The Canon Eric and Faith Bugaari Community Centre

During an annual visit to Rukungiri District in rural western Uganda, President Jolly Bugari and members of OTYO! conducted a needs-assessment, regarding youth programs in Kebisoni village. The community expressed concern with the high drop-out rate, as well as the idleness of the youth during school and holiday time. We observed, as well, the lack of youth access to skills training, youth programs, and information technology in the area. We reflected on our data, and decided that the most effective way to support the youth of this and similar communities is to build a community centre that can offer localized access to skills training, information technology, and health education. We began developing our plans for purchasing land, and building a community centre in Kebisoni village that would house youth access to these resources. 

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, who was also Canonized in the church.  Faith was a leader of 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. 

OTYO! will connect closely with local community based organizations to provide a space for these organizations to work to achieve their goals, as one of the main missions of OTYO! is to provide technical and financial assistance to local community based organizations who work with women, adolescents and vulnerable children in the region. We felt this would be a perfect opportunity to strengthen these relationships with the community.

The next steps to make the Community Centre a reality require support from you. We currently have support from local community members in Uganda, as well as in-kind donations from contacts in the San Francisco Bay area. However, what is really needed at this time is your financial help. We need $250,000 US dollars for the land, structure, equipment, and 3 years of operation. We will raise it in stages.

OTYO! will manage the Centre at first through our network, and will transfer management to the community oversight council as it comes together. The Centre will be in Kebisoni, Rukungiri District, UG, our target population. The Centre will have approximately 2000 square feet of enclosed building space. A donation of $50 dollars will translate to paying for about 1 square foot of and or construction. We look to our friends and previous donors to help us make the Community Centre a reality. 

You can donate directly via our PayPal account on this website, or send it to the address on our contact page.

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