My friend Bukama Hakim in Uganda has been caring for orphaned children in his village. Instead of turning away, he welcomed them into his life and now supports 10 children who have nowhere else to go. Some time ago, Hakim asked me to help him create a fundraiser for a sewing education project to empower the orphans (https://www.gofundme.com/f/sewing-project-to-empower-ugandan-orphans). The campaign has been successful and is still in progress.

For some time now, he has been trying to build a small home for the orphaned children under his care and has been updating his Facebook page with the progress (https://www.facebook.com/bukama.hakim). As of now, the house can not be completed because the funds for materials ran out. The goal of this campaign is to finish the final room and kitchen so the children can finally have a safe place to live. What moved me most is that Hakim himself grew up through extreme hardship, and instead of giving up, he chose to help others. If you feel moved, please consider supporting or sharing this campaign. Even small donations can help complete this home for the children.

Here are the details Hakim shared with me:

My name is Bukama Hakim, and I live in Katumba Village in Bundibugyo District, Uganda.

Today I care for 10 orphaned children, while several others in our community live in foster homes because we do not yet have enough space to shelter them all. My dream is simple: to build a safe home where these children can live, sleep, and grow without fear.

Today, I am writing not just as someone doing humanitarian work but simply as a boy who cares deeply for the children around him and wants to see them safe. We have gotten to do projects that support the empowerment of these kids, and this has been mostly partly with your support. The current house is a mess now, irons have holes in it. Sometimes it truly breaks my heart. When the rain falls, the children struggle to find a dry place to sleep, and worst of it all, the kids in the foster homes are miserably treated, at times food becomes difficult, and seeing them face these conditions makes me feel helpless. These moments often bring tears to my eyes because every child deserves warmth, safety, and care.

This humanitarian journey began in 2022, during the difficult months following the COVID-19 pandemic. Many families in rural villages struggled to survive. Schools were closed, food became scarce, and many children were abandoned or forced into early marriages. As I watched these challenges unfold in my community, I felt a deep responsibility to act.

But the reason this cause matters so much to me comes from my own life story.

I was born into a complicated family situation. My father had two wives, and my mother was the second wife. This brought many challenges. There was intimidation, conflict, and hardship within the family. My mother was married at only 21 years old and had never had the chance to attend school. She grew up in a community where education was not considered important, and early marriage was seen as normal.

Before I was born, my mother lost her first child, a baby girl who died during infancy. That loss remained part of our family story, and it shaped my heart deeply. It is one of the reasons I feel such compassion for vulnerable mothers, teenage girls, and abandoned children today.

When I was still very young, my mother faced continued pressure and hostility within the family. Eventually she made the difficult decision to leave the marriage. At that time I was only seven years old, and my younger sister was two. For some time we were placed under the care of relatives, where life was extremely difficult. There was heavy work, missed school, and emotional hardship that made our childhood feel lonely and uncertain.

Later, our mother tried again to rebuild her life through another marriage, but that relationship also became violent and unstable. Eventually she left again and returned to Katumba Village to raise us with the little she could earn through a small village restaurant.

Growing up through these struggles gave me a deep understanding of what it feels like for children to live without security, without stability, and sometimes without the love and protection they deserve.

Years later, when the pandemic disrupted our communities, I saw many children facing similar pain. Some dropped out of school. Some girls became pregnant at very young ages. Others were abandoned or left wandering the streets.

I could not ignore what was happening around me.

So I started small. I began a community gardening project, planting crops that could be shared among vulnerable families. When the food was harvested, it helped support people in the village who were struggling the most.

Soon after, I realized that many girls needed more than food, they needed skills and opportunities. With the help from Ashley, who organized a small campaign, we were able to acquire five sewing machines. That was the beginning of our tailoring training project, where we now train girls in groups every three months so they can learn skills and build independent futures. But another need continued to grow, the need to care for children who had nowhere safe to stay. What began as a simple effort from village members slowly turned into something meaningful.

The house we are building is designed in an L-shaped structure with four rooms. The center room will be a playroom, where the children can study, laugh, and experience the joy of childhood. The remaining rooms will serve as sleeping spaces where they can rest safely at night.

So far, we have managed to construct three rooms, but one room is still unfinished because our building materials ran out. Next to the house, we have also begun constructing a kitchen room where meals will be prepared for the children each day.

The structure now stands partially completed a symbol of hope, but also a reminder that we still have work to do. Without support, construction may stop, and the children will continue living in difficult conditions without the safe home they deserve.



Your support today can help us purchase the remaining building materials needed to complete the final room, finish the house, and provide a safe shelter for these children.

Every contribution no matter how small brings us closer to turning these unfinished walls into a place filled with warmth, laughter, and opportunity.

These children are not asking for luxury. Every day the children ask me when the house will be ready. “And every day I tell them: “Soon.” They are only hoping for a safe place to sleep, learn, and grow.

Right now:

• Three rooms are standing

• The fourth room is still unfinished

• The kitchen structure is still in progress

Funds will go toward:

• Bricks and cement for the final room

• Roofing materials

• A doors and a window

• Flooring and finishing

• Completing the kitchen structure

• Beds and mattresses for the children

Even a small contribution makes a real difference.

• $100 helps buy construction bricks

• $500 helps purchase cement

• $100 helps varnish and paint the house

• $250 helps roof the unfinished room

• $100 helps furnish a sleeping room

Please consider donating and sharing this campaign with others who believe that every child deserves safety, dignity, and hope. Together, we can finish this home and change the future for these children. Thank you for always having a compassionate heart. Your support, prayers, and kindness mean so much to us.

With gratitude,

Bukama Hakim

About the poster:

The GoFundMe platform is not available to people who live in Uganda so they are unable to create their own fundraisers. Hakim and many others have asked me for assistance in setting up fundraisers as there are no local social services available in this very impoverished part of the world. Donations are transferred to my account and then I transfer the funds to the recipient via World Remit. Receipts are available upon request.

-Ashley

Feel free to reach out to us on Facebook if you have further questions:

https://www.facebook.com/ashley.rowley.92/