A dream built in Banda

Clean shaven and smiling, Wilson Hanington Kabeera speaks with composure. He was brought up by a single mother with five older siblings in the slum of Banda near Kyambogo University. The 32-year-old describes himself as a person who has a heart to help the less privileged. “I have always wanted to see smiles on faces of less privileged regardless of their situation,” he says. Also, in school his tuition was paid by someone he did not know. He says a group of people came offering to sponsor children who were disadvantaged and bright.
“I was one of the best performers. David Bottomley, an American, paid my school fees at Kyambogo Primary School from Primary Three up to Senior Four at Kyambogo College School but we had never met,” Kabeera recalls.
Even after Senior four, Kabeera wished to meet the selfless Bottomley. Then he joined A-Level at Kyambogo College. “In vacation, I worked as a casual labourer at Pepsi warehouse. From my savings and my older brothers’ contribution I managed to raise tuition for further studies, ” he explains.

Reality unfolds
Kabeera kept his job at Pepsi and joined Multitech Business School where he pursued a Degree in Accounting. In 2003, he graduated and started jobhunting which turned out fruitless.
He instead got a job at Capital shoppers Supermarket as supermarket attendant. However, his dream was to do community work. Kabeera gave up the job to do voluntary work at St Kakumba Chapel in Kyambogo University. “At St Kakumba chapel, my role was to do youth ministry; we used to reach out to the needy in the community by providing them with basic needs,” he recalls. At the same time, he also did voluntary work at Youth Outreach Uganda and that was when he attained interpersonal relations and knowledge on how to run a charity organisation. “ I felt it was time to move on.” And in 2004, he was contacted by a friend who wanted to start a tours and travel company. He received capital and started a company, Real Africa. “I started from scratch until it started doing well but I had misunderstandings with the owner. I left after one year,” Kabeera says.
Since his childhood dream was to do charity, he got in touch with Collin Piper, a friend from Britain who used to volunteer at Youth Outreach. The two started an organisation called International Christian Youth Works.
“The company was new but at that time, we could only help poor people in Banda where I grew up. The funding was mainly from UK. We struggled to mobilise and put resources to use. However, this did not last as our sponsors stopped remitting funds,” he says with a frown.
The team did not give up. They mobilised four more and decided to start up something new. Since they had previously worked for different communities they brought forth Empower Uganda. They rented a place in Mengo which served as their office and home. Through networking and making new friends from different countries, the organisation grew in leaps and bounds; they met many international people who wanted to be part of the cause as volunteers.
“We used to reach out to children through activities such as games and sports, music and drama,” he recalls. This brought a smile to the less privileged in the community.

Turning point
The team grew into a big family. Some volunteers from USA such as Jake and Alex picked interest in working with us. Three years down, they went back home and invited Kabeera to America to tell his story and the kind of work he does. Also, the organisation had got international networks in different countries. “Going to America was one of my childhood dreams because it was the chance I could get to meet Bottomley, my childhood sponsor,” Kabeera says, adding that he then asked an organisation which availed him with Bottomley’s email address. The reply was, “Son, nice to hear from you, hope to see you soon.”
Kabeera did not have a steady income and had no proper contacts in the US. He went to meet Bottomley and told him about organisation.
“Bottomley liked the idea and he decided to come on boar. He is one of the board members of Empower a Child, he also advised me to set up an office in the US which serves as the head office. He has been coming to Uganda for the past four years,” he says.
Kabeera spent seven months there looking for funders and partners. “Later, I had to travel thrice a year until registered Empower a child US in 2009.”
Most of the funders are individuals and a few companies which come on board to support the cause. These are got through networking; they offer school fees and knowledge in developmental programmes.

Challenges
The biggest challenge, he says, is in Uganda where resources are hard to mobilise. “Individuals and organisations that are well off do not consider us when approached to help the needy unlike in the US where the citizens and the government respond positively to charity,” he says. If we could take care of our own then we can kick out poverty and unemployment.

Beneficiaries
Stephen Okurut, 25, Volunteer at Empower a child: My father passed on when I was in my Primary Six, I struggled to continue school because my mother’s business had collapsed. In Senior Two, I almost gave up. I went to Green valley School in Kyebando and asked to study on credit then pay during vacation. I was a member of Scripture Union when Empower a child Uganda came to do ministry at our school. I told them my life story and they offered to pay my school dues plus A-Level at Kireka High school until I joined Bugema University. I will graduate on November 1.
Luka Ssali, 49, caretaker and farmer: When Empower a child Uganda came to Zirobwe in 2000, they provided mattresses, clothes and a solar power water well. They took me for an operation because I had anaemia. They also took my daughter to Sudan for a heart valve surgery and built for me an ironsheet-roofed house.