By Vanessa Kyalimpa
Richard Mwogereze’s parents dropped out of school early in life, and so did his siblings. Those two incidents served as learning points for the young Mwogereze. As he grew up, he witnessed first-hand how his parents struggled to meet the basic needs of the family. Seeing them struggle, Mwogereze believed life would have been a little bit better if his parents had completed school. With education, he believed, they would have been able to afford formal employment, and, therefore, fend for the family.
He, therefore, struggled against all odds to keep in school.
“I would make bricks and offer manual labor in sugarcane plantations to earn money for school fees,” says Mwogereze, currently pursuing Masters of Arts in Organizational Leadership and Management at Uganda Christian University (UCU). He says he started paying his tuition and buying his school requirements in Primary Six.
Perhaps, Mwogereze would not have broken all the sweat to look for money for his tuition, had it not been for the life his aunt and her children led, which he says, was an inspiration to him. His cousins were going to school and, to him, the family could afford all the basic necessities they needed in life.
“Plus, they owned cars and houses,” he notes.
He kept his eye on the prize until he graduated with a Bachelor’s in Social Work and Social Administration. Finally, Mwogereze thought he was done. However, he soon learned that it was one thing to get a degree and another to get a job.
After failed attempts to secure himself a job, Mwogereze settled for establishing an organisation, through which he hoped, he would earn a living, as well as helping the less privileged. That is how Butansi Youth Forum, a community-based organisation in Kamuli district, eastern Uganda, was born. Through the organisation, Mwogereze hoped he would empower the youth with life skills. The organization suffered stillbirth as it did not take off. Mwogereze believes he paid the price of inexperience.
“I did not give up,” he says. “I soon got an opportunity to volunteer at a children’s home. Through that work, I got an opportunity to attend a conference, which opened the door of opportunities for me.”
Two women at the conference got interested in his work, and eventually employed him at their organization, Vine Uganda. The organisation is a non-profit evangelism program that conducts prison ministry and charity simultaneously. It serves up to nine villages in Kamuli district, offering child sponsorship, medical outreach, women’s projects and spiritual outreach. It also runs a pre-school and a babies’ home. Currently, Mwogereze serves as the organisation’s executive director.
Oftentimes, many women are left in dire poverty, struggling to provide food and shelter for their families. Vine Uganda is channeling energies to making life better for such women. It provides training for use of sewing machines, as well as employment. Through a six-month training course by a master seamstress, the women are expected to be able to make shirts, skirts, aprons, and school uniforms by the end of the training. Some of the products are sold in the community, and others like aprons sell in the United States..
“We envision a community that gives hope and a smile to the vulnerable and to those who have lost hope, with Jesus Christ being the centre of joy,” Mwogereze said. “It is an answer to the prayers of many vulnerable people.”
“We have also secured a large water project, an electric borehole.” The project, supported by Water Mission, is meant to help supply water to all units that house the organization’s projects, according to Mwogereze.
The organisation also sponsors up to 500 learners in primary, secondary and vocational levels, as well as community economic empowerment initiatives, where people are trained and given start-up capital to set up businesses that can provide them with income to support their families.
One of the biggest challenges they face, Mwogereze said, is limited funds, which grossly limits the number of people they impact in their programs. He is, nevertheless, hopeful that better days lie ahead.
