ASSET Student Graduates With Flying Colors

This week we celebrate the graduation of one of our star students; Monica N. Monica was able to complete her degree because of the support from all the wonderful people who partner with us at ASSET to help us achieve our mission.

We are truly thankful and so is Monica. Now she will tackle the grueling challenge of finding a job. But ASSET will be there with her every step of the way. Congratulations Monica!

A great Open House / Bead Party

Thanks to everyone who was able to join us. We had a great turn out and are extremely thrilled that so many participated in supporting our mission.

The board will meet soon to decide on whether to make this annual event but given this weekend’s success, it is very likely that all members will be in favor.

Good work everyone!

Open House/Bead Party

ASSET will have an open house on November 19^th, 2011 to raise money to support its on-going work in Uganda. Our mission as an organization is to provide higher education scholarships and mentorship to disadvantaged students in Uganda who demonstrate real potential for success. The needs are always greater than what our resources can cover so once again we are reaching out to members of our community for help.

Just in time for the holidays, we will showcase a colorful collection of Ugandan handmade paper bead necklaces, with a suggested donation of $10 per strand. The beads are hand-rolled from recycled paper (old magazines, newsprint, fliers, etc) by women in Uganda. These fashionable necklaces are are a great idea for friends and family during the upcoming holidays. And you can feel good about choosing environmentally friendly jewelry that helps our women beadmakers earn a living-wage to overcome poverty and supports higher education of disadvantaged students in Uganda.

There will be plenty of food, drinks and fun, so if you can, please join us and feel free to bring a friend! Again the details:

What: ASSET open house/bead party to raise money for higher education in Uganda

When: Saturday, November 19, 2011 starting at 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm. Drop in anytime!

Where: 74 Merlham Drive, Madison, WI 53705

Questions? Call 608-338-6015 or email admin@assetuganda.org

You can also donate by clicking the “donate” button above to the right.

Two New Students

ASSET is proud to announce the addition of two new students to its portfolio. Lydia N is pursuing a bachelor of science in social work and Morris M is pursuing a bachelor science in micro-finance. Complete profiles to follow soon.

We would like to thank all the friends and partners of ASSET who have supported us in our endeavor to fund these new students.

Five Scholars for Five Thousand

We at ASSET have given ourselves a challenge – To raise $5,000 by the end of September 2011, to pay tuition for five students for a full academic year (two semesters).

Thank you for your support. We are 20% there. Help us go all the way.

Why “Five Scholars for Five Thousand”?

1. ASSET has recently seen a surge in the number of high quality applicants to its scholarship program.
2. There are currently five students on our waiting list that we have vetted and have found worthy of your attention.
3. Tuition for one semester of college in Uganda will typically cost approximately $500.
   

Will you join the “Five Scholars for Five Thousand” challenge? Here's how:


Donate , Forward to a friend or Request a Student Profile

Five Scholars for Five Thousand

We at ASSET have given ourselves a challenge – To raise $5,000 by the end of September 2011, to pay tuition for five students for a full academic year (two semesters).

Why “Five Scholars for Five Thousand”?

1. ASSET has recently seen a surge in the number of high quality applicants to its scholarship program.
2. There are currently five students on our waiting list that we have vetted and have found worthy of your attention.
3. Tuition for one semester of college in Uganda will typically cost approximately $500.
   

Will you join the “Five Scholars for Five Thousand” challenge? Here's how:

Donate , Forward to a friend or Request a Student Profile

ASSET Leadership Symposium

University enrollment rates in Sub-Saharan Africa are among the lowest, averaging about 5%. Those individuals who manage to get college or other higher education have very few job prospects awaiting them when they graduate. Added to this is a lack of career guidance in most institutions, which leaves many students unprepared to compete in the job market.

To meet this challenge, ASSET brings together past, present and prospective beneficiaries at an annual event called the ASSET Leadership Symposium to discuss ways to achieve academic and career success.

The picture above was taken at the last Leadership Symposium held in December 2010. Other pictures can be seen at: https://www.facebook.com/ASSET

Final Exams

Recently another ASSET beneficiary, Wasswa J, finished his final exams. We at ASSET are very proud of him. But we couldn’t have done it without the immense support from you, our partners.

Yet another hard-working student who might otherwise not have had the opportunity to attend college has succeeded against great odds. Congratulations to Wasswa!

Now Wasswa launches into another daunting task: looking for a job. ASSET doesn’t stop at just providing scholarships to students who show great potential. We also provide career guidance. Among other things, we help students write good resumes and give them tips on how to conduct themselves during job interviews.

New ASSET Beneficiary – Joan M

The partners and staff of ASSET are proud to welcome a new member to the family.

Joan is a student at Makerere University – Kampala, Uganda. She is in the second year of a 4-year Bachelor of Commerce program and is a very hard-working student. After her bachelor’s degree, Joan hopes to pursue professional certification by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS).

She is interested in international development work and hopes to specifically focus her career on helping women and children. Joan is one of six children. Her parents have worked hard to put her through high school but are unable to see her through university due to their limited resources.

In the past, Joan has on occasion had to borrow from friends and family to make her tuition payments and even then, the payments were delayed and Joan’s attendance and performance suffered.

