Happy New Year and welcome to Rationale's new website! After three and a half years we have grown out of our previous home and are excited to share with you our expanded, revamped website. We're proud to now have the space to share with you more information about our programs, our partners, and our development as we continue to work towards equitable access to education for young people in northern Uganda. We invite you to take a look around to learn more about what we do and how we're moving forward. Don't hesitate to send us a message if you have any questions or would like to get involved from Uganda or the United States and be sure to join our mailing list at the bottom of this page to receive all of our updates - it's the best way to stay in touch.

Each year we share an end-of-year review and each year it is humbling to take a step back and see the many ways in which our partnerships have grown and developed into what they are today! Rationale’s fourth year is no exception. We have continued supporting our existing students as they graduate from their respective programs and transition into the next stages of their academic and professional careers while building the foundation for the years that will follow. We are pleased to share with you our many accomplishments in 2015.

This year, we…

• Continued to support Gloria, who we are proud to announce has just completed her diploma in nursing program! Rationale will continue working with Gloria as she applies to programs at the next level of her academic career and as she pursues opportunities to practice nursing in the time before she enrolls.
• Maintained our support of Emily while she completed her year of contract employment as a midwife in Ikotos, South Sudan, for AVSI (an international non-profit organization dedicated to providing health services to remote communities). Emily has just returned to Uganda in time for the holidays and we will continue working with her as she, too, transitions into the next stage of her education.
• Enrolled a brand new student, Aryemo Janet Hope, who began her studies in science education at Gulu University this semester. Stay tuned for more updates on Janet’s progress soon! Offering an additional scholarship was only made possible by the generosity of everyone who attended our 2014 end-of-year fundraising dinner at Ethiopian Diamond.
• Added a new mentor, Okello Lwanga, to our Uganda team to support our students through their studies and their many transitions thereafter as well as maintain a regular presence for Rationale in Uganda year-round.
• Spent two months on the ground in Gulu revitalizing our mentorship program, evaluating our programs, and spending time with our students.
• Partnered with Ethiopian Diamond to hold an end-of-the-year fundraising event in Chicago on December 11th.

Finally, we’re happy to announce we are currently putting the final touches on our brand new website which will be launched to celebrate the beginning of 2016!

We thank everyone for your continued support. From all of us at Rationale, we wish you a very Happy New Year and can't wait to see what success 2016 will bring! Consider helping make that a possibility by donating to our year-end giving campaign using the button below.

With gratitude,
The Rationale Team

From all of us at Rationale, thank you for joining us for such a successful end of the year dinner at Ethiopian Diamond Restaurant in Chicago! We're very happy to announce that we raised more than $1,800, a part of which has made it possible to support an exceptional secondary school student who only needs to complete his last year of studies but has otherwise been financially unable to do so. This is a direct result of your generous support and we can't thank you enough! Take a look at the full gallery of our event pictures on Facebook here.

Let us introduce you to our new mentor, Okello Lwanga. Okello is the face and voice of Rationale in Uganda year-round and provides essential services to our students and all other programs. Most importantly, this includes committed social support for all of our students for the duration of their studies and beyond, ensuring that all of our students have a regular support structure that follows through on their success. We thank our previous mentor, Ocitti David Okech, for all of his hard work over the past few years and wish him the absolute best moving forward. Stay tuned for a thorough profile of Okello on our new website, out at the beginning of the year!

We are proud to announce our annual end-of-year dinner for 2015 will again be hosted by our wonderful friends at Ethiopian Diamond Restaurant in Chicago!

It's been an exciting year for Rationale and we are eager to share updates about our programs, staff, and students. As a direct result of the money raised at last year's dinner, we were able to award a brand new scholarship to a young woman beginning her studies in science education at the university level. This would not have been possible without your generous support last year, and we look forward to another successful event this year!

So come out, hear updates about our programs, meet our community of supporters, and enter to win a number of great prizes in a raffle!

As always, 100% of funds raised will provide scholarships to secondary and university students and produce collaborative research projects in northern Uganda.

Full event details and tickets can be found on our event webpage: www.projectrationale.org/fundraiser.html.

You can also download a full flyer with details as a PDF or JPEG.

We hope to see you there!

