Aggie: Rising Up

One thing the Empower and Shine believes is that empowerment often means having belief in our ability to change the world. Someone we’ve been lucky enough to know who perfectly embodies this is a dear friend and partner from Street Business School - Aggie.

As a leader with Street Business School, Aggie works every day to ignite a spark of empowerment in others, especially in women and men who’ve been overlooked, underestimated, or burdened by generational poverty. Through Street Business School’s powerful model of entrepreneurship training and mentorship, she helps people uncover something many didn’t realize they already had: potential. They use the phrase "not a hand out but a hand up," and that is the perfect way to describe how Street Business School conducts its work.

We first met Aggie 3 years ago through a partnership with Street Business School. Over the years, she has helped us translate projects, plan graduations, and keep track of all of the amazing projects SBS is up to. This year, she also began helping Empower and Shine in a rural village in Uganda. A village very close to Ronald’s heart, and now, ours. In collaboration with Ronald and The Rotary Club of Maya, we’re building God’s Will Preschool and launching Street Business School programming for the local community. It’s a project rooted in love. If you missed Ronald’s transformative interview on the project, be sure to read about it here.

In this interview, Aggie shares her personal journey, her passion for this work, and her vision for what’s possible when people are given the tools and the belief to rise up.

Personal Journey & Purpose

Watch this powerful video to learn about Aggie’s personal story. She brings light to everywhere she goes, and to know how her story began is amazing. We feel so lucky that Aggie is willing to share her story with the world as it is one that could truly change it for the better. 

For those who may not know, what is Street Business School and how does it work?

Street Business School, a non-governmental organization, reaches out to rural and peri-urban vulnerable communities with a mission to empower people to believe in themselves. Instead of handing out financial aid, they impart knowledge that transforms lives. Participants join knowing that they will receive a life-transforming training, not cash handouts.

 As the program unfolds, Street Business School equips these individuals with the skills to become self-reliant through a modular system of training. There are 8 modules trained through the Street Business School curriculum. They include Getting out of your Comfort Zone, Business Opportunity Identification, Finding Capital and Starting Small, Market Research, Growing your Customer base, Business Planning, and Money Mgt.

Above all, the training enables both men and women to launch and sustain businesses, enabling them to break out of Poverty. 

What makes this model of entrepreneurial training unique or especially effective in communities like this one? 

The curriculum is a practical, hands-on training. An Individual does not have to know how to read and write for them to put what they have learnt into Practice. SBS also offers coaching 3 times during the participant's time in the Programme. Coaching is the Strongest Niche for SBS’s Success in the Programme.

How do you measure success: in income, confidence, mindset, and community impact?

Street Business School’s success is reflected in the transformation of the individuals it serves. After completing the training, many graduates experience a significant rise in income, often exceeding a 200% increase. Most start a business within six months, moving from inconsistent earnings—or none at all—to generating steady income that supports their families and basic needs.

But income is just one layer. Graduates emerge with greater confidence. They begin to speak up, make decisions with authority, and pursue opportunities they once thought were out of reach. The belief in their ability to succeed becomes visible, not just in words, but in action.

Mindset shifts are at the core of this change. Participants move from waiting for external help to actively solving problems. They start seeing everyday situations as potential business opportunities. They set goals, take risks, and recover from setbacks with a resilience they didn’t know they had before.

The effects don’t end with one person. As graduates thrive, they often bring others along; training neighbors, hiring helpers, or inspiring peers. Children return to school. Communities begin to shift, one small business at a time. The result is not only personal growth, but the quiet building of local economies and stronger, more self-reliant communities.

Overall Results indicate that 88% of graduates start a business within 6 months. Average income increases by 211%. 84% report higher confidence in business skills. Many women and men become informal mentors, trainers, or community leaders.

How did the opportunity to work with Ronald and Empower and Shine come about?

During a call with Empower and Shine leaders—Patty, Steve, and SBS; myself (Aggie), Evan, and Deepti- we discussed the progressive work of Street Business School (SBS). In the course of the conversation, I mentioned my membership in the Rotary Club of Kampala Kololo and my current efforts to pursue a grant opportunity that could benefit SBS.

Patty expressed interest upon hearing this and inquired whether SBS could potentially collaborate with Rotary. She shared a personal experience from a visit to Buliisa, where she and Ronald encountered God’s Will Community School and was deeply moved by the children and the broader community. This experience inspired her to explore ways to support the area more meaningfully.

Following that conversation, Patty reached out to Ronald, who was already connected to Patty and also a Rotarian, and suggested that he connect with me to discuss a possible partnership between SBS and his Rotary Club of Maya. I subsequently invited Ronald for a conversation to explore the opportunity further. This exchange led to the beginning of a call that has come to fruition. My heart melts each time I visit this new structure, and seeing the number of People Impacted in this community through Street Business School entrepreneurship training is a true sign that has brought meaning to hundreds of Lives in Buliisa District. This makes me more proud to be connected to the Empower and Shine Team to cause change across the globe.

What excites you most about bringing Street Business School to this Mubako village?

What excites me most about bringing Street Business School to Mubakku Village is the transformation this training is bound to ignite in the lives of its people. Mubakku is a deeply rural village, marked by staggering poverty and daily struggles that many people can barely imagine. Life there is hard. Access to clean water is limited. There’s no power. Most families live in mud-and-wattle houses—structures that, across Africa, remain a stark symbol of generational poverty.

In Mubakku, survival often means enduring on just one meal a day. And even then, it comes after hours of labor under the harsh sun, chasing any opportunity to earn a living. But beneath these hardships is a resilient spirit—a quiet strength waiting for a spark.

Street Business School is that spark. It offers more than business skills; it brings confidence, dignity, and hope. It meets people where they are and equips them to rewrite their story—not with handouts, but with tools to build their own future. That is what gives me hope. That is what fills me with excitement. Because change has been realized in this community. Thanks to Patty, Steve, and the entire Empower and Shine Team.

What are some of the biggest needs or opportunities you see in this Mubako village?

The very biggest need in this village is an Empowerment Programme that can make the community people believe in themselves, work hard, and get out of poverty. This is why Street Business School comes in handy, to provide an entrepreneurship Program that ignites the Potential in Individuals to Rise Up and become the best version of themselves. SBS does not give handouts, but gives the Solutions to Overcoming Poverty through entrepreneurship training.

What is your hope for the future of the people in Mubako village and the larger region? 

With initiatives like Street Business School’s training, individuals gain the skills and confidence needed to become self-sufficient, reducing dependency on external aid. As they apply the training and start their own businesses, their economic stability improves.

By generating their own income, they become less reliant on government support or assistance, empowering both themselves and their families. Most importantly, parents of children attending God’s Will Community School will be better positioned to provide for their children’s needs.

As more people achieve self-reliance, the entire community benefits—paving the way for a brighter future. That is why I am deeply grateful that Patty and Steve have chosen to respond to God’s call—not only to empower communities but to transform lives.