We warmly welcome SEF as one of our newest partners in East Africa. SEF is a registered youth-led organization based in Kampala, Uganda that primarily serves refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, and South Sudan. The co-founders, Jules Meyele and Jeremiah Lukeka, are themselves refugees.
Through our discussions with Jules and Jeremiah (via Zoom), we learned of the great challenges these refugees experience when they arrive in Uganda. After traumatic experiences in their home country, adjusting to a completely new and different culture can be very difficult. These refugees must deal with language barriers, unemployment, difficult access to formal school, and discrimination from the local communities.
SEF’s programs and services are tailored to promote youth development and leadership. They provide education, community building, and integration activities to support refugee youth to strengthen the skills they need, not only to survive in the face of trauma, stress, displacement, and deprivation, but to become self-reliant and potential leaders in their community.
Pangea’s grant, SEF’s first outside funding in their 6-year history, will be used to expand “Women at the Wheels.” This project is a successful vocational training program that focuses on tailoring and craft skills, along with basic business and entrepreneurship curricula. Women completing the program can use their newly acquired skills to make a living and become more self-sustaining.
We are excited to begin this new partnership and look forward to learning more about SEF and the communities that they serve.