Meeting Christopher Ategeka today, one would never guess this young Berkeley graduate, who was named one of Forbes Magazine's 30 under 30 social entrepreneurs, grew up an orphan caring for his five siblings in a dirt-walled hut in rural Uganda—and was in his teens before he owned his first pair of shoes.
Meeting Christopher Ategeka in San Francisco today, where his three start-ups are headquartered, one would never guess that this urbane young man, named last year as one of Forbes Magazine's 30 under 30 social entrepreneurs, grew up living in dirt-walled hut in rural Uganda—and was in his teens before he owned his first pair of shoes.
By age seven Chris had lost both his mother and his father to HIV-AIDS and was living in dire poverty, leaving him effectively the head of household for his five siblings.
Five years later, through a church-based NGO and orphanage Y.E.S. Uganda, Americans Martha and Michael Helm learned of 12-year-old Chris's plight and offered to help the hard-working boy keep going to school.
When they learned of the one-hour hike Chris had to take every day to school, they bought him a bicycle. He used the time saved every day to study hard. His discipline impressed the California couple so much that they sent for Chris, then 20, to come live with them and attend college in California. He attended UC Berkeley, where he received his Bachelors and Masters in mechanical engineering.
A non-profit organization founded by Chris, Rides for Lives (formerly CA Bikes) started out as a social business to create jobs in Uganda while solving transportation problems for rural Africans. Workers used locally sourced scrap metal to design and build bicycles, three-wheel vehicles and wheelchairs for families, farmers, business persons, and individuals with disabilities.
One of the most compelling applications for the locally made vehicles has, as of September 2014, become the primary focus of the company: to create "bike ambulances" which can be attached to small trailers to transport people in need of medical care and vital medicines to outlying areas. The seed of the idea was born of yet another personal tragedy in his amazing life: When Chris was 9, his younger brother died while Chris tried to carry him to the nearest hospital — 10 miles away.
(READ the full story from Yahoo Business – WATCH Chris's Ted Talk below)
A vegan family, Michelle Carrera, and her 4-year-old son Ollie, realized the city's soup kitchen meals all contained meat, so the two started bringing their warm homemade vegan chili to those in need, calling it 'Chili on Wheels'.
After an arduous three-and-a-half-years building it in her California backyard, Kendall Ronzano is donating the "tiny home" she started at age 16. Last week, it was pulled on its portable trailer to Austin, Texas where it will provide shelter to a homeless person or family in a 27-acre transitional homeless community.
Truck drivers are often the first responders to the scene of highway accidents. But one trucker from Kentucky saved a law enforcement officer from being strangled and was named one of three finalists for the Goodyear Tire Company's Highway Hero Award.
An Arlington, Virginia fire captain and his team of romantic firefighters saved the day for a bride and groom Saturday after a snow storm wrecked their wedding plans.
An Arkansas police officer, who saw a young man walking down the road at two o'clock in the morning on a frigid cold night, stopped to ask if he wanted a ride. The chance encounter ended up changing the college student's life.
A jovial 87-year-old has parlayed a huge construction business in Iran into a Canadian philanthropic legacy that will continue after he is gone. His Djavad Mowafaghian Foundation has given away tens of millions of his personal wealth to build children hospitals in Vancouver -- and building schools for children around the world. Most ambitious, his Foundation has built a new $68.8-million center for brain health at the University of BC with 500 scientists working on diseases like alzheimer's.
The owner of Inkslinger's Tattoo Shop has quietly become an inspiration to his Massachusetts community. Billy Pfaff's shop is often filled with donations he has collected for the homeless -- coats, blankets, sleeping bags, tents and gift cards -- which he personally hands out. Why does he care? In 2010 he was in their shoes.
Valentines Day is going to be extra special this year for 5000 people with special needs across the United States who will be attending glitzy prom dances paid for by the former NFL star quarterback, Tim Tebow.
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