S.O.U.L. Foundation

In 2009, 23-year-old Brooke Stern and her father Ken came upon the small, impoverished village of Bujagali in Eastern Uganda. They were struck by the lack of basic necessities but also the people’s spirits and enthusiasm, even in the face of extreme poverty. Brooke spent the next 13 months living with and listening to the community’s needs, wants, and frustrations. Surrounded by failed examples of aid, she recognized that a new model was needed to address the underlying complex causes of poverty. Through this experience, Supporting Opportunities for Ugandans to Learn (S.O.U.L.) Foundation was born.

Five years later, S.O.U.L. works in 14 villages in the Jinja and Iganga Districts, directly and indirectly impacting 9,000 Ugandans.

Our model is a hand up, not hand out. The cost and effort behind every S.O.U.L. initiative are shared by the community members, making them stakeholders in the success and long-term sustainability of holistic programs that address several facets of poverty.

For more information, please visit www.souluganda.org.