U.N. Women in Business Award winner will speak at Springfield College
October 19, 2010SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Oct. 18, 2010 -- Ayuru Beatrice Byaruhanga, who grew up in a society where girls had few educational opportunities and won the 2010 United Nations EMPRETEC Women in Business Award for creating a school for both girls and boys, will tell her story on Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2010, at 7 p.m., in the Richard B. Flynn Campus Union, at Springfield College.
"No girl should endure what I had to go through myself," Byaruhanga, said. "Education is the best way to help reduce poverty in my region…and giving girl children education empowers them."
Byaruhanga, from the Kakoge Village in Lira, Northern Uganda, created the Lira Integrated School, which now has 1,500 students, a school bus and an income-generating brass band. With income from the school, she built a small-scale yogurt factory and employs 104 people. She received the U.N. award for her entrepreneurial spirit and visionary leadership and is planning to open a university including sports facilities.
Her lecture, “From Cassava to Classrooms: The Story of Ayuru Beatrice Byaruhanga and the Lira Integrated School,” is open to the public free of charge. The event is sponsored by the Springfield College School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation; Department of Athletic Counseling; and International Center. A reception will follow the lecture.
