Be the change

There are so many Ugandans living below the poverty line. Some cannot afford a good education for their children, for others a meal, descent dressing, a roof under their heads and meeting good medical needs are hard to come by.

Meet Martin Okalany Mugabi: A Ugandan humanitarian that has championed provision of basic needs to the most vulnerable through his organization: Basic Life Uganda.

Be inspired with his story 🤗

 What inspired you to start Basic Life Uganda?

 My Inspiration to start Basic Life Uganda was largely my life story.

I grew up in an environment were there was a lot of struggle accessing  the basic needs of life. I lost my father at the age of nine, and life was not easy at all. My prayer was that my siblings and I could have all our  basic needs met.

As I grew older, life became more complex,  I survived by the Grace of God. A number of people with golden hearts played different huge roles in my up bringing.

Martin Says :  Looking back at my early years of life and seeing all the hurdles of getting any basic need. I was inspired to help others access what I strived getting as a young boy, I could not find any other way of doing this, but by starting Basic Life Uganda.

Can you tell us some of the activities Basic Life has done so far?

We have carried out Back to School Compaigns for slum children. Through these fundraisers, scholastic materials and school fees are raised to support the education of some of the slum children in our care. 

Tuzimbe Ensomero project which is translated as " let's  build a school.

  

We identify a school in one of the slums and carry out a needs assessment. From the assessment, we lend a hand to one of the greatest challenges the school is facing. This we do in order to create a condusive environment for the children.

We carry out annual Christmas outreaches in the slums of Nalukolongo and other communities that befit our vision which is "to optimize basic needs for all people in different societies".

 This event is composed with a series of activities. We distribute donations, carry out skills trainings, a children's party, evangelism and motivational talks.

What some of the challenges you have faced and how are you solving them?

 Project funding has made it hard to fullfill part of our set plans as an organization. To address this challenge, we have  prioritized  our projects and executed them depending on the most pressing and urgent ones. We continue to remain committed to our work and working within our means as we wait to cross other bridges in the near future.

  Many volunteers tend to join the organization  and come with alot of excitement and expectations of earning loads of money 😄, this has led to changes in the turn over. The volunteers later on find out that we prioritize the task before hand and then the rest of the benefits follow. 

We are solving this by putting in place a volunteer recruitment team, that interviews and lays out expectations from both parties to curb the turn over.

Being an infant organization, we have had some unstable operational cash flows.  We are overcoming this by looking out for sponsorship opportunities and also creating means of attracting self sustainability.

I have met people that have doubted my vision. With so much negativity, they have made it look and sound like I can not make the change. However , I choose to serve with my heart. A smile from those we support quenches my low moments.

What are some of the principles that have guided you through this journey?

My foundation is Christ and my Vision is Christ driven.  No matter the challenges, I keep glowing and growing because I know that I was chosen and accepted to start Basic Life Uganda . So I walk with faith.

What message would you love to tell the young people out there?

 The young people should know that we can all make a change in our different capacities. It is such a Joy to put a smile on other people's faces.

Let us try to be un comfortable, while making others comfortable, the reward is eternal.

I will leave them a scripture in Mathew 25:31-46.

Be blessed

Martin Okalany Mugabi

Executive director 

Basic Life Uganda.