We are on our way to Uganda to visit our target community in Kebisoni Village, in Rukungiri District! We will be reviewing and experiencing our sponsorships, and conducting needs assessments for the community. President Jolly Bugari and San Francisco secretary David Gerbic will be in Uganda during the months of December and January on Behalf of OTYO! (A Sigh of Relief). They will meet with representatives of the Kebisoni Tumanyane Group (KTG) to discuss the programs we have and will be sponsoring. They will also be making next steps in our work acquiring the land for our Community Center. Stay tuned to our social media for posts sharing about the journey, the work, and the successes of our collaborations and initiatives.

New GoFundMe for OTYO!

Want to join OTYO! (A Sigh of Relief) in making a difference in the village of Kebisoni? We are raising funds to purchase land to build a community center in the village of Kebisoni in rural Uganda. Check our GoFundMe Link.

OTYO! (A Sigh of Relief) started as a passion project more than 18 years ago by two women public health graduate students. Since its inception, the members of OTYO! have worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life and health of women, adolescents, and orphans in rural Uganda, by providing financial and technical support to community-based organizations (CBOs) working with these populations. The CBOs supported by OTYO! will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of service provision in areas of Food Security, Health Care Access, Health Education, and Community Empowerment.

Recently we received an opportunity to purchase a piece of land in the village of Kebisoni South which would be perfect for the location of OTYO’s Community Centre. Once we have obtained the land, the construction of the Community Centre will begin.

The community center will be named after President Jolly Bugari’s late parents Faith and Canon Eric Bugaari. Canon Bugaari and his wife Faith were both prominent community leaders. Canon Bugaari was first and foremost an educator who taught at the Kakinga Primary School in Kebisoni for many years and was also Canonized in the church. Faith was a leader of the Mother’s Union for the Kebisoni Chapter. Naming the Centre after Faith and Canon Bugaari would reflect and honor their roles as community leaders and educators, and is a gesture of recognition and appreciation to their community service. Because we believe in contributing to the local economy, the construction of the Centre will be done by local community members and will be managed by OTYO! members based in Kebisoni locally. 

The Centre will be designed to include space for a local OTYO! office, a small library for the community, as well as meeting rooms for skill training and youth programs led by community-based organizations.

Before we can move ahead with the construction of our Centre we need to raise the funds to purchase the land for the site. OTYO! has been offered a parcel of land located in the south Kebisoni. We will need to raise a minimum of $15,000.00 to purchase this land.

We hope you can join us in making the Community Centre a reality for the village of Kebisoni by donating what you can. We will update our fundraiser page periodically as we progress toward our financial goal.

We wish to thank Lucy McCall for creating an amazing event, and a beautiful evening. We are grateful for everyone that came out to support OTYO! and support the good people of Rukungiri District, Uganda.

We are grateful for the opportunity to share our work with all of you. Thank you for caring!

Here’s a video of Jolly Bugari speaking to the youth of the KTG programs     Video Link

-Powerpoint Presentation

-YouTube Channel

-The OTYO! Collection of Fine African Artwork for Charitable Fundraising! 

July 2024

We are excited to announce that we have successfully raised our goal of $5000 for this quarter, which will be used for a grant to sponsor a traditional dance and drama youth group in Rukungiri District, rural western Uganda.  All of us at OTYO are so grateful for everyone’s contributions.  These funds will be given as a grant to the Kebisoni Tumanyane Group (KTG), a local CBO in Rukungiri District, Uganda that serves our target community. This grant will help to pay for things such as instruction, outfits/props, first aid kit, transportation, and meeting places. Check out our website www.otyo.org to learn more about this upcoming initiative/sponsorship, and to learn about the different programs that we’ve already been sponsoring  Visit the OTYO Channel on YouTube to see some of the traditional dance the youth program will provide.

The Kebisoni Tumanyane Group is a CBO registered with the Government of Uganda, which was started in 2019 as a community-based group that focuses on community development. This organization is financially sponsored in part by OTYO! (A Sigh of Relief) through our support of the KTG youth programs, such as the Kebisoni Tumanyane Sports Team.

Kebisoni Tumanyane Group (KTG) is a fully inclusive community and sports organization, which provides highly organized programs for youth 15 years and up.

Kebisoni Tumanyane Group (KTG) is bsed in Kebisoni, Rukungiri District, Uganda.
Manager: Robert Turyahikayo
Original founder and Assistant Manager: Nuwamanya Tom Bugaari

. www.otyo.org