In October 2021, Paisley’s Pals began piloting the SHINE Box in the Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement in Western Uganda. Armed with 10 pop-up classrooms, 6 million digital resources downloaded on 10 Raspberri Pi Computers, 400+ books and an amazing partnership with the Refugee Innovation Center, Paisley’s Pals deployed a multitude of solutions to help increase access to education for the children of Rwamwanja. From a bike share program and a menstrual health education program, to handing out solar lamps and beginning a digital skills training program, the SHINE program encompasses many scalable solutions that are making a big impact. We spent weeks on the ground listening to and learning with the refugee-led program that continues to run the program once Paisley and crew returned back home. As of July 2022, the SHINE program has impacted over 2500 youth and hopes to add a vertical farming program and an ECD program in early 2023.
Harnessing the transformative power of education, the SHINE box is a portable, mixed-age STEAM learning platform designed to be a catalyst for social innovation and to inspire interest in science, technology, and engineering. With a goal to empower the next generation of global citizens through imaginative lesson plans, the SHINE box curriculum sparks opportunities to understand the Sustainable Development Goals, and to find creative solutions to our shared global challenges. We envision a world where ALL children have equal say in their future, and by using voice and choice while practicing empathy and compassion, the SHINE box hopes to shape our future world leaders and social activists, makers and doers, innovators and changemakers, all focused on creating a more peaceful world.
© 2023 Paisleys Pals paisley@paisleyspals.org Phone: 1-214-923-2835
Paisley’s Pals is a 501(c)(3) Private Nonoperating Foundation (We have notified the IRS of our intention to convert to a public charity, and the IRS has ruled that grantors and contributors may consider us a public charity for the purpose of making contributions to the organization.)