The 5 star Kigezi Orphans Project in Rutenga, Kanungu District, where dreams come true!
In every facet of life, KOP is in my opinion, informed by my experiences of interaction with the project, a five-star project that inspires you from the beginning to date and well into the future. The five stars are inherent in the mission, vision, Visionaries, management, target population, approaches, accomplishments, and future perspectives. No matter where you come from, where you sit, where you are going or how you see the world, it’s worth every minute, coin or even ear to listen to the KOP story. On my part individually and as a family, the values I hold so dear today, the future I desire to leave behind on earth, and for the greater good of the life after death, 5 stars of KOP have been transformational not only to the way I think, say and do BUT largely to the way I view the world. The 5 stars of KOP will send shivers of joy, meaning and satisfaction to life.
There are five stars in the mission of KOP. In meeting or visiting KOP, your first point of contact is their well-articulated vision. In this vision, the first star will be a project with no time limits as it well articulates continuity of intentions. For a starter, you immediately see a positive contradiction between the name suggestive of a project and yet the vision spells out continuity. This is novel in articulation of a project, because by design, projects are expected to deliver defined targets in a specified time period. The second star in the vision of KOP is the commitment to provide basic needs of life, which is clearly an altruistic aspiration. While we are all altruistic in mind, how many people, organizations or companies can dare “basic needs of life”? The third star is the articulation of moral support as one key intervention to the orphans and vulnerable children. Not only is moral support an act of love or willingness to partake but it also embodies the spirit of listening to the orphans and vulnerable children. At the fall of the berlin wall and the noises that come with modern capitalism, this vision immediately tickles your innate senses of ‘being human but similarly alerts your spiritual radars of thinking beyond our current needs/wants. The fourth star shines on guidance to orphans and vulnerable children. Its at this time that you will want to learn and know who the vision bearers of this mission are? What’s the story that feeds into this dream and yet provide the confidence to the vision bearers that they have the knowledge to guide orphans and vulnerability. The details of the background to the vision bearers will be a story for another day but suffice to say, yes, their experiential learning are a library that is never been printed. The fifth and last star shines on the scope of the project, here in limited to Kigezi. Kigezi as a region and not a geo-political or administrative unit. It’s a region with a nation of people who speak the same language and have a defined culture. Clearly, the vision bearers lay no claims on cultures, language or even knowledge of orphans or vulnerabilities in other geographies. Its at this point that you come to terms with a vision that not only is astounding but is grounded in experiential learning.
I see five stars in the vision of KOP. In the vision, the first star shines at the leadership aspiration. In a world where leadership is largely political or corporate, KOP debunks the notion that leadership is bigger than ranks. In a geography where there are no traditional or cultural leaders, I dig in to find out if there are aspirations of transforming our own society to be like others, only to find NO for an answer. BUT even most importantly, I learn that their definition of leading is all-encompassing but is largely focused on being the best of yourself at an individual, family, community or even society levels. The second star in the vision was social service. Its at this time that I learn that the vision of KOP is bigger than educating orphans and vulnerable children. Its into thinking and working on all facets of life that change the fortunes of these children in their social circles. That’s why beyond the orphanage school, KOP is into agricultural innovations, counselling and testing of HIV/AIDs, social justice and support to orphans or widows etc. The third star shines brightest at enabling. Through their hard-earned experiential learnings, the KOP vision bearers understand so well that creating an enabling environment is critical to survival of orphans and vulnerable children. The fourth star singles out the singles out morals as the single most important factor that separates life/survival and disease/death. Its at this point that I learn that HIV/AIDs orphans are more likely to die of HIV/AIDs than their counterparts. Its at this point that the vision bearers explain with utmost certainty why most sex workers and illicit drug users in that part of the world are largely children raised in vulnerabilities. And thankfully, you will hear multiple stories of triumph of children with fortitude supported by religious teachings. The last and fifth star shines on self-reliance as an end point. Clearly, the KOP vision is for changing individual orphans and vulnerable children into leaders in society, self-reliant providers of social services in their preferred areas of interest or being examples of morally upright members to the community and future orphans.
