Hello everyone! My name is Joel E. Kalanzi and I am from Kampala, Uganda. I am trying to raise money to pay for my tuition at York University in Toronto, Canada.

In 2016, I was accepted into York’s Computer Science undergraduate program with the expectation that I would start school in the fall of 2016. Unfortunately, I did not start school then as I was unable to raise the CA$22,000 (approx. US$16,300) required for my tuition. For this reason, I have asked the school to defer my admission twice, and it has been considerate enough to accept my deferral requests. However, the school will not accept any more deferral requests from me – I must start in May 2017 or lose my admission. I have applied for several scholarships, but my applications have not been successful.

You may be wondering: “Does he have to study at York University, or in Canada?”. To answer this question; in my country, unfortunately, the schools have very limited resources for STEM degrees, which limits their concentration offering. It so happens my preferred areas of interest, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, are among the many that are not offered, hence my decision to study at York – in addition to the fact that education in Canada is less expensive than the United States and a few other countries with vibrant technology sectors.

Even though I have had limited access to technology, growing up. I have dreams of becoming an influencer in the technology industry, particularly in the areas of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. I dream of starting a technology company, born and bred in Uganda, that not only offers the world technology solutions, but also provides young Ugandan technologists the opportunity to develop their skills and contribute to projects with a global impact by creating employment for them. Yes, I am a big dreamer!

I know that many stories such as mine have come out of Africa, but speaking for myself; it is very stressful and overwhelming constantly thinking about the fact I have an opportunity to obtain the education I need – a key component in my big picture, my dream, but I am unable to utilize it due to my financial situation. It is my hope and prayer that you will be led to support me. Regardless the size of your donation, it makes a huge difference. I need your help!

You can connect with me at ernestjoel7@gmail.com for more questions.

Thank you for your time and for your help. I greatly appreciate it. God bless!