Digital Literacy Program for Out-of-School Youth in Kampala

Youth Rising is a community youth center that empowers community
transformation through holistic workforce development and creative youth
leadership. In Uganda, young people, especially out-of-school face higher-thanaverage
rates of HIV/AIDs, teenage pregnancy, early marriage and substance
abuse coupled with limited educational and economic opportunities. Many
youth are non-schooling and/or unemployed and instead turn to risky behaviors
and crime, such as theft and prostitution to sustain their livelihoods.
At Youth Rising, we believe that the resiliency, creativity and innovation of these
very same young people in hardship can power community transformation. Our
all-in-one community center employs a 360-degree, ecosystems approach to
human development, which brings youth together and fosters the disruptive
thinking needed to spark and sustain positive change. We are leading the way in
empowering young people to address their needs holistically by closing the skill
gap, providing youth-friendly health services and constructing economic
opportunities all in one space. We believe that this combination is the perfect
recipe for change.
Among the six program areas through which Youth Rising offers vocational
training is the Digital Literacy program. Through use of free online courses, free
videography and photography software resources, Microsoft office package,
and coding resources, we are supporting young people create sustainable
careers. We however have only two working laptops that were donated last
year. This is hindering our learning progress and the number of youth we can
enroll.