Educate a woman, educate a nation - A Mothers' Day post

Happy Mothers' day to all the beautiful mothers out there! Mothers' Day has got us thinking about the importance of educating women. In fact, there is a saying in Uganda that if you educate a woman, you educate a nation. Because mothers are teachers. Because mothers use their education to earn money for their families, and they invest that money into raising their family and educating their children.

Here at ASSET, we firmly believe in the importance of educating young women. The majority of our scholarship recipients have been women.

Through our Bead-To-Read program, we also support women bead-makers by providing them an income-generating opportunity.

Know that your donations to ASSET--whether through sponsorship of a student or through the Bead-To-Read program--support women.

New ASSET Beneficiary: Rose T

We at ASSET are very proud to wlecome our newest beneficiary.

Rose is a student at Mulago School of Nursing and Midwifery – Kampala, Uganda. She has a high school certificate and is now pursuing a diploma in nursing. She hopes to go on to acquire a bachelor’s degree in nursing and ultimately a master’s degree in public Health. She is interested in nursing because she wants to help women and children in her community have better access to health services. Rose is one of five children. Her father is a low income earner at a Ugandan sugar factory and her mother is a subsistence small scale farmer. She would be the first in her family to earn a university level degree. This would enable her to help support her family as well as pursue her dreams.

"Like" us on facebook

We've finally got the ASSET Uganda facebook fan page up and running. On the panel to the right, you'll see a facebook "Like" button. Please do us the honor of "liking" our facebook page if you have an account.

The facebook page will allow us to showcase additional photos and updates. We hope you all will interact with us on facebook, as well as on this blog!

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at admin@assetuganda.org

Celebrating International Women’s Day 2011

At ASSET we are committed to the advancement of women. Even though we do not turn away male students who apply to our scholarship program, we strongly encourage female applicants.

This particularly stems from the fact that all our beneficiaries are based in Uganda; a country where women, similar to several other places, still face tremendous barriers to economic success and freedom.

Contributing to the reduction of those barriers is a central tenet of our vision and our mission and as always, we thank all those who stand with us in this endeavor. So today we join the world in celebrating this 100th anniversary of the International Women’s Day.

A new web domain for ASSET

Since we started doing what we do, it has been fairly tough to direct people to our lovely blog. Well, not anymore. Now ASSET can be found at www.assetuganda.org and all inquiries can be sent to a new address: admin@assetuganda.org
This is the first in a series of steps we are taking to make it easier for our existing and potential partners to find us online, interact with us and get involved with our work.

A Note from ASSET Beneficiary Sylvia N.

 A note of gratitude from ASSET student Sylvia N. Sylvia is in her second year of nursing school in Uganda.


To Asset Management Team,

It's with great pleasure that I send this message. I began my first semester of second year two days ago and am doing well. We are going to be in clinical area for 2 weeks on day duty and then for 4 weeks on night day and then resume block study. That's how I am fairing at school now, but it's not the main reason I send this.

This comes to pass on my gratitude for your help in my education. I reported with all my tuition paid and with all my requirements and all I have to do is to work hard and excel. Thank you for believing in me and I promise not to let you down but to raise, maximize my potential to be the best I can.

The time we had at Emerald Hotel for the ASSET Leadership Symposium was great. I came to know more about ASSET and what it takes for me to succeed. Thanks to ASSET staff for coming over to Uganda to have time with us.

I have not got last semester results yet but will send them as soon as I get them.

I wish you all the best in all your endeavors in 2011.

Yours faithfully,

Sylvia N.

Now accepting online donations

Several of our partners are very excited about our new capability to accept donations online. On the right hand side of the blog, you will notice a new button that says “Donate,” which allows individuals to contribute to ASSET through a secure PayPal payment. The feedback we have received so far on this new online donation system has been very positive and several have already taken advantage of this convenient way to contribute towards a cause near and dear to them. It is our hope that this will boost our fundraising efforts and allow us to help even more Ugandan students.

During our most recent trip to Uganda we met even more students who understood that being in need wasn’t enough – they understood that they had to work hard and achieve good results. In other words, the students we support through ASSET know that they need to show themselves to be worthy investments; show themselves to each be an ASSET.

New beads!

The ASSET team met with some of our bead-makers on the ground in Uganda. We have a beautiful new selection of beads in!

Interested in getting involved with the Bead to Read program? Email info.assetuganda@yahoo.com for more information about ordering beads or helping us raise funds by selling the beads.

Updates from the ASSET Leadership Symposium 2010

There are several words that could be used to describe the ASSET Leadership Symposium of 2010; but the one that most easily comes to mind is "exciting".

It was a fun filled day that brought ASSET's brilliant students and hard working staff together for a combination of serious discussion, good food, energetic interaction and lots of photos.

The sessions were designed to be short and sweet, allowing for questions and contributions as they arose. Topics of discussion included:
- An overview of ASSET's vision, mission and structure
- A session on what part the students and staff play in working towards ASSET's vision
- Career guidance - including special sessions on communication skills and how to write a good resume
- The importance of networking
- The launch of the ASSET Scholars Network

The students thought the sessions were helpful and we thought the symposium was a tremendous success. We will be posting several more pictures from this first of many such forums. Many thanks to those whose commitment to our students has made this work possible.