My name is Tumwine Desan, and I am a 22-year-old student and community organizer from Kyenjojo District, Uganda.

I grew up in a humble farming family where life revolved around hard work, faith, and small-scale agriculture. But in 2017, when I was only 13 years old, my father, Mr. Businge Moses, was tragically killed in a lorry accident while transporting our family’s coffee harvest to market.

His death changed everything.

My mother, Mrs. Nansamba Prossy, suddenly became the sole provider for our family. Despite performing well academically and earning a First Grade in my Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE), I was forced to stop my education for two years because we could no longer afford school fees.

During that time, I worked wherever I could — fetching water, laboring in plantations, and working on construction sites — while saving every possible coin to return to school.

In 2022, I finally enrolled myself at Extreme High School.

There, I joined environmental and farming clubs where I learned practical permaculture, tree planting, waste recycling, and community leadership. Those experiences helped me realize that many young people in rural communities are not lacking willingness to work — they simply lack opportunity, support, and hope.

That realization inspired me to found the Uganda Sustainable Community Initiative (USCI) in 2024.

USCI is a youth-led grassroots initiative focused on sustainable agriculture, environmental restoration, food security, and youth empowerment.

Today, together with 8 active youth volunteers between the ages of 10 and 20, we are already supporting 9 vulnerable families and 2 local primary schools through:

• Organic vegetable gardens

• Fruit tree planting

• Banana plantations

• Youth environmental education

• Community clean-ups

• Climate awareness activities

One of the most meaningful moments for me was seeing a vulnerable family harvest fresh vegetables for the first time from a garden we helped establish. Watching children eat healthy food grown from their own garden reminded me that this work is about much more than farming.

It is about restoring dignity, hope, and self-reliance.

Currently, USCI operates on only half an acre of temporary land in Kaigoro Village, generously lent to us by a community elder. Even on this small space, we have already established vegetable gardens, nursery beds, banana plantations, cassava crops, fruit trees, and a small poultry structure.

However, the land is temporary, and we constantly face uncertainty about the future.

Our greatest goal is to secure permanent land where USCI can grow into a lasting center for sustainable farming, youth training, food security, and environmental restoration.

With permanent land, we hope to establish:

• Permaculture food forests• Organic gardens• Fruit tree nurseries• Poultry and goat projects• Youth training spaces

• Leadership and climate workshops

• Water harvesting and irrigation systemsI am currently continuing my studies as a Senior 5 (S5) student while balancing school, family responsibilities, and leading USCI.

I believe communities can rise out of poverty through education, sustainable agriculture, cooperation, and environmental stewardship.By supporting USCI, you are helping invest in young people working to build a more resilient and self-sustaining future for rural communities in Uganda.Thank you for standing with us.

With gratitude,

Tumwine Desan Founder — Uganda Sustainable Community Initiative (USCI) Kyenjojo District, Uganda

🌱 Help Tumwine Desan Build a Permanent Home for USCI

Supporting Youth-Led Sustainable Farming & Community Resilience in Rural Uganda