A Village for Atim: Rest, Recovery, and Radical Care
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She has mothered many. Now it’s our turn to hold her.
Joyce Mary Atim is a mother to ten foster children, a powerful disability rights advocate, and a spinal cord injury survivor. She founded the Center for Spinal Injury Advocacy in Iganga, Uganda—a volunteer-run organization supporting girls and women living with spinal cord injuries.
Over the past two years, Atim's life has been shaped by cascading health crises and the unbearable weight of care in a context where there is no safety net. Without access to quality public healthcare, and with no consistent income, she has had to navigate repeated hospitalizations, the grief of losing a child, and the mounting costs of daily survival—all while continuing to care for others.
She does not want pity. She wants peace.
She is not asking to be rescued. She is asking for radical care.
In Uganda, there is a proverb:
“Omwana takuulira munju emu”
A child does not grow up only in a single home.
This campaign is rooted in that truth. We are building a global village of care around Atim and her family—so she can rest, recover, and continue the vital work she has done for so many others.
Who Is Atim?
Atim is known by many as a fierce advocate and a quiet force of transformation. Through her organization, she has created space for girls and women with spinal cord injuries to be seen, heard, and supported—often in ways the system never has. She also holds a home where ten children, each with their own stories of loss and resilience, find care and safety. Her life is woven through with responsibility—and also with vision, laughter, and radical love.
She has carried many. This is our turn to carry her.
What We’re Raising
Our first milestone is €8,500—enough to meet Atim’s most urgent needs for the coming months.
If this campaign surpasses that, every additional euro will extend her stability, her recovery, and the reach of her work.
This will help with:
- Daily food and basic necessities
- Medical care, including sterile catheters and follow-up treatment
- Accessible transport to reach the hospital
- Emergency healthcare for the children
- Most importantly: time to heal, without the pressure to beg or work while unwell
How You Can Be Part of This Circle:
Contribute what you can.
Share this message with someone who can give.
Speak it aloud—on a voice note, in a prayer, in your heart.
This is not charity. This is a circle of care.
This is what happens when we remember that even the strongest women deserve to be held.
This is a village remembering itself.
With reverence and kinship,
Atim’s friends (María Luisa, Andre, Ana, Sara, Shiva, Andrés, Sofia, María del Mar, and many, many more)
The Bigger Picture
If we were living in a world aligned with justice and dignity, this fundraiser wouldn’t be for €8,500. It would be for millions.
That’s what it would take for Atim to:
- Heal fully and live without financial precarity
- Access the care she needs—consistently and with dignity
- Send her children to school, clothed, nourished, supported
- Continue leading and expanding her support and advocacy for girls and women with disabilities across Uganda
- Secure accessible transportation and infrastructure so she can do this work anywhere—not just where a road or ramp allows
We share this vision not to overwhelm, but to anchor this fundraiser in what is truly needed.
And still—we begin where we are.
May this village remember how to care. May this offering ripple beyond the ask.
Organizer
Maria Luisa Toro
Organizer