In the village of Macheche, Busakira sub-county in Mayuge District, lives Nawanga Fazira—a 19-year-old whose resilience shines brighter than the sun she cannot see. Fazira is completely blind. A mother of one, she lost her eyesight due to illness a...
Human lives are frequently described as blank canvases—they start untouched, full of potential waiting to be explored. For many, education acts as the brush to fill in that empty space—with knowledge and ideas, distant dreams, and goals that lay ...
At just 23 years old, Kadondi Esther is already making waves in her community, proving that with the right support and determination, dreams can become reality. Esther, a beneficiary of Act4Africa’s skilling program, has transformed her life th...
Raheema, a bright and bubbly five-year-old, is a student in middle class at Kathy’s Kindergarten School. Her enthusiasm for learning and innate talent in mathematics have made her a standout among her peers. Every morning, she walks into the...
Fedelis Akoth had once been a lost hope in the forgotten village of Mayuge District, where dreams seemed to wither before they could even take root. At just 16 years old, she had already endured the bitter taste of dropping out of school, a sacrifice...
Rahma, 23 years old and a resilient single mother of two, found herself in a profound state of despair before crossing paths with Act4Africa. Like countless other young mothers, she teetered on the brink of surrender, unaware that a brighter future a...
In the quiet village of Busenda, nestled between rolling hills and lush greenery, a transformation was quietly taking place within the heart and mind of a young man aged 19 named Wamoga Sharif. As a member of the Busenda Youth Development group, Wamo...
Life took an unexpected turn for Joyce at a tender age while attending Buzaya Senior Secondary School in S.4, located in Kamuli District. Unfortunately, she didn’t even sit for her O-Level Exams; she had to confront the harsh realities of adult...
Jane (NOT HER REAL NAME), a young girl full of dreams and aspirations, had her life shattered at the tender age of 14 when she was forced into marriage. Her innocence and childhood were stolen, and she found herself trapped in a world of adult......
Fiona (NOT HER REAL NAME), a courageous 23-year-old woman, has faced unimaginable challenges in her young life. She stands as a symbol of strength and resilience, overcoming the odds stacked against her. Fiona’s journey began when she lost her ...
By Vincent De Paul Ogwang – Communication Officer, Act4Africa Giving birth to a child with a disability at the age of 18 was Fatima’s greatest pain. Her child was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth, a condition that required extra medic...
In February Edison Middle School in Wheaton, IL contacted Act4Africa after reading about Kathy’s Kindergarten on GlobalGiving. Moved with compassion for the children of rural Uganda, two students from Edison Middle School ran a Penny War fund...
Meet Amina (NOT HER REAL NAME), an adolescent mother who has rewritten the story and defied the odds by returning to school after marrying and having a kid. Due to cultural and domestic pressures, Amina was compelled to marry when she was 15 years ol...
Under the agonising heat and clear skies in Mayuge District, Florence (NOT HER REAL NAME) is bespattered with mud. She scoops a pile of wet mud, throws it with a bang into a brick mould and dashes to a levelled ground to layout the brick. This......
Blog post by Dr Jan Webb, British GP and member of the Act4Africa Grains for Growth team. “When the chimney smokes we send the children to school.” These words, spoken to me by a Ugandan lady, puzzled me at first. I asked what she meant.......
By Jennifer Akullu, Lead Teacher, Kathy’s Kindergarten. In line with government guidelines and COVID-19 lockdown, Kathy’s Kindergarten was sadly closed for most of 2020. However, thanks to the support of our donors, our teachers have contin...
[vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pat...
Report by Moris Kabunzugwire, Project Manager Kasese district, Western Uganda has been repeatedly ravaged by floods over the last 7 months, leaving over 100,000 people homeless. Heavy rains have caused most of the major rivers in the district to burs...
Since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Uganda on 22nd March 2020, the Government and Ministry of Health has been tirelessly working to support district health teams across the country in their efforts to continue to provide essential services....
By Jennifer Akullu – Lead Teacher Welcome to another year at Kathy’s Kindergarten, we are super excited to have sailed through our first 2 years so well, cheers to you for your support! We have something exciting to share with you! Meet our kinde...
By Sarah Istephan Marketing and Fundraising Manager We are enormously proud that Act4Africa were recently designated children’s charity at the 2020 UK Toy Inventors’ Dinner. Our thanks go to Suzanne Robinson at the multi-award winning toy and gam...
By Patrick Kigongo – Act4Africa Country Manager Uganda Uganda’s population is both young and rapidly growing. Almost half the population is under 14 and those aged 15-24 years constitute a further 21%. The country’s ability to provide for i...
