Welcome to another edition of Spotlight by Let’s Talk Nation. Today’s feature is Francis Amonde, founder of an initiative called Cup of Uji feeding program. Through this initiative, Francis and his team of volunteers, target less fortunate school children in the primary education system in Kenya and provide food for them.
Francis Amonde
The program sources schools with the highest population of pupils who are made up of orphans or come from impoverished backgrounds. I have been following Mr. Amonde on Instagram for a while, and have kept an eye on what he is doing for his community, that was what drew me to him and got him a feature on Spotlight. In this segment, we like to shine the spotlight on people who are making a difference in their communities. These people are not only great philanthropists, but they are also what I like to call modern-day superheroes, because they do not just think of themselves, but they think about others as well. Together with the cup of uji program, Francis also runs a girls dignity program, which gives monthly sanitary pads to school girls in need.
Once a school is identified for the cup of uji program, all the children in that particular school are entitled to receiving a daily cup of porridge. This initiative currently runs across five schools, with plans to add two more schools to the program. The schools are accountable to ensure that the children receive the allotted food, while Francis and his team drop by spontaneously to make sure that the children are well taken care of.
Francis Amonde reminds me of Robert Katende, who was introduced to the world through the movie Queen of Katwe (I talk about it under Movie with a Message, check it out!). Mr Robert gave the children of the slums of katwe food, in place of them learning how to play chess and he produced on of the greatest chess players out of Uganda, if not Africa. Now what Francis does for these kids is phenomenal in the sense that they don't have to learn on an empty stomach anymore. They can now thrive and become all who they set out to be, with food being one less problem. So when you step out and do something for others, you never know the pathway that you may open up for them.
The porridge powder is purchased at any wholesale shop, without any particular preference, and the items are then delivered to the school. Currently, Francis Amonde has 1530 children under his program, and we all know that he cannot do this on his own. His motto is; Fighting hunger, driving education and alleviating poverty through education. To encourage and assist Mr. Francis to achieve his monthly goal of KES 195200, donations can be made directly to https://secure.changa.co.ke/myweb/share/189. For further enquiries, you can reach Francis directly on francisamonde@gmail.com or through his Instagram page @francisamonde
Thank you guys for reading, if you know anyone who is making a difference in your community and will like for them to be featured, email us at info@letstalknationblog.com. I hope this short post inspires everyone to start doing something beyond themselves, to serve the people around them and make this world a better place. Have a great week!