Uganda Rural Development and Training Programme (URDT) was delighted to host Ms. Piia Schneider, the Investment Director at Nordic Capital, a long-term partner in our mission to transform rural communities.
Nordic Capital has long supported URDT’s Girls School, which provides young girls with knowledge and tools to drive positive change. The school focuses not only on academic subjects, but also on leadership and practical solutions for sustainable and locally driven community development.
During her two-day visit, Ms. Schneider met with teams from URDT and African Rural University (ARU) to learn more about the organization’s work in education, community transformation, sustainable development, and community engagement, before touring the spacious URDT campus.
She also visited homes of students from the URDT Girls’ School, where she witnessed inspiring stories of change of families transitioning from semi-permanent to permanent homes, starting income-generating projects, applying new agronomic skills, and undertaking other developmental initiatives.
One of the homes visited was that of Karungi Jazilah, a Primary Five pupil at URDT Girls’ School, born into a family of nine in Nyankoma Parish, Kagadi District. According to her father, Mr. Aziri Zziwa, he and his wife have seven children, most of whom did not progress far with their studies due to financial constraints. He expressed gratitude to URDT for supporting Karungi’s education and enabling their family to transform.
“Jazilah has been at URDT Girls’ School for just nine months, but the situation at our home has improved drastically. This was because of the workshop she and her mother attended at the beginning of first term in February,” Mr. Zziwa explained.
Karungi and her mother attended a one-week workshop at the URDT Girls’ School campus, where pupils and their guardians are trained in the visionary approach. During the workshop, families create a shared family vision that is implemented collectively, with the pupil serving as the leader. Progress is monitored by the school’s Community Development Officer, who also offers guidance when needed.
Karungi’s family vision included a five-bedroom house, 50 chickens, goats, a motorcycle, kitchen gardens, and a water tank. They are currently constructing a six-bedroom house, have 15 chickens, established kitchen gardens, and have so far made 12,000 bricks, some of which are to be used for completing the house, and others sold to purchase more building materials.
Another home visited was that of Nasasira Kemigisa, a URDT Girls’ School student who recently completed Primary Seven. She joined URDT in 2023. Together with her mother, Ms.Tumwebaze Nasasira, they developed a family vision that included a permanent house, and banana, cocoa, coffee, and sugarcane plantations. After hosting an intern from African Rural University, they were encouraged to add goats, pigs, sheep, and chickens to their vision.
Many of these goals have already been achieved. The family is currently living in their permanent home, and they have established an acre of banana plantation and another acre of coffee as well as a number of kitchen gardens.
Reflecting on her visit, Ms. Piia Schneider shared: “Witnessing the girls’ dedication, which is resulting in the transformation of their communities was truly inspiring and a powerful reminder of how education and local leadership drive change.”
Through its partnership with Social Initiative, Nordic Capital has supported the URDT Girls’ School since 2014. The school provides education to more than 300 girls from rural communities in western Uganda, empowering them with both academic knowledge and practical skills that enable them to become agents of positive change in their communities.
Piia on the visit
I leave URDT feeling deeply inspired and hopeful for the future. Experiencing their work firsthand was incomparable to merely hearing about it. It has become clear to me that development is most effective when driven by local communities who best understand their own challenges, and that girls and women are amazing leaders of transformative change. In a world often marked by uncertainty and challenges, witnessing this progress on the ground has been both motivating and rewarding. This trip has been a reminder that long-term partnerships, like the one between Nordic Capital, Social Initiative, and URDT, can create meaningful and lasting impact