In the last 10 years, I have lived to experience five stars in the Visionaries of KOP. The first star in the visionaries of KOP is empathy. Born and raised with both parents who by any standards had all that I needed as a child, I can only count myself lucky in meeting the principles of KOP who have a) been gracious to share their stories, b) effectively communicated their lover and empathy for the orphans and vulnerable children, c) stayed the course without ever regretting the cause of orphans even when faced with adversity and d) willingness to be the voice of orphans using whatever forum they get. The second shing star rests on commitment to the cause of the orphanage school and related intervention areas. Its already 12 years and counting, and yet in speaking to the two principles of KOP you hear no fatigue nor despair despite all the odds. Third shining star rests on the frank discussions you will be engaged in wherever and whenever you meet the KOP principles. In interacting with KOP, what you see is what you hear, and its what you discuss in the boardrooms, on the road to and from Rutenga or even in the social evening interactions with the principles. And no matter how many bottles of bear or wine nor how outraged you will be, the facts and status of KOP will be frankly discussed as is. As a staff of the world health organization, its at KOP that I have seen the beauty, ease, and advantages of frank discussions or to say the least, understanding the complexity of diplomacy in boardrooms. The fourth shining star rested on openness to ideas and suggestions for improving the outcomes of KOP. Never in my professional life that spans 26 years have I ever seen a project, organization or agency that operates with such levels of openness. The fifth and last shining star rests on resilience of the vision bearers. In the 10 years I have known the principles of KOP, many thangs have changed. They have had families grow. Taxation rules have changed. The legal status of KOP has changed. The number of orphans and vulnerable children has increased. BUT while these changes happened, the resolve and resilience to stay the course on KOP objectives and aspirations never changed. Truly I attest that the vision bearers of KOP have the requisite empathy, commitment to the vision, are honest/frank about what challenges they have, remain open to new ideas and most importantly, have the fortitude to stay the course for a foreseeable future.
A quick review of KOP project management will shockingly show you more stars but I reflect on the big five. As a management scholar, I have witnessed engaged management in practice as the first shining star at KOP. At KOP, the cleaner, cook, teacher, headmaster, and directors have a well-defined and yet similar view of the immediate needs of their organization. You walk into the orphanage school with the directors, the children will recognize that you are new but will offer you the same level of hospitality as the directors or head teacher would. Walk into the orphanage farm and there will be no rank and file in who is doing what at the farm. Never in my adult life have I been in an organization where all staff outlines challenges, aspirations, and priorities in the same order as at KOP, where it sounds like a song on a written script. The second star shines on the adaptive approaches at KOP. When they were building the school structures, they realize that their number one challenge is high cost of transport and bought a truck. When food costs started rising in the neighborhoods, KOP started growing food as a coping strategy. When children finish primary school and have no requisite grades to progress in the national education system, KOP initiated life-skilling programs for their graduates. And the orphanage project is awash with so many adaptive stories as the number of years the project has existed. The third star shines on ‘’the hands-on approach” to the management of the orphanage. The best of my memories can’t forget the day I visited the school and found the two directors mingling the maize meal for the children just because the responsible staff was off on sick leave. The fourth star shines on attitudes to challenges that KOP has faced over the 12 years of life. From inception to date, KOP never modified or prioritized any of the vulnerable children regardless of the ever-increasing numbers. When children graduated beyond the primary schools, KOP did not scale up to secondary education but strategically chose to provide school fees and related scholastic materials to children in existing schools. When government required permanent school structures, KOP management stood up to the challenge. The last and fifth star rests on humility to share glory. Having touched more than 500 families in Rutenga sub-county, it is surprising to any Ugandan that none of the KOP management/leadership staff has ventured into active elective politics to take advantage of this large reach. Think of modern management methods, I would recommend that you visit KOP for engaged and adaptive management approaches.
While in Garama cell, Katojo parish, Rutenga sub county, Kigezi sub region, Southwestern Uganda I could only attest to the five stars of KOP target Population. The first shining star rests on the permanent adversity that Rutenga sub-county has. The topography leaves the subcounty at very high risks of land/mud slides. Neighboring Mafuuga forest, Rutenga has more rains than most other geographies in the sub-region. Even with large-scale practices of terracing, soil erosion remains a constant risk. The HIV/AIDs incidence is in double digits and the HRT service coverage is limited. In turn, the second shining star rests on the ever-increasing numbers of orphans and vulnerable children. While in Rutenga, the 3rd star will shine on the exaggerated risks that come along with climate change and related adaptations. Any increases in precipitation rates will cause more landslides and soil erosion. Any global warming comes with high risks of fires from the Mafuuga forests. And when pandemics happen, as was the case with COVID-19, it could only be worse in Rutenga. The fourth star will shine on the declined education system performance in the greater Kigezi region. Clearly, the choice of education service is strategic on many fronts BUT in a special way, creating a model and good performing school has been lately achieved. Its needless to add that the KOP orphanage school performance continues to improve and has lately been attracting private and fees paying pupils of parents who understand the importance of quality in education. The last and fifth star shines on the gender parity attainments at KOP orphanage school. Notably, KOP orphanage school has maintained a high enrolment rate for girls, who currently constitute 68% (288 of 422) of their pupils. Therefore, while KOP cannot change the context of Rutenga sub-county, targeting this area and its orphans means that they are providing mitigation programs for a population that has no other options.
