​​Rafiki Thabo Foundation is a small international development charity based in Oxfordshire. Their vision is that young people, including those living with disabilities, will be empowered through education to enable them to reach their full potential, pursue their dreams, and initiate positive change in their communities in Kenya, Uganda, and Lesotho.
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​"Through our scholars programme, we provide bursaries to bright young people who have gained a place at school or university but whose families have run out of the means to pay their fees. By the end of 2024 we had supported a total of 800 young people through education. Their ability to subsequently secure paid employment or start their own businesses means they can lift themselves and their families out of poverty, give back to their communities and contribute to the wider economic development of their countries. We also work to improve the learning environment for children at our partner schools. This includes building dormitories enabling the students to stay safely at school during the week instead of taking on the hazardous, long walk home. In their dormitories they also benefit from reliable electricity enabling them to read and flourish at school also after dark. Through our school meals programme, ‘Eat Well to Learn’, we provide at least 70 of the very poorest students with lunch each day at our partner school in Uganda. For many, this is their only daily meal, without which they would on an empty stomach have little energy to learn in class and be more exposed to poor health, making them more likely to drop out of school. Finally, we work to remove barriers to education for children living with disabilities through our partner organisations Autism Society of Kenya and Dadashi Special Children’s Centre. Learn more about our work with ASK and Dadashi and meet our scholar Lucy in our film 'We Hug Them'.
By taking part in and enjoying Young Art Oxford you are helping to make a transformative difference to other young people’s lives."
                                                                                               Rafiki Thabo
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• Your £2 entry alone can pay for a whole week of nutritious school meals in Uganda.
• If everyone at a primary school with 175 students enter our competition, that can pay for an entire year at school for a child in Uganda for whom education is the only path to a better future.
• In Uganda alone, 5 million children never get an education: One year at secondary school costs an average of £350 per child. This is two-thirds of the annual average household income, so most families simply cannot afford it. ​​

​ So please join us for Young Art Oxford this year!​