ABOUT US

 

Where we come from and where we are going 

In August 2011, a group of nine European volunteers travelled to Kasenda, a small village located in a forgotten part of west Uganda.  We wanted to begin the construction of a sewing workshop and collaborate with a small local school that had 160 elementary school students.

When we arrived, we were really impressed with the beauty of the place, with how poor its people were and with how happy the children seemed.  At the end of our trip, what had started as an incredible adventure became a firm commitment with the children and the local people so, in November 2011, we formalized our pledge by beginning the process to constitute Kelele Africa, the association through which we channel our help and in which, during all of these years, we have invested our time and effort.

In swahili (one of the African languages that is spoken most and that is used in Uganda), the name kelele means “yell” and it also means “noise”, and this is what our association wanted to do from the start: “Yell, Africa!  Let´s make some noise!”  During the inauguration of our clinic, a local politician told us: Kelele África is making a lot of noise, good noise, in Kasenda. Keep it up!

What do we know about Uganda

Official name: The Republic of Uganda.

Surface area: 241.038 km2 (197.100 land and 43.938 water).

Borders: On the west it borders with the Democratic Republic of Congo, and to the north with South Sudan. To the east it borders with Kenya and to the south with Ruanda and Tanzania.

Population: 38.319.241 inhabitants (July 2016), 85% live in rural areas.

Population density: 159 inhabitants per km2.

Capital: Kampala (1.936.000 inhabitants, data from 2015).

Other cities: Gulu (274.000), Lira (234.000), Jinja (101.000), Kasese (117.000), Mbarara (101.000), Kitgum (113.000) y Mbale (81.000). Kasenda sub-county (24,090) Kasenda village (4,486) Kimya Village (5.350).

Language: English and Luganda are the official languages. 

GDP per capita (GDP pc): 625,299 USD

GINI Index: 44,3. Fertility rate: 5,8 children per woman (est. 2016). 

Birth rate: 43,4 per thousand (est. 2016)

Mortality rate: 10,4 per thousand (est. 2016). 

Child mortality rate: 57,6 per thousand (est. 2016)

Literacy rate: 78,4 %. HDI (not world order): 163/188 (2015)

Where we work

The villages of Kasenda and Kimya are two small rural communities that belong to the district of Kabarole, in west Uganda.  They are separated from the Congo by the Rwenzori mountains, surrounded by incredible vegetation, and four hours away (320 km.) from Kampala, the capital of Uganda, and are far away from the developed areas of the country.  Over 95% of the people who live there work in subsistence farming and earn a salary that is below the poverty line.  The illiteracy rate is very high among the adult population. There is no electricity or safe drinking water in the entire area, which makes any kind of development more difficult.

Our projects focus on improving the future for women, achieving quality education for children and making safe healthcare a reality.