reach out to our communities, where the needs are the highest— as we live alongside each other and do life together. It is a cycle of activity that we hope continues, in the mindsets of our program participants and the larger Ugandan community, as a whole.  

Community is the foundation of teamwork and progress is the enemy to despair.  

We believe that giving back to the community is an essential part of building integrity and commitment, within individuals.  We have integrated "community projects" into the DS vocational training programs to lead the way for young people to use their skills, talents, and time — to benefit themselves and also move their communities towards safety & success. This approach allows students to use their vocational skills in their home villages, to gain practical experience & a good reputation, and to evolve their methods in natural & practical ways. We don't want our apprentices to live in a "training bubble." We want them to thrive and embrace the community around them.

We encounter a plethora of legitimate needs, daily; clean water, housing, toilets, crumbling school infrastructures, road improvements, food & farming assistance, clothes & blankets, lack of access to school fees & school supplies— just to name a few. Identifying the evolving needs within the community and then taking steps to implement meaningful projects — is one of the beautiful ways that we merge workmanship, with a commitment to community. We are excited to continue engaging our apprentices, visitors, students, teachers & volunteers into these projects— as we seek new opportunities to impact and to empower.

Responding effectively to the depth of community need, is a central part of who we are and what we do.