My name is Kawesa Ahamed, also known as Meddy, a 31-year-old Ugandan living in Mbale. I was raised by Mr. Abdallah Sengendo, a retired teacher who turned his home into a community school. I joined his home at the age of nine after my father passed away, leaving my mother, a housewife, struggling to care for me and my two elder sisters. With no means to pay for school, my sisters were forced to marry young, at ages 15 and 17.
Mr. Sengendo took me in and began teaching me along with other children he had taken in from the community. He turned his home into a school and paid for my education until I completed my Primary Leaving Examination (PLE). When my results came back with good marks, he found a way to get me into Mbale Progressive School on a bursary for secondary education.
Tragically, during my S.3 first term, Mr. Sengendo passed away, leaving me devastated. However, the school allowed me to continue my studies until I completed S.4. With no funds to continue my education, I returned to my mother, who was heartbroken by the loss of my benefactor. I soon left home to relieve my mother’s stress and sought work to support her. I found a job as a porter on a construction site for ten months, saved money, and got a driving permit, hoping to find better-paying work.
A friend helped me secure a job as a driver for a tour company, which was my first significant achievement. I began saving money to support my family and pursue my dream of starting an orphanage. I also recognized the need to further my education, but my earnings were insufficient to cover both school fees and family expenses.
Despite these challenges, I began helping orphaned children by providing school supplies. As more people reached out for help, I decided to start an orphanage, initiating the Bright Orphanage Project with 14 children in 2016. I placed them at my mother’s house and hired a caretaker. By 2017, the number of children had grown to 41. To sustain the project, I started a tour company, Bright Safaris Uganda, in 2018.
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 brought significant challenges, reducing the number of children I could support to 16. Despite the hardships, I persevered, and today I care for 37 children, though limited finances prevent me from accepting more. Nonetheless, I continue to receive numerous requests for help, striving to make a difference in the lives of these children.