Charles Waiswa - “The Professor” – taking services to higher heights

The person who has contributed more than anyone else to making SOS a success on the ground in Uganda is Charles Waiswa, a Professor turned Social Entrepreneur.

When the SOS initiative began in 2006, Charles was the Assistant Professor at Makerere University, where he shared the same vision as the Dean of the Veterinary Faculty, John-David Kabasa, to take veterinary medicines and skills back into the community - to create, in their own words, "healthier and wealthier communities".

Phase 1 of SOS was a scientific success, preventing the convergence of the two sleeping sickness belts, but there were still many problems to overcome in order to reach a level of sustainability.  A major obstacle was ensuring a plentiful supply of drugs essential for both spraying animals on a monthly basis as well as treating them if they fell sick.

None of the major veterinary distributors in Uganda felt there was enough money in these communities to justify their time and effort.  Charles, therefore, decided to step in himself and, using the family business - High Heights - the hotel named to reflect its position, began to supply the young 3V veterinarians with the products they needed.

The system has now evolved to the point where Charles, supported by IKARE and Ceva, acts as mentor and provider to all new 3V vets until they reach a point where "they are ready to fly" on their own.  This role, somewhere between public and private good and often referred to as "social entrepreneurialism", has also thrust Charles into a broader international network, addressing audiences both at Europe's leading business school, INSEAD, located outside Paris, as well as at the World Health Organisation ("WHO") in Geneva.

Like many other social entrepreneurs who have contributed to the SOS initiative, Charles' own career has also benefited - he was promoted to Professor of Veterinary Medicine at the Makerere University in June 2011.