Overview
OAA's partner in Uganda is the Friends in Need Integrated Development Project (FINIDP), which is based in Mukono, 45 minutes outside of Kampala. FINIDP (www.finidp.org) is a comprehensive community development organization led by Ahmed Zziwa, a lecturer at Makerere University (a leading institution of Ugandan higher education). OAA began its partnership with FINIDP in the spring of 2006, after developing a relationship with FINIDP's leaders and visiting the communities in which the organization operates. In close collaboration with FINIDP, OAA chose to focus its scholarship program on secondary education. The program has grown to cover 24 students who are attending four years of secondary school.

History and Background
FINIDP was founded in 2003 by a group of young Ugandan professionals who wanted to give back to the rural communities in which they grew up. OAA was introduced to FINIDP during a trip to Uganda on the recommendation of a friend who learned of FINIDP from the Rhodes Scholar Southern African Forum (which had previously funded FINIDP) and had spent time with FINIDP as a volunteer. After meeting with leaders in the Ugandan development community, as well as with other community-based organizations, OAA took the view that FINIDP had a special combination of opportunity and skill that would provide for catalytic positive change in their community. FINIDP’s demonstrated commitment to providing educational opportunities for children orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS, and its remarkable capacity for growth, made it an especially compelling partner. 

The Students

OAA provides FINIDP with financial support for 24 students in secondary school, covering the costs of academic tuition, counseling, and transportation, along with other incidentals. OAA also works with FINIDP in a consultative capacity to support its organizational growth. This entails non-financial support that ranges from the preparation of grant applications to strategic and tactical advice.