Thoughts by Scott Ferguson

When planning trips we often think we can anticipate with a lot of certainty what the outcome of the trip will be. My recent trip to Uganda did not come close to meeting my expectations. It literally blew them away! This happened notwithstanding the fact that I made one of the biggest mistakes of my life by allowing business commitments to cut short my visit to Buhoma and the Victory and Ebenezer Schools by three days! How I wish I could get those three days back.

I anticipated that the kids being supported by the Kamukama Foundation at these schools would capture my heart. What I did not anticipate is how they would become part of my heart and change me from within unlike other charitable endeavors I’ve undertaken before.

The sheer joy, love expressed, giddiness and inquisitiveness of the kids supported by Kamukama are indescribable. These kids are even more remarkable given the extremely dire circumstances they come from. In a rural part of Uganda where male unemployment is in excess of 90% and male alcoholism is rampant, the sustenance lifestyle is predominantly provided by women and children working on the tea plantations that cover the steep hillsides.

Thanks to the vision of the Kamukama Foundation, its founders and its incredible staff, the kids of Buhoma and the surrounding countryside now have another path to pursue, that of an education. In a country where corruption is widespread, and the government cannot or will not support the extreme impoverished, the opportunity for the kids to learn English and more from qualified teachers (also supported by the Kamukama Foundation!) is the only path to helping these kids break the cycle they were born into and help their country break the scourge of poverty. The kids with support from the Kamukama Foundation are already making a difference in their communities by getting their parents involved, graduating into secondary school and hopefully soon they will be attending universities and vocational schools!

My wife, our daughter and I have been supporting several children through the Foundation. We now truly realize what an impactful effort the Kamukama Foundation is making in lives that had no hope, only future despair. I would encourage you to help them in their incredible mission, as we all try to lift the Kamukama kids to a better life!