Friday, December 11th, 2015
7pm-10pm
Ethiopian Diamond Restaurant
6120 N Broadway, Chicago, IL

A delicious, fresh selection of Ethiopian fare
Buffet dinner and drinks: $40
Raffle Tickets: $5 for 1, $10 for 3, etc...

Today is Giving Tuesday, a day dedicated to showing solidarity with the causes that are most important to you. Please consider purchasing your ticket to the fundraiser and raffle tickets in advance on the event website by clicking the button below.

You may also make a general donation to Rationale at any time here.

Beginning your holiday shopping this Cyber Monday? Remember that if you're placing an order on Amazon at any time this holiday season they will make a donation to Rationale at no cost to you each time you check out with Rationale chosen as your Amazon Smile organization.

Be sure to use the following link and select Rationale (location will read Wheaton or Chicago, IL) as your default org when you check out: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/45-4954085.

Stay tuned for some exciting non-retail related updates tomorrow!

Board members (L to R): Jaclyn, Malik, and Matthew

Thanks to everyone who attended our end-of-the-year dinner at Ethiopian Diamond in December! Because of your generous giving, we collected a record amount of donations and are in a strong position to both continue supporting our current students and projects as well as begin to build the necessary foundation to expand our reach (more updates on this in the coming months!). None of this would have been possible without your kind support. On behalf of our board and the communities we work with: THANK YOU!

For those of you who have not yet heard, Rationale is now a certified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization in the United States. We're very excited about the many opportunities this new designation makes possible including access to grants that were previously unavailable to us. Feel free to reach out with any questions about what this might mean for your giving.

We're happy to announce that Emily has recently begun a paid contract position working as a midwifery in Ikotos, South Sudan for AVSI (an international NGO). In this new position Emily is able to use the skills she learned while completing her certificate in midwifery from Lacor to serve rural communities who otherwise do not have access to this care. We're so excited for all of the new experiences she is gaining before returning to Uganda to continue her studies next year!

Rationale was founded as non-profit organization on March 22, 2012 as a response to the substantial amount of youth in northern Uganda who have been affected by the 20-year-long civil conflict and are currently unable to continue their studies without substantial support. From day one we committed to having a significant, lasting impact on a small number of youth rather than supporting many youth without substantial social support and we're now seeing the effects of this commitment. Over the last three years we have grown to include a full-time mentor and are now seeing our students complete their first level of studies with great success. For a wonderful example, please see the update about Emily above. We could not be happier to see the real, lasting success our first group of students are experiencing. It is because of their resolve to not only be the first in their families to acquire their current level of education but also to consistently perform at the highest level that they stand in such a position today.

As we look forward to the next year, we have many new announcements and exciting new developments to share in the coming months. Matthew will return to Uganda for two months beginning in May to undertake focused study of Acholi, the language spoken in northern Uganda. Jaclyn will join later in the summer to assist in evaluating our programs and our students' progress as we begin to make important decisions about our student cohort. Thanks for joining us on this journey - we can't wait to share more!

Rationale’s third year was both exciting and eventful! We have continued to strengthen our commitments to our students and build our mission here in the US and in Uganda, as well. We are pleased to share with you our many accomplishments in 2014.

This year, we…

• Continued to support Francis, Gloria, and Emily through their studies.
• Spent two months on the ground in Gulu, strengthening our mentorship program, evaluating our programs, and assessing the standing of each our students.
• Watched Emily complete her program in midwifery at St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor. We are very excited for her graduation in March! She is our first student to complete their program under Rationale’s support and will now spend her time using her new skills by working and gaining experience in a rural clinic before applying for the next level of her education to begin next January!
  
• Received 501(c)(3) status from the federal government, recognizing Rationale as a tax-exempt organization and making your contributions deductible each year (to the extent permitted by law)
  
