URDT empowers rural communities by teaching them to harness their innate creativity to improve their lives. The change-makers in these communities are primarily girls and women trained as rural transformation specialists and young men and women who benefit from vocational education to learn a trade and launch their businesses. They practice organic, regenerative agriculture and leverage sustainable technologies.

The methodological departure in a paradigm shift from traditional Problem-Solving to Creative Orientation has defined the partnership.

35+ years of

COMBINED PARTNERSHIP

Visionaries and Founders

Under difficult situations of security and poor living conditions, thanks to our thought leaders Robert Fritz, Silvana Veltkamp, Prof. Peter Penge of MIT, Martha and Don Dolben, Tom and Patty Hagan, Bob Anderson, Cohen Stuart, and a host of other friends of URDT who came to think and work with their Ugandan friends in building the institution. The partnership is our proof of concept.

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OUR APPROACHES TO DEVELOPMENT

SYSTEMS CHANGE

URDT's fundamental mission is to enable people of Uganda to recognize and embody shared vision, values and work together to create for themselves Peace, Prosperity, Freedom, Health and Happiness as they discover that they are key to their own development. Communities are building climate resilience lifestyles and businesses that match their own values and aspirations. URDT’s development efforts are based on working premises that lasting change comes only when people shift from reacting to circumstances /problem solving to being creators of what they truly want. URDT embraces the Ubuntu Philosophy: “I am because you are.” This philosophy underscores interconnectedness, empathy, and collaboration. It harmoniously aligns with the concept of co-creating positive change within communities. URDT’s development approach fosters sustainable development at individual, home, village level and subcounty level.

ARU SATELITE APPROACH

ARU's footprint spans 20 districts in Mid-Western Uganda, fostering entrepreneurship, visionary leadership and dignified work in construction, agriculture and tourism. These Epicentre Mangers have enabled over 100 community-based groups to establish sustainable farming businesses, improve the standards of living and protect the local natural resources. They established 500 artisan-managed learning centres, reaching 34,000 young women and men, including refugees and people with disabilities. This Program is implemented through The Satellite Approach. The Satellite Approach is a URDT innovation which involves off-campus training conducted by artisans and model farmers in their own workshops and farms. This hands-on approach ensures that young people receive practical and relevant education while contributing to the economic growth of their communities. It's a win-win situation, as young trainees learn valuable skills, artisans increase their production and income, and model farmers transition into the mainstream private sector. In appreciation of this approach, URDT was recently selected by the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) to pilot together with the farmers in greater Kibaale the concept of value addition in agriculture and move subsistence farmers, especially women, to become commercial farmers. BENEFIT OF URDT’S SATELITTE APPROACH URDT's Satellite Approach comes with numerous benefits. Young people benefit from its mentorship, and the ability to earn while they learn, facilitating smooth transitions into the workforce. The approach also optimizes various government programs, and trainees can manage projects alongside their training. For local artisans and model farmers, it results in increased income, smoother transitions into the private sector, environmental conservation, and the development of legal and managerial capacities. On a broader scale, the approach promotes community peace and stability, generates local revenue through taxes, establishes accessible training centers, and aligns with the government's skilling initiatives for a prosperous Uganda.

GRASSROOTS APPROACH

Powered by children and families who create visions of the lives they want to live, and then they achieve those goals and teach others by example.

VISIONARY APPROACH

Principles of creating, systems thinking), that enables whole systems or integrated methodology for individuals and collectively work to the realization of what they truly care about. One of the cornerstones of ARU’s impact is the Epicenter Strategy, which involves employing ARU graduates by URDT to work with communities as Epicentre Managers in local governments through Public-Private Partnership. At the heart of this strategy of community driven development is the Visionary Approach: communities get to understand that they are key to their own development.

Impact

Continuing Education

100% of students graduating from S6 at URDT GS 2021 or earlier went for further studies after URDT. 90% of those who have graduated from higher level education are working.

Children and Family

95% were 21 or older when they got their first child. 90% have 3 children or less (national average in Uganda is 5); 100% full immunization coverage (national average in Uganda is 55%); now100% make decisions about household income together with spouse; and 63% owns or co-owns their house/land unlike before.

Visionary Leadership and Community Engagement

47% have a leadership role outside of work. 62% are giving back to the community especially youth groups and religious institutions; 69% voted in the last election.