The last thing we need is another aid agency to appease Western guilt.

UID is a pon-profit organization that is seeking to establish community centers in urban poor areas of African and Middle Eastern cities. 
We work in the city
We live with the poor
We seek long term change over short term relief
We focus on ethics and healthy culture change
We have chosen creative education as a means

Our first projects grew out of our successes and lessons learned at our center in the Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott.

UID endeavors to empower the poor by offering training in skills and vocations that would help transform the community at large. The focus in both on children and adults, depending on the program, and community needs.

Our first focus has been in the area of basic computer training with a strong emphasis on business ethics. However our efforts have expanded to community health training, after school programs, kids clubs, work with handicapped children, artisan crafts and small business creation, literacy and language courses.

Among its primary goals, UID is involved in encouraging a small business and entrepreneurial movement among the urban poor. Starting small, we focus on basic skills needed to run a small micro-enterprise business or give training in how to become a more successful employee. At the same time, we conduct community assessments to determine other subjects in which the community feels a desire to learn, likely: health education, English and computer training. All of these courses are taught with a strong emphasis on business ethics, so that those passing through the program will have more successful businesses as well as have a desire for civic values and giving back to the communities from which they came. 

UID is a very hands-on, people-involved, type of development work. It’s not just a program, but a place where we get to know and walk with those we are seeking to empower. We speak local languages and will be asking the community about their desires for change. We will then seek to help them solve these issues – not doing it ourselves – but empowering locals to do it themselves. 

UID has the goal to see members of the community undergo multiple training options, as the complexities of poverty have multiple roots. A member of the neighborhood cannot expect to escape poverty with simple financial aid. Rather issues of ethics, health, family, career counseling, corruption, community cohesion and long term planning must be addressed as an ensemble to see growth.