Education Sponsorship for Refugee Children
Our Local Leader partner, Joshua Osea runs a school for refugee children in Nakivale’s Mirongotatu village, and this project sponsors 50 kids so they can keep attending for two full terms. For many families in the settlement, school fees are simply out of reach, and a single missed term can mean a child falls behind or drops out entirely. Sponsorship covers those fees directly, so kids who are already enrolled and engaged don’t lose that momentum over something as preventable as cost.
Sponsorship also helps pay teacher salaries, which keeps the school itself running for the whole community, not just the sponsored students. Without reliable pay, teachers in settings like Nakivale often have to take on other work to get by, which pulls them away from the classroom and destabilizes the school for everyone. Supporting salaries protects the institution as a whole, not just individual seats in it.
Education gives these children a real path forward. It builds the literacy, skills, and stability that make a more self-sufficient future possible later, both for the students themselves and for the community they’ll go on to support.
About the local leader
Joshua Osea is the founder and director of the Hope Training Center Nakivale and Smile for Refugees, two community based organizations dedicated to empowering refugees through education and skills development. Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and raised in Nakivale, Joshua understands firsthand the challenges refugees face in pursuing education and building sustainable livelihoods, and that lived experience shapes everything he builds.
He has spent his career creating opportunities that equip young people in Nakivale with the tools to build brighter futures, and his work has expanded educational access and vocational training for hundreds of refugee youth. Through his leadership, Joshua has become a trusted and inspiring figure in the community, someone families turn to when they’re looking for a real path forward for their children.
NBG is honored to partner with Joshua on this work. Looking ahead, one of his goals is to add a vocational center to his existing youth training center, so refugees in Nakivale can build even more of the practical skills they need to support themselves long after they finish school.
