The Uganda Community Project is a registered non-profit corporation. We operate in Mmpumudde, Uganda. We are a group of Ugandans and Americans who are working together to open a community center to serve the local community around Jinja.
Denis otim and Kelsey Otim met at university and were married two years later and now they have a lovely girl named Aciro Jane Otim . They have been daydreaming about this non-profit since 2010. Kelsey has a background in ministry and Denis in technology. Denis’ passion is to make technology accessible to all people. Denis believes exposure to technology can link people to vital resources and information which will improve their overall quality of life.
The biggest inspiration for starting the community center is this lovely girl, Evelyn. Evelyn was born in the northern region of Uganda and educated in her native language, Acholi. When she was 11, her parents passed away. Evelyn was adopted and moved south to live near the city of Jinja, where she struggled to adjust to learning in English. As a result, Evelyn’s new school placed her in a grade level much lower than where she belonged. She excelled in math and science, but continually failed in English, history, and other subjects that required reading in English. Year after year, Evelyn was held back in school. Last year, she finally had access to books and computers to develop her language skills. This is the first year that she has passed her grade and advanced to the next level. We are so proud of her! Technology and reading material change lives. Through this community center, we want all of the children and adults of Mmpumudde to have access to these resources.
Rachel Wrigglesworth is UCP’s secretary and our most fun board member! Rachel lived in Mukono, Uganda in 2006 and since then has been passionate about empowerment and education in the developing world. Rachel has spent time training teachers in Haiti and she is a Fifth Grade sheltered teacher (meaning she teaches all subjects to English language learners) in an elementary school in Illinois. We are so thankful for Rachel’s intelligence and for talking everything through with us to make sure we are doing the best for the people in our community.
George Otema is a business owner in Mmpumudde, Uganda. He is married to the beautiful Achiro Florence and they have 6 children. George is active at church and a leader in his community.