About us
Learn more about Little Light
Little Light was established in July 2007, as a self-help community center at Namuwongo Zone B, one of the largest and poorest slums in Kampala, Uganda. The program is operated by a local voluntary non-profit organization, ‘Little Light UG’, an organization that grew organically from the local community.
Over ten thousand people live in Namuwongo in conditions of extreme poverty. Most of them are displaced people from Northern Uganda or refugees who fled civil wars in Kenya, Congo, Sudan, and Rwanda. The majority of Namuwongo residents are unemployed, and even those who manage to find jobs earn an average income that falls short of the international poverty line. Most people have almost no access to health services, educational institutions or sources of stable income. As a result of poverty and the environmental context, many people suffer from malaria, HIV / AIDS and other infectious diseases that cause high mortality rates, hunger, malnutrition, depression.
Children and youth constitute over seventy percent of the Namuwongo population. Half of them are orphans. Since most families cannot afford education, children are commonly left to wander unsupervised among rubbish and open sewage, exposed to countless dangers posed by the environment. Needless to say, the majority of these children are unprotected, without opportunities for advancement or development.
Observing these hardships and rough daily existence, a team of both local and international volunteers established a small sanctuary for the neighborhood’s children and their families: a community center and nursery school: Little Light. The school provides free education for children in nursery and early primary classes from the most deprived families in the neighborhood, where they are provided with free nutritious meals, health services, and extracurricular activities in a safe and nurturing environment. Little Light not only provides our students with the skills to integrate into Uganda’s school system but also provides them with scholarships and the material and educational support necessary to succeed in their education and become leaders able to uplift their community. By supporting the children that come to us from early nursery to adulthood and engaging with their families by among other things providing them with social services and even employment opportunities, we take a holistic and long-term approach to their education and development. By operating from within the Namuwongo community, by members of the community, we are best suited to address the community’s needs. Therefore, in addition to our school and scholarship programs, Little Light operates a number of projects that foster community development, including:
Youth Group
Youth Group
Women's Group
Women's Group
OUR VISION & GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Little Light is an organization and a community center that grew out of the Namuwongo community, by locals who were empowered to become leaders and transform their own community. Our own example demonstrates our worldview; that local members of disadvantaged communities are best suited to lead social change.
Our Vision
A community that helps itself by helping others.
Our Mission
We provide opportunities for education, health, and economic growth, through the development of the neighborhood’s youth to positions of leadership and mentoring.
Guiding Principles and Values
- Education is the foundation for social development and change.
- Everyone has the right to advancement and development.
- Everyone is entitled to decent living conditions.
- Children should be able to grow and develop themselves in a safe and loving environment.
- Social change can develop organically from within the community through local leadership.
- Humanitarian assistance is universal.
- Volunteerism enriches and benefits those who engage in it.
- Volunteer work constitutes a personal example and inspiration to society.
Aims and Objectives
- Children and the youth of Namuwongo will grow into agents of social positive change in their environment.
- Children of kinder garden age have a safe and healthy environment that would allow them to achieve the educational benchmark that will enable them to integrate into the formal education system in the future.
- Parents and families of the children in LLCC activities will become stronger, healthier structures through access to education, health services and livelihoods.