Foundation for Development of Needy Communities

Uganda

The Foundation for Development of Needy Communities (FDNC) responds to Uganda’s high unemployment using methods that promote community participation, sustainable development, and individual empowerment. Established in 1996 by concerned community leaders, FDNC is committed to addressing the social crises that affect Eastern Uganda’s most marginalized populations such as high rates of youth unemployment, growing income inequality, high HIV and AIDS prevalence, and limited access to education. FDNC offers comprehensive programming that includes training community-based healthcare workers throughout the region; establishing a center for special needs children; providing paralegal services; and creating income generating opportunities for youth and women through goat-rearing, beekeeping, agriculture, and crafts. The FDNC vocational school educates nearly 300 youth annually in carpentry, masonry, hairdressing, tailoring, performance arts, computers, and sustainable agriculture.

The Mbale Community

Located in Natondome Village, FDNC serves the Sironko, Mbale, Manafwa and Bududa districts of Uganda. Ninety percent of the population in this region lives in a rural community. These communities face a number of development challenges: illiteracy rates are high due to the prohibitive cost of education beyond the primary level; rates of malnutrition are high despite fertile land and abundant rainfall because many lack training in sustainable agricultural practices; and, lacking adequate healthcare, HIV, AIDS, and malaria have taken a tremendous toll.

Bright Depictions of Rural Uganda

FDNC’s most recent project, Bye Kamahono (“Something Created by the Hands” in the Lugisu language) is a comprehensive art and design center, which invites talented local artisans to train students in the production of art to sell locally and internationally. The program has created a showroom space and retail store in Mbale town. Participants use grass, bark cloth, banana fibers, natural dyes, tree leaves, sisal, and other sustainable materials to make handmade cards, wall hangings, and other art pieces. Depicting scenes of the daily life in rural Africa, the cloth batiks and greeting cards are dyed and hand-painted in vibrant hues. Women of the community paint the images using watercolors while younger students glue and assemble the greeting cards. Participants in this income generation project also receive primary healthcare and life skills training.