The Butterfly project is a unique project in Uganda which trains young people from the most remote villages and disadvantaged urban slum districts to become social entrepreneurs. The project seeks to work with children who demonstrate a selfless attitude and have ideas for the improvement and benefit of their community. Since 2011 Chrysalis has developed ideas to support the development of rural villages by working through the children on the project seeing them as an evolving mechanism for change in their villages.
Chrysalis continues to seek to address the Millennium Development Goals with the relief of poverty and support for human rights at the top of their agenda. The young people are trained in a wide range of subjects covering social enterprise and entrepreneurship which include ethics, international citizenship, information and communications technology and problem solving. All of this is based at the expanding Chrysalis Training Centre in Kampala.
Additionally, each student undertakes a personal project both in the local slum district and in their home village. This supports them in gaining experience of leadership and practical problem solving in action.
The project was originally developed by Social Enterprise Africa CIC and is now run through Chrysalis Limited in Uganda, a company limited by guarantee under Ugandan law and set up to be the vehicle for all of the work of the project, including agricultural enterprises, which are planned to help sustain the future of the project.
Chrysalis has just completed the building of a new school in Kampala that will significantly increase the number of students and offer the improved facilities and residential accommodation.
The project is also supported by the Chrysalis Youth Empowerment Network a UK based charity that you can support. Members of the Robert Owen Society and the Marches Hive currently support individual students through sponsorship of their school and university fees. They also provide mentoring support as the students progress through their learning programmes.
More information about Chrysalis can be found at: The Butterfly Project | Developing youth social entrepreneurs in Africa (wordpress.com) and they can be contacted at ben@socialenterpriseafrica.org.
