• +1 (310) 237-2203
  • florenceforyouthinaction@gmail.com
  • 7657 Winnetka Ave. Ste 225, Winnetka CA, 91306, USA

Our School Projects

Florence For Youth Education Center - Bugiri

Bugiri is our most recent build and largest! Located near the Kenyan border, these communities’ children are very susceptible to corruption, rape and human trafficking.

In an effort to institute and establish education within the communities, we purchased about three acres and now own about five, with the hopes of a play field for them to run and play freely and safely. 

A two-storied building is in the final construction phases and with two well water already installed, the community is full of joy and inspiration. The men and women of the locals have organized their own “PTA.” We purchase the fabric  and we late the local people makes the  children uniforms, and we pay them. We try to support the community to be part of the school and we cook for the students each day, where most of them were going to bed hungry or will receive

the only meal for the day. We also provide medical  treatment to all the students, and  for the young girls who would not attend school when in their menstruating cycle.

We are grateful to Days For Girls Organization for donating to us the reusable pad packages to enable our girls  to attend school regularity. A bustling school and indefatigable community members make this a very cool project to be a part of us! We have now taught our women organization to make them locally it it has been helpful to many girls and mothers.

Nakatembe Primary School Built by FFYIA

Nakatembe Primary School is located in a rural, countryside community, built by FFYIA What began as grassland, now has a finished building and,well covered  constructed toilets. It also serves and feeds over 400 children daily. Along with the  help of  dioceses of Church of Uganda, helps to pay teachers and administration, school uniforms, food and school supplies. 

Uganda is in a period of peace, families are rebuilding from historical civil war and famine. There is no time like now to continue to establish educational facilities and infrastructure for parents willing to embrace education for their children they could not otherwise afford. We are helping to bring the opportunity of school to Ugandans as there is no free/government sponsored public education system.

Kiryokya Nursing School

Where do our students go after primary school has been completed? We were presented with this question as they continued to grow in their education. 

Kiryokya School of Health Sciences was born out of this necessity for life after primary and secondary school. The main objective is to teach midwifery among the other medical subjects and knowledge their shelves desired to be filled with.

With a clean space to learn and an abundance of land to continue to cultivate, the school harbours male and female students with the same potential in mind and spirit. 

The Budaada Sure House School

Starting as a shed in 2008, this school housed about 80 students and was quickly embraced by the community of the Budaada Village, Kayunga District, Uganda. A primary school building was built in 2009 with four classrooms. It has grown to school 300 children. We are blessed to offer free education to the orphans, ranging from grades 1 -to 7.

We encourage other local working community families to register their children, too. Their child’s school fees and our donations raised in the US enable us to cover expenses for the orphans’ supplies and pay wages for our teachers and administrative staff.

In 2013, volunteers from Holland and other supporters helped to install the roof of the school! Thanks to the Rotary Club of Beverly Hills, FFYIA was able to install the new benches and desks for the students. 

The Sure House Maboga Primary School

Located in Maboga Village of the Ssese Islands, Kalangala District of Uganda, the school is a 40 minutes ferry ride across Lake Victoria from the capital of Kampala.

The island on one side presents wealth, white sand beaches and a paradise for local and international tourism. The other is characterized by high levels of illiteracy, HIV/AIDS, poverty, high pregnancy rates and alcoholism. This culminated in big numbers of unwanted babies, and orphaned children, among the high levels of infant mortality. The fishing industry dominates as a source of income for many. Women often sell cigarettes and booze and participate in subsistence agriculture.

In 2007, FFYIA was inspired to intervene and headed up a school build project to provide hope for the children of these forgotten, destitute communities on the islands. A group of volunteers and donors from Boise, ID, USA, Holland and local Ugandans joined together and converted the space into a nursery and formal primary school, starting with 40 children numbers grew to100. We continue to encourage parents to enroll their children in school while we raised funds and sponsorships to cover their fees. 

USA Office

  • 7657 Winnetka Avenue; Suite 225
  • Winnetka, CA 92306, USA
  • Phone: +1.310.237.2203
  • Fax: +1. 310.237.5952
  • florenceforyouthinaction@gmail.com

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Uganda Office

  • P.O. Box 313
  • Bugiri, Uganda, East Africa
  • Phone: +256.785.44.4876
  • Fax: +256.709.74.3907
  • fyiaproject2019@gmail.com

Copyright 2025 © All rights Reserved. Florence for Youth in Action, a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Based in Los Angeles County, California, USA

Design by FRANKHOST (+256 784 975 651)

Jonathan Kakembo

Jonathan Kakembo

My Life: From Agony to Bliss
 

My eyes fill with tears when I recall my childhood; moreover, the story even gets worse in my teenage. I will try to remember as far back as I can. I was born on May 11, 1994, in Kiyanda village, Luweero district, near Uganda’s capital – Kampala. I started school at three years, just like any other child. However, the good days ended soon after my father married his second wife. Had she not been a witch, perhaps her rivalry with my mother wouldn’t have resulted in the unbearable suffering that ensued.

