Bukibolo Women's Orphans Group

In response to the increasing number of people dying from AIDS and other diseases, Bukibolo Women's Orphans Group was established in 2002 as a self-help group to offer emotional and financial support to bereaved families. While working with these self-help groups, Rose Gizamba, founder of Bukibolo, quickly realized that there were many orphans who had lost both parents and did not have means to support themselves. As a result, Bukibolo registered as an official community-based organization in 2004 with the aim of improving the quality of life for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in the Sironko District in Uganda.

Bukibolo has identified specific priorities for improving the OVC's quality of life: education, psychosocial support, and microenterprise skills training through the cultivation of a beekeeping business and a vegetable garden project. Bantwana's partnership with Bukibolo has helped strengthen each of these areas. Bantwana provides financial support to cover the cost of school fees and scholastic materials for 95 OVC in primary and secondary school. Bantwana has also worked with the children's schools to improve awareness of specific challenges faced by OVC , especially emotional concerns. Bringing these issues to the forefront creates a better learning environment for OVC and improves retention. Outside school, the Bantwana–Bukibolo partnership has established a network of volunteers who provide psychosocial support to the children and their households. Lastly, Bantwana has buoyed Bukibolo's microenterprise initiatives by providing the funds for materials for the garden projects and the beekeeping businesses, which were established in nearly 40 households. Back-yard gardening has been particularly successful in the community as it provides the household with both additional income and increased access to nutritious food.

Bukibolo staff members have shown that they excel at utilizing available networks in the community and feel comfortable reaching out to other organizations for assistance in bolstering their comprehensive program for OVC. The group's demonstrated success to date will help them scale up their beekeeping and farming enterprises and allow them to reach out to more OVC in the community.