School for Life

The Australian woman changing lives in Uganda, one student at a time

De: Annabelle Chauncy

In 2008, Annabelle Chauncy, a 21-year-old Australian backpacker and law student, visited a school in Uganda, a country that had the highest school dropout rates in the world. Shocked by the decrepit buildings, the lack of resources, the absence of skilled teachers and the poor life prospects of the students, she decided to act.

Eighteen years later, her foundation, School for Life, oversees three schools with a combined student capacity of 1,700, employs 150 Ugandans, and has positively changed the lives of thousands of students, their parents, and the communities in which they live.

Most of these children are the first in their families to finish high school. Many go on to attend university - an impossible ambition twenty years earlier - becoming doctors, lawyers, or even teachers themselves. The success of these students in helping lift their families and communities out of hardship is proof of Annabelle's core conviction: education is key to breaking the cycle of poverty.

In putting her beliefs into action, Annabelle has bought land, built buildings, battled corruption, faced agonising staffing dilemmas, mobilised a village, had two of her own children, and discovered a sense of purpose and mission that drives her to make the biggest impact she can.

This is a powerful and moving story of how you really can change the world, if you decide to have a go.