![\"Classroom_650\"](\"https:\/\/magazine.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/legacy\/i\/Classroom_650.jpg\" "\\"Classroom_650\\"")
\nJim Steele, MBA\u201982, knows what it\u2019s like to be up against tough odds. Eight years ago he was diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and spinocerebellar ataxia, both genetic neuromuscular conditions that have since left him disabled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have partial symptoms of both, but the doctors can\u2019t do anything for either one,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019re progressive diseases, and unfortunately they\u2019re doing just that\u2014progressing.\u201d<\/p>\n Steele, however, also knows that even the toughest of odds can lead to surprising outcomes. His work with Uganda Children\u2019s Project, a nonprofit organization that he and his wife, Lisa, founded 11 years ago, is a testament to what can be accomplished in the face of adversity. Thanks to the group\u2019s efforts, countless orphaned and desperately poor Ugandan children have enjoyed educational opportunities that otherwise would not have been possible.<\/p>\n \u201cSomething has to be done to help this disenfranchised class climb out of the ghetto,\u201d he says. \u201cEducation gives them that chance.\u201d<\/p>\n Uganda Children\u2019s Project, which grew out of mission work at Steele\u2019s church near Chattanooga, Tenn., currently has around 240 children and young adults paired with sponsors throughout the U.S., Europe and Australia. The group\u2019s two full-time Ugandan employees are responsible for identifying potential children for the project, while Steele and his wife focus on the sponsorships.<\/p>\n \u201cI draw upon my MBA experience for all of the finance, marketing and operations that go into this,\u201d he says. \u201cFor example, we work in several foreign currencies right now, and trying to manage the exchange rate against a very unstable Ugandan shilling is difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n An unstable currency is just one of the problems facing Uganda these days. Years of political turmoil, corruption and a devastating AIDS epidemic have all left their mark on the country. Yet Steele isn\u2019t daunted by the challenges.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve never felt like we were called to deal with the big problems in Uganda,\u201d he says. \u201cWe can only keep working our own way\u2014child by child, sponsor by sponsor.\u201d<\/p>\n Fittingly it\u2019s the same philosophy that defines Steele\u2019s own personal struggle against tough odds: Take things day by day, step by step, and relish the small victories.<\/p>\n![\"Steele-300\"](\"https:\/\/magazine.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/legacy\/i\/Steele-300.jpg\" "\\"Steele-300\\"")