My father turned violent toward my mother, brother and me. We were repeatedly battered and denied basic needs, especially food and decent clothing. Consequently, the school had to end for my brother and I. Worse still, my stepmother sought to sacrifice me to the gods in her quest for riches. I now think that my father was so drunk with her witchcraft that he hardly

 

recognised us as his children. He merely looked on as my stepmother hurled insults and threats at us. At best, he could beat us if we reiterated or threatened to report to the clan elders.

When I started to have violent seizures in 2003, possibly due to witchcraft (ancestral spirits), my father disowned me; he did not want to be associated with a boy who suffered from a spell largely believed to be for the damned. My mother left our village and brought me along to Kampala, where she worked as a bar attendant. She took me to a nearby primary school where I was expelled on the first day when I had violent seizures and caused a scene in the school.  I was later taken to a witch doctor who recommended a very bizarre prescription. I had to drink two cups of lizard blood per week, which I did for at least a month. When my condition showed no indication of improving, the witch doctor instructed me to sleep with a tortoiseshell, which I desperately obeyed for two years, up to 2005.

By the end of 2009, my mother and I had visited more than a dozen witch doctors. I had literally given up on life at that point. Fortunately, a cousin of mine advised me to seek deliverance in a local church where I spent several nights constrained with ropes. I eventually vomited a snake when the pastor laid hands on me. This is always hard for me to comprehend, but I am grateful when I watch the video clips of my deliverance. I had hoped to reconcile with my father and stepmother but they passed on soon after my recovery.

I returned to my home village to resume primary school in 2010; my mother remained in Kampala but lost her job shortly after. I worked in my teachers’ gardens so that they could buy me scholastic materials and pay registration fees for the national examinations in 2011. I passed the examinations and joined a rural secondary school. Regular absenteeism was a habit for me since I had difficulty paying the school fees, despite having received a half bursary for my good conduct and hard work.

 
 

I had no hope of any academic advancement after excelling in the national secondary examination in 2015. Out of desperation, I hatched plans to join the national army forces as soon as it was advertised. In the meantime, I continued to sing in the church choir and sometimes went solo.  It was after presenting a song in a local church that I narrated my experiences and a number of congregants were overwhelmed by my sad story. One of them contacted Penny Leon – the President, of Florence for Youth in Action.

Oh, my goodness! I hardly believed when I got a communication from Penny Leon, and that she would come to my rescue. It was a new dawn for me. She facilitated me to enrol for a two years program, Certificate in Audio Production in Esom School of Music in 2017. Penny has since then been paying my tuition and other scholastic materials. I am currently in my last semester of study and will graduate next year. How grateful I am to Florence for Youth in Action!

Within the period of my study at the Music school, I have acquired a lot of skills, and my songwriting and singing career is now most promising. I have been able to travel and perform in Kenya, Tanzania and in many parts of Uganda. I am confident that I will own a state-of-the-art music studio in future. My dream is to be one of the best contemporary music producers in Uganda.

Words alone cannot fully express how indebted I am to Penny Leon and all stakeholders of Florence for Youth in Action. You have lifted me from a pool of suffering to a sea of possibilities. Thank you, Penny Leon!

Kakembo Jonathan,

Florence for Youth in Action beneficiary

siwa-final

Siwa Denis

My Success Story: Hope Restored

I was born and raised in a remote village on the slopes of Mt. Elgon, which lies in the far east of Uganda, Africa. My parents survive by farming on their small piece of land, which has ‘shrunk’ over the years as my elder brothers take over some plots. I am the youngest of twelve siblings and it seems I am the unluckiest, having grown up when my parents are old. Only two of my eldest siblings were able to complete their diploma programs; they went to the school when my parents were still stronger.

I completed my primary and ordinary secondary education in rural public schools; I took advantage of the government’s free primary and secondary education. Even then, I had difficulty acquiring the basic scholastic materials. I often had to support myself from my small vegetable garden. After completing secondary education in 2012, I seem to have hit a dead end. My then old and sickly parents wouldn’t even raise the basic requirements for me to enrol in college.

I had lost all hopes of achieving my academic dreams when I met Penny Leon (President, Florence for Youth in Action), who received me with open arms. She offered to support me in my academic path; Florence for Youth in Action paid my tuition, accommodation and other scholastic requirements. I completed a Certificate in Computer Engineering at Management Training and Advisory Centre in 2016, and I am now enrolled for a Diploma in Computer Engineering in the same institution, thanks to Florence for Youth in Action. Even when I recently lost all my academic documents, Penny Leon facilitated me to replace them.

Besides the incredible academic achievements, I have also made many friends on campus and in the hostels.

This only shines more light on my future. It is now my dream to help other underprivileged youths to achieve their dreams.

Thank you, Florence for Youth in Action, for supporting me; my future is now as bright as it could get. I am forever grateful!!!

Siwa Denis,

Florence for Youth in Action beneficiary

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