The Pearls of Africa

For the last four years, the Notre Dame Initiative for Global Development (NDIGD) has brought 25 young people from African nations to campus each summer for six weeks of classes in business and entrepreneurship known as the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders. To see how some of them are using their training in service to their home countries, we traveled to Uganda, often called the Pearl of Africa.

Eve Zalwango

Zalwango already employed more than 60 people in her custom-made furniture business, but she wants to expand her market and also help survivors of landmine explosions in western Uganda.

Alex Kawooya

A trip back to his origins in a Kampala slum reminds Kawooya how far he has traveled. Through ambition and education, he now owns businesses in telecommunications and internet service.

Mildred Apenyo

Aiming to empower women, Apenyo runs a feminist fitness space where Ugandan ladies can practice yoga, exercise, learn self-defense and discuss their challenges in a patriarchal culture.