Class project helps solve problems across the world
Providence students supporting small Ugandan business
(This article appeared in the Higher Education feature of the April print editions of ChristianWeek. See the Western Canada edition here and Eastern here.)
OTTERBURNE, MB—Business students at a small Manitoba university college are aiming to make a big impact across the world for people in need.
Fuel for the Future is a small business located in Uganda at the Kyaka II refugee settlement west of Kampala. The settlement is home to 30,000 refugees from Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan.
The settlement suffers from a shortage of firewood for cooking and basic needs. Foraging for firewood is dangerous, charcoal from trees has to be shipped from 300 miles away, and kerosene is impossibly expensive.
Pastor Godfrey Byaruhanga, a Ugandan who lives near the settlement, has developed a solution to this shortage: a biochar briquetting product made from locally grown biomass (banana leaves, bean straw, corn stover, and sorghum), which provides a sustainable, renewable, local fuel.
Now Providence students who are members of the college’s Biochar Team are getting involved, by raising capital to develop Byaruhanga’s business.
“I am finding myself caring for this project so much and it has already become more than just a class to me,” says Providence student John Buller.
Part of professor Bruce Duggan’s non-profit management class, the students have posted the project as a crowdfunding campaign on causevox.com with the goal of raising $30,000 for the Ugandan business. The finances raised will be used to purchase a truck to transport the product, to fund a building to store the machines and for year-round production.
Lauren Toews, one of the students who created the project, says she was blown away by Fuel for the Future’s mission after hearing about it.
“We were given an opportunity to choose a project to work on for the length of the course,” says Toews. “Fuel for the Future Uganda’s inspiring self-empowerment and environmentally sustainable product is what really drew me in!”
Duggan says the goal of the non-profit management course is to give students hands-on experience.
“We want our graduates to be prepared to assume leadership responsibilities in non-profits, charitable organizations and their churches, no matter what career they go into,” says Duggan.
“I’m mainly hoping [the students] take away the idea that a small group of people, starting with no money, can be part of doing big things. There is a lot of work required—crowdfunding takes just as much effort as traditional fundraising—but it can make a difference.”
Kelsey Friesen, another student on the project team, says she appreciates the real-life experience.
“Working towards a real life goal gives me experience that I just could not get from class assignments and papers,” Friesen says. “Problem solving is hard to learn without actual experience; this project was able to show me some of the struggles and allow me to work with my group to find solutions.”
The project is also encouraging students to think about future opportunities in the non-profit sector.
“My faith impacts every decision that I make,” says Biochar Team member Karl Johnson, “and because of that I would hope that my future profession is something that I can be proud of. I like to know that the work I am doing has a positive influence on others.”
The Fuel for the Future campaign ends on April 17, 2015. Visit fuelforthefuture.causevox.com to donate to the cause or learn more.
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