• Expanded our board of directors to include Oola Julius Peter Kakaye, Malik Kemokai, Aatifa Sadiq, and Tamkeenat Syed (in addition to Matthew Sebastian and Jaclyn Tabbert in their previously held positions)
  • Julius is Deputy Director at St. Jude Children’s Home and lecturer at Gulu University. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Social and Philosophical Studies from Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda’s largest institution of higher learning. Julius then earned his Master of Arts degree in Development Studies from Uganda Martyrs University and also holds a Diploma in Guidance and Counseling from Alokolum National Major Seminary. He is a prominent advocate for vulnerable youth in northern Uganda and will act as liaison between Rationale and the Ugandan communities with whom we partner.
  • Malik is experienced in community projects and nonprofit development. He has worked for several Chicago-based organizations assisting in the development, communications, and fundraiser sectors. Malik has come to Rationale with enthusiasm to assist in fundraising efforts. He is currently finishing his graduate degree in nonprofit management from North Park University.  
  • Aatifa is a graduate from the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration program. She has experience working for numerous international-based organizations as a project coordinator. Aatifa is excited to provide Rationale with program evaluation and assistance in development.
  • Tamkeenat is currently pursuing her Doctor of Medicine from Meharry Medical College. A long-time supporter and former volunteer for Rationale, Tamkeenat is very eager to continue supporting Rationale as a board member. Tamkeenat has formed an essential supportive bond with Gloria and Emily, our two students studying in the medical field, as they each continue their respective studies.
• Partnered with Ethiopian Diamond to hold an end-of-the-year fundraising event in Chicago on December 12th which, because of your generous support, raised enough funds to support all of our students for another year!
• Continued work on a new website to launch in 2015

We thank everyone for your continued support. We are excited for what 2015 will bring!

With gratitude,
The Rationale Team

Thanks to the ongoing support of our students, our friends, and our staff, 2013 – Rationale’s second year – was a remarkable one. We have strengthened our commitments both as an organization here in the US and in Uganda as a growing staple in the lives of our many partners. We’re proud to share with you our accomplishments in 2013.

This year, we…

• Spent June-July on the ground in Gulu and Nwoya evaluating our programs, forging new essential partnerships, and adjusting our impact to better serve the communities in which we work
• Continued to support Francis, Gloria, and Emily through their studies
• Identified the independent success of St. Jude’s food security farm and, after extensive consultations with the staff at St. Jude, decided to shift our focus away from the farm and more fully towards our current scholarship program and the collaborative research projects we will launch in 2014
• Partnered with Vertigo to hold our first annual anniversary event in Chicago on March 22, 2013
• Partnered with Pan-African Association at their annual 5k PAAWR to Empower event
• Expanded our US team to include an intern from DePaul University – Amelia Hussein – who is currently double majoring in International Studies and Peace, Conflict, and Justice Studies
• Refined our Mentorship Program to establish one permanent mentor for our students who has become a regular presence in their lives seeing to their academic and personal success
• Initiated an ongoing series of news roundups around topics related to our work
• Forged new partnerships to facilitate the launch of our collaborative research projects this upcoming year
• Began work on a new website to launch in 2014

We have big things in store for 2014 and can’t wait to share them with you all as the time comes!

With gratitude,
Rationale

Top Row, L-R: Gloria, Francis, David (mentor)  Bottom Row, Center: Emily

Our fifth post in an ongoing series.

The Roundup:

Examinations begin for students in Senior Four and Senior Six, with a full breakdown here

Earlier this month, Uganda celebrated 51 years of independence: http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Eventful-week-as-Uganda-turns-51/-/2558/2019758/-/g3k0wz/-/index.html

The presidential adviser on political affairs, David Mafabi has called for a national consensus on how to tackle land disputes in the country in order to spur economic development: http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/648008-national-consensus-to-solve-land-conflicts.html

The Uganda Science Education Programme (USEP) has launched an academic progressive score card to monitor the quality of science learning and teaching in secondary schools: http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/648465-uganda-science-education-programme-launches-score-card.html

Identity in Contemporary Art Practice in Africa and the Diaspora: http://www.anotherafrica.net/art-culture/to-be-or-not-to-be-african-is-that-even-the-question

The LRA Crisis Tracker’s Mid-Year Security Brief claims that active combatants are ‘tired of killing’: http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=27850:kony-rebels-tired-of-killing-new-report&catid=34:news&Itemid=114

Can Radios Stop the Lord’s Resistance Army in Congo?: http://africanarguments.org/2013/10/10/can-radios-stop-the-lords-resistance-army-in-congo-by-scott-ross/

Ivory beyond the LRA: why a broader focus is needed in studying poaching: http://africanarguments.org/2013/09/17/ivory-beyond-the-lra-why-a-broader-focus-is-needed-in-studying-poaching-by-kristof-titeca/


Happy Reading!