Linda Knoll’s KKF Testimonial

I had the privilege and honor of joining eleven other women to visit the Kamukama Foundation and the community it serves in Uganda in February 2023.

Our days in Uganda were full.

We visited the Kamukama Foundation and spent time getting to know its extraordinary team who are working so hard to truly make a difference in their community.

We visited the foundation’s project harvest fields and their very impressive farmstand recently established at the local farmer’s market.

We worked at schools registering students, passing out sponsor letters, taking pictures, playing games and spending time laughing, reading, dancing and being with the students and their teachers. It was incredible to witness the enthusiasm, dedication, and passion of everyone at these schools.

We delivered new books to Ebenezer School and participated in a heartfelt dedication of its library.

We went to church with the community and prayed, sang and danced with them.

We set up a “Dream Big” classroom full of games and manipulatives for the students to embrace new, fun, and creative ways to learn.

We participated in a PTA meeting where not just the students, but their parents sang and danced with so much enthusiasm (it sure beat the PTA meetings I attend here in the states!).

Every day was powerful and impactful and sometimes emotional.

A home visit one afternoon was an emotional experience that left quite an impact on my heart.

We had the privilege of visiting a sponsored student, Matthias, and his family at their home.

Matthias’s father was never in the picture and his mother died shortly after he was born. His grandparents are raising him with the help of others in their extended family.

Their home is located up a long, rural and rocky three-mile dirt road that seven-year-old Matthias has to walk to and from school each day. His home is a simple mud hut with no running water or electricity.

A small chicken coup and kitchen sit outside with a stack of wood nearby that is needed to build a fire each day to cook.

Water for drinking, showering and cooking has to be hand carried in buckets from quite a distance down the rocky dirt road.

For a family of twelve, the home was small and very basic and we got to see firsthand the challenges that families in rural Uganda face.

Despite the poverty in which they lived; I was struck by a few things:

The family was full of so much pride, joy and gratitude.

Just like all of us on the trip, they share the same hopes, fears, dreams and desires as we do as parents.

They want what is best for their children and value the gift of an education.

An education in this small rural town is truly lifechanging. It doesn’t only impact just the sponsored child, but the entire family.

Healthcare, access to fields to grow food and social worker visits are a part of the gift of having a child sponsored to attend school through the Kamukama Foundation.

Watching Matthias and his family beam with pride as they opened up their home to us was impactful. They had little in the way of belongings, but were overflowing with joy, gratitude, and love. It was remarkable to see.

Maya Angelou once said “People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. People will never forget how you made them feel”.

I will never forget how the people of Uganda made me feel.

It was humbling and heartwarming to witness firsthand the joy and gratitude not only with Matthias’s family, but at the different schools we visited, with the incredible hardworking team at the Foundation and within this small rural community in Uganda.

The Kamukama Foundation is making an extraordinary difference, and I am honored to have been a part of it.

It was truly a trip of a lifetime and one that has left a deep and profound impact on me and my heart.