From Access to Launch: Lucy’s Story

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Lucy Urassa grew up in Karansi, a small village in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro. When her father died, her family lost its income, and Lucy’s education was suddenly in doubt. Her mother didn’t give up. She sought help from their village pastor, and the congregation rallied around the family, helping them rebuild. Today Lucy’s mother runs her own business, and Lucy’s younger sister is at university.

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Access

Lucy lost a year of school while her family recovered. Then a UBORA sponsorship opened the door again. She returned to class, studied hard and kept going, all the way to the National Institute of Transport in Dar es Salaam. In 2022 she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and transport finance.

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Prepare

A degree is a beginning, not a guarantee. “After I graduated from university, it was difficult for me to get a job since I was a fresh graduate; I had no connections,” Lucy says.

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That gap is exactly why UBORA built the next stage of the pathway. Two UBORA businessmen asked Alf Rhea, founder of Business Innovations, to help connect UBORA graduates with the local business community. The result was the UBORA internship program, which pairs each graduate with a business mentor who takes a hands-on role.

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Launch

In October 2022, Lucy began an internship in the accounting department of a factory in Morogoro, with Alf as her mentor.

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“I started my internship at Morogoro, and that was when I met Alf Rhea as my mentor. I really thank God for him, his family, and his business as well because he has been a blessing to me and other program graduates.”

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The internship came with no promise of a job. Lucy earned one anyway.

“During my time as an intern, it was at first difficult to cope with the environment and work issues since it was my first time in the work field, but I thank God I managed, and I was employed in a full-time job in October 2023 as an accounting clerk.”

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Still Growing

On a later visit, Lucy pulled Alf aside with a question: would more education make her better at her job? “She never asked for money,” Alf says, “but instead asked if this is something she should do and if she should do it now.” Together they mapped out courses that wouldn’t interfere with her work, and the Business Innovations team has kept mentoring her, from advanced Excel to building her first personal budget.

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This is what the Leadership Formation Pathway is for: access, education, preparation, and a launch into a career, followed by a leader who keeps growing. Lucy is a Christ-centered servant leader of character, purpose and ambition.