EDI Uganda and its Relationship with OLI WA MANYI-DU BIST STARK E.V

Education and Development Initiatives Uganda (EDI UGANDA), formerly Adult Education Centre, is an indigenous civil society organization established in 1990s. From a loose grouping of enthusiastic volunteers operating from a small borrowed building, we now operate as a professional and institutionalized entity with own premises in Njeru Municipality some 75 km east of Kampala City. We have secured and nurtured constructive working relationships with our beneficiaries and a cross section of national and international partners.

The establishment and existence of EDI Uganda is anchored in the desire to create and nurture a platform for community empowerment and social change.  At EDI Uganda, we strive to provide opportunities for enabling the marginalized young people and adults in our community to develop the required knowledge, skills, attributes and competencies for tackling personal and societal development challenges. While our efforts and those of other stakeholders have yielded tremendous results, our vision of an empowered, informed and literate citizenry is still unrealized. But we cannot despair because some improvements at different levels have been made. We remain very hopeful.

Our intentions and work are informed by our strong conviction and recognition of the emancipatory and instrumental role of education and more-so adult learning in enabling the powerless and excluded poor citizens to secure their rights. We work to create and facilitate learning spaces for the socially and educationally marginalized people to share and generate knowledge and practices to influence social structures to deliver justice and equality.

We also fully recognize that ineffective formal education systems combined with other social impediments to rob children and young people of their talent and potential to learn, work and live a dignified life. We know that today’s out-of-school children will suffer perpetual exclusion and exploitation unless their education and training needs are addressed now. We know that addressing the socio-economic ills of our time require macro level state intervention but we are also cognizant of the fact that small initiatives by non-state actors can make a significant difference.

Our relationship with OLI WA MANYI-DU BIST STARK E.V is founded on this strong belief in doing whatever is within our means to contribute to the promotion of the right to education for all people. The right to learn is one of the most important entitlements with a multiplier effect.  Enabling the poor and marginalized children and young people is a long-term investment in building and expanding their freedom and choice to live a life that they have reason to value.