Ignite the Future is a US-based non-profit (in the process of obtaining their 501c3) designed to be a vehicle by which we, in the US, can more practically support Light the Future Foundation, a Uganda-based non-profit. 

Light the Future (or “LIFFO”) has been in operation since 2020, and was started by Patrick Ssenyondo, an incredible young Ugandan man who grew up in Kampala and was able to complete his primary and secondary education there.  

In the early teens of the 2000s, Patrick received support for tuition and other basic needs through his school, which was run by a Ugandan non-profit organization that raised money for children who could not otherwise afford their education, food, medical needs.  At his school, Patrick learned not only a quality education of the major academic subjects, but he also learned how to participate in many aspects of maintaining his residential school, and also how to farm local crops for his school’s food.  

Young Patrick grew up under these circumstances, and when he graduated from high school, he stayed on at his school for a time and continued to learn from his mentor until he moved out on his own to duplicate his educational experience for other Ugandan youth in a nearby area.  Here, he started his own non-profit foundation, desiring to help up to 150+ children who need tuition, food, and medical help.  

In an effort to reduce the amount of money for their tuition, which includes the cost of food, Patrick made efforts to purchase a 5-acre tract of land to farm so that he could provide food for his “children”, and thereby reduce their tuition costs.   It was a huge undertaking, to say the least, for Patrick to raise the money for this land, but his goal was achieved in the fall of 2022!   Now with the land purchased, he has prepared the land, planted corn, beans and other produce, and is now looking at their first harvest!

Currently LIFFO has these initiatives:

1-Provide tuition currently for 25 students, but to expand that number as soon as possible since there are 150+ needing assistance;

2-Provide food for these students (food that cannot be grown/obtained by LIFFO’s farm);

3-Provide medical needs for these students, as those needs arise;

4-Meet urgent needs of the community, as they arise (such as repairing community wells, providing equipment for adequate hand sanitization in light of recent viruses/disease, and more);

5-Manage and farm the 5-acre plot of land to produce their own food.  Continual maintenance includes: paying annual taxes on the land; gaining farming supplies; paying hired farm hands to plant, manage, harvest crops; purchasing seeds and pesticides; and more.

As is evident, the financial burden is great, and the needs of his community are ongoing … for tuition, outside food needs, medical care and urgent needs, which are constant, and all in addition to the responsibilities for the maintaining the farm.   Donations go far to assist Patrick in meeting the constant onslaught of needs for his “children” and community.

We ask that you consider partnering with us financially through donations to help in the work that Patrick is doing … so that he can continue with his passion to help his fellow Ugandans in the same way that he, himself, was helped as a young boy.   Every bit helps … no donation is too small!

And, if you are so compelled, we ask that you might also consider praying for this organization.   Patrick is the heart of LIFFO, but also the hands and feet of nearly all the undertakings, and he is tireless in his devotion to “his children”.   He needs financial support, yes, but also prayers for encouragement!

Lastly, we ask that you pass this announcement for donations on to any email groups, neighborhood groups, along to your houses of worship, or post on your Facebook page to broaden our base of supporters.   Thank you so much for your help in this vital journey!

Patrick’s Ugandan non-profit Foundation is “Light the Future Foundation” and more can be learned about his efforts here:

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Light-the-future-foundation-102966355203775)

Website: https://lightfutureuganda.wixsite.com/liffo

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