---

aising the Village was founded by Shawn Cheung, born out of a deep guiding feeling that there were straight forward solutions to complex issues of inequality: The course of my life felt certain: I was about to graduate, had been recruited by a major consulting firm with a signing bonus, and the excitement of the big city lights within my grasp. And yet I couldn’t help but wonder if this life held something more than the career ahead. On a whim, I reached out to a grassroots microfinance outfit and a week later, I was on the ground in Uganda, curious to find what else was out there. Back home, references to Uganda were still clouded by the reputation of a former dictator, but it was clear to me he was largely forgotten in the hustle and bustle of trying to make it through the day for most Ugandans. What was real, was that 85% of the population was living below the extreme poverty line. Translated into dollars, this meant most citizens were trying to sustain themselves on l

---