Day 165: Give Love This Christmas
Voluntary giving makes you happier than spending on yourself, studies show. If you’re looking for a way to bring deeper meaning to Christmas this year, consider donating to Bright Kids Uganda.
Bright Kids Uganda
During the years when I went to Uganda regularly (pre-COVID), we frequently visited a woman named Victoria Nalongo Namusisi, founder of Bright Kids.
After a career as the first female sports journalist in Uganda and an administrator in the Office of the President, Victoria currently cares for around 70 children at her home in Entebbe and on her native Nsazi Island, Uganda. On our visits, Victoria told our students how she ended up mothering so many children.
When her own biological children were young, Victoria became a Scout leader and began reaching out to children on the streets of Katwe, one of the largest slums in Kampala. Eventually, she asked the children if they would like to join the Scouts.
We can’t, one of the children told her. The Scout oath requires your to promise to be honest. We can’t do that, because we have to steal for our food.
A Moment of Truth
That child’s truth struck Victoria so profoundly that she felt she had to do something. She went back to Katwe, met the children, and offered to take some of them into her home. She thought they would refuse. They didn’t — but the boys insisted she take girls first, because they were more vulnerable.
Again, the children’s hearts compelled her. After settling in the girls, she went back and offered homes to some of the boys.
Growth and Miracles
In the two decades since, Victoria has continued to expand Bright Kids. With the devastation and displacement of children caused by the separatist war of Joseph Kony’s army in northern Uganda, she began traveling there, rebuilding communities by making microloans to women and taking in orphans who could not be settled elsewhere.
The work also sponsors a home and group for women who have been victims of acid burns; a school for disabled children; and children needing colostomy surgery.
food and fuel price spikes disrupt education
Victoria relies on donations to support and educate all of these children. Since meeting her in 2015, I’ve been a regular donor.
This year, Victoria wrote to tell me that heavy rains have driven down production and driven up prices of food. Accompanied by COVID-level fuel prices, schools cannot afford to feed the children and have sent them home early. They also asked children not to return for an extra two months. That means Victoria must feed 70 children for nearly three months longer than expected.
I made my Christmas donation to Bright Kids Uganda today. I donate online through the ASA Social Fund for Hidden Peoples, an organization started by Lou Picard, a professor of African Studies at the University of Pittsburgh, and his wife Pauline Greenlick, a documentary filmmaker. The funds are received by ASA Social Fund at a bank in the United States and Pauline wires them to Victoria’s bank in Uganda.
Connecting with Bright Kids
Studies show that seeing your gift’s impact contributes strongly to happiness (and desire to keep giving). If you’d like to get involved with Bright Kids — maybe even travel to Uganda to meet Victoria and the kids — please reach out to me or to Pauline Greenlick at ASA Social Fund. Victoria has lodging at her place and is always happy to receive guests. University of Pittsburgh places graduate students there for summer internships, and our Bujuuko Foundation will pay a visit to Victoria if we are able to gear up following a COVID shutdown.