CivSource is excited to announce that we have signed a grant agreement with Global Fund for Community Foundations (GFCF). This partnership will enable us to do 3 exciting things:
First, the grant will enable us to collect proverbs on giving from the various ethnic groups in Uganda. At CivSource, we believe that giving is part and parcel of who we are as Africans, and one way to demonstrate this is through the proverbs, idioms, riddles, and folklore from across Uganda. Proverbs point to the values of a community, they speak to a way of life that keeps communities together and helps them progress. Proverbs are used to teach the next generation about the past and what truly binds us together as Africans.
The proverbs will be produced into a small handbook with graphical illustrations. The handbook of proverbs will contribute to the body of knowledge on Ugandan cultures of giving, by providing information that can be used as a reference to educate and enhance the practice of giving in our society.
We hope we can get this ‘Book of Proverbs’ into as many hands as possible as a way to start or boost conversations about giving in our context.
Secondly, the grant will also help us collect and document both through print and audio-visually stories of community philanthropy. GFCF defines community philanthropy as giving that “builds on assets that already exist within communities rather than depending only on what comes from outside. When local resources are brought to the table, a flatter power dynamic is created, and traditional donor-beneficiary imbalances are challenged.”
At CivSource, we believe that community philanthropy happens in all shapes and forms across Uganda and we want to highlight these stories. We want to highlight how communities are coming together to solve their development challenges and the impacts this has. We want to talk about and elevate community philanthropy as a form of giving that is as important and as worthy of recognition as any other form of giving. We believe telling these stories may also unlock the potential within and among communities that are contemplating addressing their own development challenges. We want to ignite conversations on local philanthropy by showing how communities give.
Lastly, we hope to hold a ‘gathering of givers’ from as many walks of life as we can. We know that there is strength in numbers and networking. We want givers in Uganda to come together to share successes, challenges, best practices and celebrate giving in Uganda.
We are excited to embark on this one-year project and we will definitely keep you updated on all our social media platforms. We want you to walk this journey with us. We want to learn as much as we can with as many people as we can. We want to contribute to sharing how in Uganda we have Omutima Omugabi - “A heart That Gives”.