The Ripples Foundation was started by Diane Kwesiga in Uganda who was raised by her grandparents like she was their own. Her grandparents sowed seeds of love and kindness when she was a child. Ever since it has been her mission to pass this along to children and the elderly who are in need. She believes in being the change she wants to see in her community. As a result, the ripple effect of helping others continues through others. The Ripples Foundation supports four main initiatives:
- The wellbeing and education of children
- The Jaja’s project, which supports the elderly
- Home of Hope, based in Jinja — a home dedicated to paraplegic children
- Torro Babies Home, which cares for 50 children, most of whom are under the age of four
Marinka, co-founder of the Ripples Foundation, whom we have partnered with for the past twelve years to help aid the people of Uganda, approached David Marek and Ker & Downey about supporting the Ripples Foundation in August 2020. We both travel to and send clients to Uganda quite often. But we also wanted to be able to give back to the communities that we fell in love with. This is a value that makes Ker & Downey different from other tour operators. When Marinka asked for assistance in providing funds for a small group of children to go to school, David responded without any hesitation, “We will get it done.”
Since then, through Ker & Downey’s 501c3 nonprofit arm Ker & Downey for Africa, we have continually supported 12 school-aged children from pre-school to 12th grade and has even sent one student to university. Education is a basic right that we feel all children deserve. As a company, we value educating the next generation to better their home situations and to become upstanding members of their community. With knowledge comes innovation, security, and a brighter future for all.
We plan to continue supporting the education of children through the Ripples Foundation and hope you will help us reach our fundraising goal of $6,000. The total includes school fees and everything the child needs during the term. Housing is not included except for Omara who is going to university.
12 children. 12 lives changed. That is just the start. Will you help us? If we exceed that, we will roll over the cost to another term. And so on and so forth. When you give, we’ll add you to an email list so that you can receive updates on these precious children of the Ripples Foundation. Make a difference today.
