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Goodlife community project Uganda
Founder and charity manager
My name is Gad Mucunguzi. I run a charity called Goodlife. It’s a charity that serves the community of Itambira island on Lake Bunyonyi in Southwest Uganda, where I live. The main focus is education, but we also work to improve the day-to-day lives of the families here on Itambira.
I started Goodlife because of my own experience of education. I was born in a big family and my parents couldn’t afford my school fees. I was lucky to be supported by some of my neighbours and was able to attend primary school. After primary seven, I began my working life. I got a job at a campsite here on the island and worked my way up to become a manager.
Really, as soon as I had a salary, I wanted to help kids in my community– including some from the same families who had helped me when I was young. I started saving and raising funds to set up Goodlife in 2013 and the project officially began in 2017.
What impact has Goodlife had so far?
Here’s a timeline of what we’ve achieved so far:
2017 - Goodlife began simply with swimming lessons in the lake. Children on Itambira island are not taught to swim at school and many adults here can’t swim. I raised funds and sourced sponsors to get life jackets and swim suits and I began teaching the kids myself.
Soon Goodlife was providing school uniforms, books, pens and pencils for every child from Itambira Island. In fact, since 2017 we have provided enough school exercise books and pens for all the children from this island.
Later in 2017 we built our first small classroom and began running study school for kids from Itambira during the holidays.
2018 – Goodlife created more teaching spaces and expanded the holiday schools to include children from beyond the island, ferrying them there in a dugout canoe.
What is the benefit of holiday schools? In town schools provide holiday coaching. It feels important to keep up with urban schools. The headmaster at our local primary school has told me that the kids at Goodlife are really benefiting from the extra teaching. And honestly, the kids love coming!
2019 – Goodlife built 3 new classrooms and welcomed 145 kids every weekday for the whole summer holiday, including 8 secondary school aged children.
2020 – Goodlife began a full-time nursery school for kids aged 3-6 years. Currently we have 28 kids from here on the island and beyond, with some kids travelling for up to 1 hour to attend. This year we have been able to provide school uniforms for all Itambira children. And we’re currently running a homework club in the evenings.
As you can tell, we’re busy! We have expanded quickly in response to a real need for educational support for our children. And of course, when our children are supported the whole community benefits.
In the beginning most of the money I used for Goodlife came from my own salary and my savings. Now that we’re bigger and offering more support to our kids, we rely on charitable donations as well.
Who benefits and how?
Our focus is on education. The main beneficiaries of Goodlife are the children living on Itambira island and the surrounding area:
We have created a nursery school on the island providing free education and educational materials to our 28 young pupils.
We run holiday schools for 145 children (primary to secondary age) on the island and its surroundings.
We provide free exercise books and pens to all pupils attending our holiday school.
We run weekly swimming lessons in the lake during the holidays – providing swimwear and buoyancy aids.
However, our work and resources support the wider community as well:
We try to offer jobs to disadvantaged young people in our community who have very few opportunities. For example, we employ one teacher and one handyman who were both orphaned and have siblings to support.
We have a piece of land dedicated to communal agriculture – a chance for local families to grow and share food.
We have community canoes for use by island families (none of the families on Itamabira currently owns a canoe)
We have a motorboat offering affordable transport to local people – the small profit goes to support the project.
We care for our lives
Contact Us
Also you can see what's happening on the Goodlife facebook page:
https://m.facebook.com/Goodlife-Community-Project-Uganda-1311689872236339/?ref=bookmarks
You can visit Workaway website to become a volunteer:
Ohttps://www.workaway.info/en/host/139444975749
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Lake bunyonyi, Uganda
+256781 551395