We welcome our new Program Manager for East and Central Africa: Melissa Lorenzo. Melissa is passionate about youth development in Africa. She previously volunteered in Nicaragua and Uganda, where she participated in several educational initiatives and health and sanitation projects in rural communities. Melissa will be working closely with the Oak Leaders and the Oaks to ensure that they are supported in the…

We welcome our new Program Manager for East and Central Africa: Melissa Lorenzo. Melissa is passionate about youth development in Africa. She previously volunteered in Nicaragua and Uganda, where she participated in several educational initiatives and health and sanitation projects in rural communities. Melissa will be working closely with the Oak Leaders and the Oaks to ensure that they are supported in the…

It is just early February and already our Oaks have a string of successes.

• Steven Shyaka's internship with the Kigali-based law firm Rwigamba & Rugango Associates & Advocates has been renewed for another year. Also, Steven has been awarded the Winston Fellowship award to attend the 2013 Summer…

Welcome to our new Oaks: Gertrude Nanyonga (Uganda), Gilbert Rwunganira(Rwanda) and Pascal Dusabumuremyi (Rwanda). Gilbert and Pascal's internships are being funded by the …

On January 25th, The Strongest Oak Foundation (TSO) partnered with a group of Calgary Rotary Clubs to host a banquet and silent auction to raise money for Elijah’s Kids, a scholarship fund established to honor our former Ugandan Oak Leader, Elijah Kyamuwendo, who died last year of cancer. Almost $13,000 was raised at the event, plus another $12,000 was received from…

We are pleased to announce that, on November 22nd, The Strongest Oak Foundation was awarded the Calgary YMCA 2012 Peace Medal award (International Category). We’ve come a long way in just a few short years and are extremely proud of our accomplishments. Please view this short video about The Strongest Oak, presented at the awards ceremony.

This exciting award belongs not only to us on the TSO Executive Team but…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1wuJGIXp-8M

(October 2012)

We are very pleased to announce that the Fig Tree Foundation has awarded The Strongest Oak Foundation a grant of $10,000 to fund our internship programme in Rwanda.

 

Recognizing that there is a visible gap between education and meaningful employment in Africa, TSO developed an internship programme in which we recruit local employers to provide part-time, relevant work to our Strongest Oaks while the Oaks…

(October 2012)

Our wish for all of our Strongest Oaks is for them to become independent, both financially self-sufficient and emotionally prepared to tackle the challenges of adulthood. Our Rwandan OakJean de Dieu (JD) Tuyisenge has not only met our expectations but has exceeded them.

We are so pleased to announce that JD is our first “graduate”! We have invited him to leave…

(September 2012)

Neema has begun a one-year internship at a gift shop, the Likembe shop in Bukavu. In this job, she is learning entrepreneurial skills key to helping her eventually launch her career in selling woodworks (her primary goal). She's learning sales and customer service skills and works three days per week. This is her first job ever!

We…

Espoir has completed his university orientation and begun classes in Information Technology at the Uganda Christian University.

When our Oaks are first "adopted" by The Strongest Oak Foundation, they state a long-term objective. Espoir's objective was to "Graduate from high school and attend an English…

Espoir has been accepted into the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology program at the Uganda Christian University. He excelled in his English classes, exceeding all expectations and paving the way for this significant milestone in his life. Congratulations Espoir!

(March 2012)

Further to our last update about Espoir moving to Uganda, Pastor Samuel and theKulika team assisted Espoir in getting settled in his new country and at…

Check out this Huffington Post article written by Simon Adams (Executive Director of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect in New York) in which he recalls his meeting with Charles and their discussion about the Rwandan genocide.

The following is a letter sent to Stace by Steven Shyaka (Rwandan Strongest Oak since 2010), in anticipation of Stace’s visit to Rwanda in November 2011. English translations of Kinyarwanda words are given in [square brackets]. Some deletions were made for the sake of brevity and some edits made for the sake of clarity – the sentiments remain unchanged.



Amakuru [how are you] Stace?



You can’t imagine how enthusiastic I am to meet a man who brought a light to…

Congolese Strongest Oak Zingire Namegabe has begun the exciting next step toward her ultimate goal of launching her own business: an internship in advertising and sales at a bottled water manufacturer and distributor called Mugote (in Bukavu).

Zingire will gain valuable, practical business experience, building sales and…

Despite the political uncertainty surrounding the recent 2011 Congolese elections, TSO volunteers made the holiday season a bit brighter for impoverished youth in Bukavu, Eastern Congo. Oak Leader, Pastor Samuel Muderhwa and his wife, Faida, hosted a Christmas dinner in Bukavu, DR Congo for over 360 underprivileged youth – including several orphans. The event included a series of inspirational plays, poems and songs – mostly around social themes relevant to Bukavu including rape, tribal…

In addition to a formal education, work experience is an essential part of building a career. To this end, Steven Shyaka and his sister Jeanne Mutoni have obtained internships in their respective fields. Steven is working as a legal assistant in the Kigali-based law…

The Strongest Oak Foundation was a grateful winner of the Collaborate for Good contest (read the entry “Virtual Mentorship for Traumatized Youth in Africa”). We use  Blackboard Collaborate for our meetings as well as to collaborate with our “Strongest Oaks” (clients) in Africa. Two of our executive (Stace and Dan) are currently visiting Africa, witnessing the fruits of our labors first-hand, and…

If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a “global village” to help support severely disadvantaged and traumatized youth in Africa.  What better way to expose them to a world of new ideas and possibilities than to connect them in live, collaborative relationships with international mentors and supporters from abroad, using Blackboard Collaborate. 

The Strongest Oak Foundation (TSO) is an international,  non-profit organization dedicated to helping extraordinary youth (aged 15…