Read any of the reports of KOP, you will find five stars in their approaches to execution and services delivery. In the last 10 years reading KOP reports, the first shining star rests on local content. Kop employs 100% staff from Rutenga sub-county. Nearly 70% of the food eaten in the KOP orphanage is grown in Rutenga. And noting that there are limited suppliers, the school’s demonstration farms and support to the community farm improvements has indeed been transformational. While constructing permanent structures for the orphanage school, all the bricks were laid at site with a resulting good number of people trained in brick making. The second shining star rests on learning on the job because each year, I have seen interventions implemented and reported as solutions to challenges previously experienced. The third shinning star rests on reductionist approaches to management of challenges. Give KOP a challenge and they will try and reduce it into small and manageable units. When they wanted to build the school, they started with temporary structures made of wood. When they started the permanent structures, they built the school one block by another. When they wanted to venture into farming, they did not go to scale but rather have been slowly growing the size and outputs of their school farm. The fourth shinning star rests on whole-family approaches. Notably, beyond the orphanage school, the project a) provides counselling/testing of people for HIV/AIDs as the main cause of orphans; b) Provided piglets to orphans’ care-giving families to increase household productivity; c) Training care-giving families on improvements in farming practices for greater productivity and d) Employing their graduates or even giving contracts to their graduate students for example in Uniforms production and brick making. The fifth and last shining star rests on multiple endpoints for child development. The additional projects of school farming, distribution of piglets and the prospects of a skills development Centre will increase the options available to the orphans at the end of their primary education levels.
Listening to the story of KOP, from the dream in 2010 to what it is 12 years, it’s easy to see the five stars inherent in the accomplishments. The first shining star rests on the partnerships model nurtured and practiced by the KOP visionaries. Two different men, with different backgrounds and likely aspirations BUT a common purpose has kept them at work. The establishment of a coalition of willing partners in Washington DC (Details available at www.Partnersforkigeziorphans.org) as a living partnership that mobilized resources and materials to support the growth of KOP is a story of winning teams. The second shining star rests on the KOP structures.
These being mainly the multi-million physical infrastructure and the management structures that supported a) infrastructure development, b) property acquisitions, c) running of the school, d) Procurement and distribution systems that managed the piglet’s distribution, e) procurement and distribution of education support materials to secondary and tertiary education students across the whole of Kigezi region, and more lately f) mobilization of skilled counsellors and tools required to do HIV/AIDs counselling as a regular service to their catchment population. The third shinning star rests on the grants management experience accumulated over time. KOP has an established system for proposals, planning, execution and efficiently so. And based on their current major needs, I have seen wonderful project proposals for developing a) a pupils’ dining hall, b) the skills development Centre and c) the sporting Centre to introduce talent identification and harnessing. The fourth shinning star rests on the KOP schooling outcomes. The first grade passing rates improved from xx% in 2015, when the pioneer class of the orphanage school sat Primary Leaving examinations to yy% in 2022. The fifth and last shinning star rests on transformation of lives that comes with education. Over the decade, there are several children who would be destitute BUT today are self-reliant. I have seen products of KOP who are now in professional ranks of nursing, education, and business.
As I write, I couldn’t help myself out of thinking of the five stars in the future perspectives of KOP. The first star is that KOP school has been well embraced by the community. The community, especially beyond the orphaned and vulnerable families, have the orphanage school as their preferred education services provider in the area and have since brought it their fees-paying children as an alternative source of income. The school offers a market for the community as the children buy produce at competitive rates. The schoolteachers and non-teaching staff all are paid even better than their counterparts in the government funded/owned schools. The second star lies in the sustained jobs creation opportunities. This is not only for schoolteachers or non-teaching staff but also jobs created by their graduate pupils. When orphans are provided with sowing machines, it’s a job created not only for the beneficiary but also for the entire supply chain of fabrics, needles, threads and other design materials. The third star shines on the resilience of KOP school. This resilience was tested and passed the test of disruptions caused by COVID-19 pandemic. The fifth and last star is the quickly building sustainable returns from the children that passed through the school. The KOP graduate children continue to grow in numbers and purchasing power. I have witnessed firsthand KOP graduates dedicating time and resources as a means of appreciation for what they got from their school. I can’t wait to see these graduates organized into a foundation to create an endowment fund for the future. Whether by design or intent or accident, the reality of change that comes with education is truly beginning to bear fruits in KOP as an organization and Rutenga as a sub-county.
Finally, am a proud associate of this great project. I am personally indebted to the shared memories created along the life of KOP. We have become friends in purpose and goals. We have faced the fangs of complexity together but never relented. We have lacked materials and funds but never lacked the willingness to push on. We have lost parents of our dear orphaned children, but we never broke down to fail to offer the shoulder on which these lowly beings rested their worries and pains. We have together educated children and shared in the joys of success. We have never had plenty or the best of meals together, but the joy of sharing made all the meals at KOP worth transformational memories. KOP is a no longer a dream of two young men but a shared reality that we are prepared to see thrive to new heights. KOP a) is a five-star organization of visionary leaders grounded in purpose, b) has larger-than-life goals and aspirations, c) transforms destitution into hope, and d) is really grown and yet the needs and potential are still large. Therefore, if you ever thought of transforming a life, offering hope or changing the world, then KOP is the place to be and invest.
Dr. William Mbabazi
Epidemiologist At World Health Organization ( Switzerland Geneva)