By Alice Luesley and Alice Edwards-King, University of Birmingham Nursing Students Hello, we’re Alice and Alice. We’re currently studying nursing at the University of Birmingham. We have come out to Jinja for our nursing elective! We arrived Satu...
By Kathy’s Centre Head Teacher, Basil Amatre. Travis is 5 years old and is among the pioneer learners here at Kathy’s Kindergarten. He is a bright young learner and makes us feel proud of him as teachers, but another interesting factor is, he is ...
By Patrick Kigongo – Act4Africa Country Manager Uganda Patrick Kigongo Act4Africa General Manager (Uganda), updates us on the recent progress of the HEAL groups. Members of Sekadhikwe women’s group express excitement upon receiving their Hybrid G...
By Zohra Meghji, Act4Africa Volunteer UK Volunteer Zohra Meghji tells us why she chooses to volunteer with Act4Africa in the UK and some of the things she and her family have enjoyed doing. It’s been just over a year since I started volunteering at...
By Basil Amatre, Head Teacher As we enter our third term at Kathy’s Centre, headteacher, Basil Amatre, feeds back on parents’ and teachers’ views on the childrens’ experiences to date. We are so proud of what we have achieved at Kathy’s Kin...
By Prossy, Act4Africa Peer Educator As the world celebrates International Day of the Girl Child, I count myself lucky and at the same time privileged, that am part of the Act4Africa Grow A Girl programme, which has given me the opportunity to be in s...
By Maddy Rock, Fundraiser Taking on TrekFest is no mean feat but the challenge is simple – complete your chosen course! For Maddie Rock and her team of GeoTrekkers this meant completing the 27 miles of footpaths and bridleways in the beautiful an...
By Sarah Read, University of Liverpool Medical Student Our medical elective students visit Mayuge– a chance to meet our kindergarten children and experience the power and struggles of a local health clinic. Apologies for the lack of updates but the...
by Moris Kabunzugwire – Act4Africa Project Manager Moris Kabunzugwire, Act4Africa Team Manager in Kasese, Western Uganda, brings us his latest report on the HEAL programme currently running for adolescent mothers in the district, thanks to the ...
By Sarah Istephan, Marketing Manager Officially opened September 2017, Kathy’s Centre is the beating heart of Act4Africa’s Ugandan operations and is the legacy of our late co-founder and early years teacher Kathy Smedley. To support Kathy’s Cen...
By Sarah Istephan, Marketing Manager Celebrating International Day of the Girl today in Uganda, Sharon, an Act4Africa Peer Educator trades places with Moris Kabunzugwire our Team Manager in Kasese, Western Uganda. Today young girls around the world s...
By Sarah Istephan, Marketing Manager After months of fundraising efforts and meticulous planning, construction on Kathy’s Centre is finally under way! With the ground breaking ceremony taking place at the start of last month, we are pleased to repo...
By Sarah Istephan, Marketing Manager Last Thursday in Uganda saw the groundbreaking ceremony for Kathy’s Centre take place, marking the eagerly anticipated beginning of construction for the health and education centre for women and children in May...
By Sarah Istephan, Marketing Manager In April 2016, Act4Africa were delighted to receive a cheque for £5,000 from Soroptimist International Manchester to celebrate their 90thanniversary. Since then, the club have pledged a further £1,000 as part...
By Sarah Istephan, Marketing Manager It is with mixed feelings that we bring you news that Act4Africa’s Big Lottery funded project promoting HIV prevention and gender equality in Kasese, Western Uganda, has come to a close. It has been a challengin...
Martin Smedley, CEO The way to reduce levels of poverty, hunger and HIV, is to empower women. Unfortunately in many developing nations women are faced with societal and structural discrimination which suppresses their true potential. To change living...
By Alexandra, Act4Africa Intern HIV/AIDS has been with us now for 33 years. And yet misinformation and lack of knowledge about the disease persist in some parts of the world, most markedly in rural or disadvantaged communities. Our intern Alexandra h...
By Martin Smedley, CEO Anna told me that Malawi is well known for tea growing and since Act4africa came to her village she has benefitted by being able to invest in new premises. Before she had 15 – 20 customers per day. Since joining an......
The ‘Act’ in ‘Act4Africa’ means more than just ‘do something’ – it’s about acting, in the theatrical sense. Our intern Max Hurst has been exploring what Theatre for Development (TfD) is, and why we use it here at Act4Africa… Musimbi...
This month saw us recognised with a USAid award for our contribution to family health via our Mayuge District-based Strides project. The Strides project, completed in 2012, was designed to help young people through improved access to sexual and repro...
It is now approaching five months since 276 girls were kidnapped from their school in Chibok, Nigeria. It is nearly two years since Malala Yousafzai was shot on her way home from school in Swat, Pakistan. As we know, in some parts of the world,......
