UPYA Center is a project that was born in Decembre 2021, with teams made up of professionals ranging from project management, finance, to architecture, all in a shared vision to take concrete action to revolutionise education in their community. Growing up in contexts where access to information, computers, or mastery of technlogical tools is not accessible to all and can sometimes be acquired late in adolescence or even at majority for some, we have become aware of the existence of an inequitable disparity
This inequality is exacerbated by the mystification of the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) as well as the absence of success models in these fields. From this reality, several members of us decided to pursue higher education abroad, particularly in Europe and America where the gap was obvious for us
The name UPYA comes from Swahili and refers to restoring, rebuilding, straightening, reconstructing, reorganising, and breathing life into something that has been neglected or suffocated. These words best describe Africa’s youth potential over time.
Our initial focus was on setting up mobile container labs to support students’ modest families incomes, providing them with the minimum necessary to grasp scientific concepts.
During the mid-year of 2022, our ambition quickly evolved to focus on what African students from a modest background need to excel in STEM, and what basic requirements are necessary to bring them to the same level as their peers around the world. UPYA Center as a Non-profit organization was officially born.
Today in Africa, 8 out of 10 students do not have access to computers, and only 25% choose STEM-related studies. This has created a mystification of technology and a fear of the theoretical concepts associated with it in the minds of African citizens. Additionally, the lack of adequate infrastructure in institutions prevents students from conceptualizing theoretical concepts. The UPYA Center aims to provide more opportunities for African youth by creating a center of excellence that will train the next generation of African elites.
African youth of today, more than ever, want to take their destinies into their hands and to build the kind of society that they envisage
