Hello friends,

My name is Emmanuel "Eric" Hakizimana, and I am the Founder and Executive Director of the African Best Care Center Initiative (ABCCI) in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Uganda.

Today, ABCCI serves refugee and host-community children, women, and families through education, child protection, women's empowerment, maternal and reproductive health, and livelihood development.

Children learning in ABCCI's current temporary classroom with a torn roof.

What began as a small learning space inside my home has grown into a refugee-led community organization creating brighter futures for hundreds of children, women, and families each year.

My own journey is the reason this work is so important to me.

I was born in Tanzania after my parents were forced to flee Rwanda in 1994. Around the year 2000, my family settled in Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda, where I grew up.

Like many refugee children, I experienced displacement, poverty, and interrupted education. I began school beneath a tree with very few learning materials and not enough teachers.

Later, I was given the opportunity to continue my education outside the settlement, where I discovered what quality education could look like. That experience changed my life and taught me that refugee children are not limited by ability—we are often limited only by opportunity.

Learning continues despite difficult conditions.

After completing school, I worked and volunteered with humanitarian organizations serving refugee communities.

Those experiences taught me valuable skills, but they also showed me that lasting change requires more than emergency assistance. Families need education, opportunity, practical support, and hope for the future.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided it was time to act.

Using my own savings, I turned my home into our first classroom and began gathering children whose education had been interrupted.

With a few volunteers and simple learning materials, the African Best Care Center Initiative was born.

Education is opening new opportunities for refugee children.

Since that first classroom, ABCCI has grown into a refugee-led organization serving hundreds of children, women, and families every year through:

• Education

• Child Protection

• Women's Empowerment

• Maternal & Reproductive Health

• Livelihood Development

• Environmental Restoration

• Food gardens, tree planting, and regenerative agriculture

• Future poultry and eco-cooking initiatives

ABCCI is also an Earth Restorer Hub, restoring communities through permaculture.

ABCCI is also proud to be an Earth Restorer Hub created through Permaculture for Refugees and Permaculture Partners.

Through this partnership, our community is learning practical regenerative skills that strengthen food security, restore the environment, and help build long-term self-reliance.

Our Most Urgent Need

The community has banded together using locally available clay to make more than 7,000 bricks for the new classrooms.

Thanks to the generosity of supporters, we have already:

• Purchased land.

• Constructed two new school buildings containing four classrooms.

• Built the walls and structural framework.

• Mobilized our community to make thousands of bricks by hand.

But one critical piece remains unfinished.

Our new classrooms are waiting for a roof.

Right now, the rainy season has begun.

Our current classroom is covered with worn plastic sheeting and a roof that has been torn in multiple places.

When the rain comes, water pours directly inside.

When the sun is out, the heat becomes almost unbearable.

Without completing the roof on our new classrooms, the children continue losing valuable learning time.

Completing the roof is now our highest priority.

A glimpse of the future we are working toward.

Every gift will go directly toward completing the roofing so our children can finally learn in a safe, dry, permanent classroom.

Education gives hope, dignity, and opportunity.

As someone who grew up as a refugee, I know how one opportunity can change the course of a life.

That is why I continue this work.

Not only for today's children…

…but for the generations that will follow.

If my story speaks to you, I warmly invite you to become part of this journey.

Together we can help complete these classrooms, strengthen our programs, and continue creating brighter futures for refugee and host-community children and families.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story and for considering supporting the African Best Care Center Initiative.

With gratitude,

Emmanuel "Eric" Hakizimana

Founder & Executive Director

African Best Care Center Initiative (ABCCI)

Thank you for helping build brighter futures.

🌱 Emmanuel "Eric" Hakizimana: Building Brighter Futures Through ABCCI ⭐

Refugee-led education, child protection, and community-led solutions creating brighter futures in Nakivale Refugee Settlement