Thank you! A word which, if you are raised in Africa, is taught you by all means possible lest you shame the home from which you hail and present yourself uncultured. Knowing that in this life all we have has been given to us, we can’t be help but be thankful and on July 25th 2019 at Endiro Coffee, giving and gratitude made the theme of the day.
According to its website, Endiro Coffee believes in the power of hospitality, sharing, conversation, prayer, collaboration, partnership, community, and family. This is where they find the power to brew a better cup of coffee, to operate a better business, and to discover better solutions to local and global problems. It is in this spirit that they hold #ThankfulThursday, an entire day dedicated to supporting an organization whose work is parallel to the Endiro Coffee vision of ending child vulnerability across the globe through coffee and partnership. Talk of big dreams!
Thursday is unique to us at CivSource Africa because this is the day we hold our Mastermind meetings - sessions of book reading as a team to better understand ourselves and our work. This particular Thursday (25th July 2019), we decided to hold our Mastermind at Endiro Coffee, not just for the great coffee; but to support a business doing philanthropy in a creative way. Promoting Ugandan philanthropy, under our signature brand Omutima Omugabi, is very dear to us, and so this #ThanksfulThursday provided us an opportunity to witness philanthropy in practice.
There, in Kisementi a small Kampala business quadrangle, we met Concern for the Girl Child (CGC). It is an organization whose ‘major purpose is to empower the vulnerable girl child through the provision of access to education and health information as well as advocating and lobbying for the rights of children in the communities of Luwero, Nakaseke, and Kampala in Nakawa Division.’ Founded in 2001 by Dr. Ann F Hayes and the late Freddie Henry Kasozi (FHK), CGC had come, at the invitation of Endiro, to exhibit and share their work with all and sundry peradventure someone might give to their cause or get to know about them and maybe partner with them in times to come. The most pressing need was to construct a basketball court at one of their several education resource centers, the CGC Resource Centre at Mazzi, a small remote community in Luweero District with one health center and inaccessible water. Beyond sport, it is envisioned that this court will be a new way for the young and teenage persons in their care to channel their vigor and give them a chance at a better future absent of early/child marriage and teenage motherhood.
When we spoke to Jackie Kyomugisha, the Resource Mobilization and Business Development Officer with CGC, she told us about a time when they were having one of the FHK camps and a sports facilitator introduced them to a visiting coach who does ‘basketball shepherding.’ He fuses teaching biblical scripture with training basketball. Jackie says the experience was life-changing but the coach was only visiting and together with his sports equipment, he soon left. The monies they collect from hiring out space and seats at Mazzi resource center could not meet their love and need for more basketball. Instead of drowning in memories, they decided to source funding for the construction of a court and that’s what this Thursday was about and we were there to support.
From the total proceeds of the day’s sales at Endiro, ten percent would go to CGC to support the realization of the basketball court dream. Jackie and her team came dressed in distinguishing uniforms and displayed for sale, the crafts made by the girls under their care. They approached each table with grace to explain their presence and share their dream as well as take orders from undiscerning customers. Quickly noticeable was that the patrons of Endiro Coffee know something about CGC’s vision because of how they received the team. An architect pledged to design the court and find people to construct it at no fee. Another person pledged to give towards sanitary towels each month with no time limit. Some bought items from the display table. CivSource staff also gave to the CGC cause. It was a day of ‘coming together to brew all the good we can.’
