The mission of our organization is to provide education for underprivileged youth with extreme financial hardship in Uganda by furthering their education endeavors and supporting single mothers to operate their own businesses in order to support their families and become self-sufficient. Through our work, we speak for the voiceless and fight for those who can’t fight for themselves. unDEfeated was created in 2020 as a program for youth and women. We believe that by investing in women, you are investing in everyone and by investing in youth you are investing in the future. 

In Uganda, we focus our work specifically on the Ntoroko district. There are many reasons for this but initially, cultural beliefs are forcing teenage girls out of school which has caused a high rate of school dropouts. It’s common among the Batuku and Bakonzo, the two major tribes in the district, to marry off girls at an early age between 13-16 years. Instead of being given access and chances to educational advancement, some of the girls are also denied education and forced to work as maids or to become child brides. Girls dropping out of school are common in Karugutu, Rwebisengo, and Kanara sub-counties. According to the Rwebisengo Secondary headmaster, fifty girls aged between 12-16 years abandoned school and were married off by their parents. At Rwebisengo Secondary School, seventeen girls in senior levels dropped out of school in the past six months. Although culture plays a big role, early marriages are also caused by extreme poverty that makes parents marry off their daughters in exchange for bride price. Another barrier occurs when a girl gets pregnant before marriage. If that happens, she is seen as a disgrace to her family and society, and the only solution is for her to leave school and get married. Through our efforts in encouraging healthy behaviors and educational advancement, unDEfeated wants to give youth and women a voice and a second chance to find themselves.

Our work focuses on engaging with local partners to educate businesses, schools, and communities on how to work together to decrease poverty. Through our workshops, we cover areas such as entrepreneurship, women’s health, the importance of education, and community leadership. We want to be able to add more women and youth to our programming, and we feel it is imperative to maintain our outreach consistently in order to provide voices of advocacy and resources when people are in need. 

More specifically, we will help alleviate the poverty circle in the Ntoroko district by providing educational training which will include entrepreneurship training, financial literacy training, leadership training, and other business workshops to train women and youth to start and operate their own businesses that will provide a sustainable standard of living to their families.

We will also decrease the illiteracy rates in the Ntoroko district by providing scholarships, mentorships, and personal development training to the youth from preschool through college to educate them about the impact of early child marriage and help them pursue their careers goals and aspirations. 

Your donation will support; youth education, youth clubs,  and women's Entrepreneurship