Transformed for Life! A community-based project in Uganda.

Today’s success story comes from a village in Uganda called Ndama, in the Kibaale district, and Transformed for Life is the organization behind it.

Transformed for Life’s mission is to assist and support vulnerable children and their families. Extreme poverty, trauma, domestic violence, divorce, and the lack of education are some of the risk factors identified by Transformed for Life, pushing children into vulnerable, unstable, and often dangerous situations.

Abby Tracy, who has been our contact point with Transformed for Life, tells us, “the last five years we have been located in Kibaale District where we have a school where we provide a free education for vulnerable children in our community.”

Apart from the school, the organization runs community empowerment programs for 2,000 families. The idea is to train and empower the entire support network around the children – pastors, local leaders, and parents.

Abby shared with us that they also raise awareness about environmental concerns, namely about poaching and endangered species. The pangolin is one of the main focuses of Transformed for Life. This animal is, in fact, the most targeted and poached in the world. There are eight pangolin species and they are all protected under national and international laws;  two of them are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

According to Abby, Transformed for Life has saved and released 31 pangolins back into protected areas. The organization works with the community; they rehabilitate hunters who become a vital asset in protecting the animals they were previously targeting.

“We appreciate them [former poachers] with animal rearing projects (such as rabbits and piglets) and we work together to protect wildlife. These reformed poachers have been our best informers when there is wildlife trafficking, poaching, or injured wildlife”, Abby shared.

As part of their community development and environmental conservation efforts, the community has also been planting indigenous trees, fruit trees, and nut trees. As a result, wildlife is now returning to the area.

Transformed for Life is not done yet. There are plans to expand their restoration activities: “We recently purchased another property of 780 acres. It was once a beautiful rainforest but was cut down eight years ago for maize farming. It is our dream to be able to reforest the land with indigenous trees and to use the site as a place where people can come to be educated on the importance of tree planting and wildlife conservation. We are looking for a partner who could help us to make this dream a reality.”

Thank you so much for telling us your story, Abby.

We hope you can find the partner you are looking for and that you can continue helping children, protecting wildlife, and restoring your land.

If you got inspired and want to help Transformed for Life, reach out to us or visit their website.