AGYA Begins 2010 With News of First Grant Award

AGYA is honored to announce the receipt of our first grant award from Save Africa’s Children, a U.S.-based non-profit organization that provides direct support and care to orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS, poverty and war throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. SAC partners with individuals, churches, grassroots organizations, government and corporate sectors, endeavoring to build a dynamic, diverse movement to restore hope and a future for Africa's children.

The $5,000.00 grant award will allow AGYA to fully cover the cost of the free lunch program for 12 months and double the number of children we currently serve! The key objective of the program centers on alleviating the burden facing families in the communities we serve by providing free lunch and clean drinking water to registered AGYA Youth Participants every Saturday and Sunday.



AGYA Executive Director, Divinity Barkley decided to prioritize the acquisition of funds for the Free Lunch Program after learning that 60% of AGYA participants between the ages of 7 and 20 report eating less than 3 meals per day. Many of AGYA’s participants lack access to clean drinking water at their homes. Children living in poverty in Uganda are disproportionately affected by preventable and treatable water-borne illnesses like diarrhea. Contaminated water can cause intestinal worms, which leads to malnutrition and anemia because worms compete for the nutrition of their young hosts leaving the victims vulnerable and weak.

With the support of Save Africa’s Children, AGYA has taken a major step towards sustainability of the Free Lunch Program. However, AGYA’s leadership has an even bigger vision. AGYA Executive Director, Divinity Barkley says,

“My next focus is to raise $15,000.00 USD to purchase 20 acres of land in the village of Kyewanula, where AGYA Staff will operate a community garden and raise livestock; generating enough foodstuffs to fully sustain our Free Lunch Program and feed more than 1,000 children annually. The beauty of the AGYA Community Garden will take your breath away. Trees ripe with bananas, mangoes, and avocados and rows of cabbage, yams, cassava, beans, tomatoes, onions, greens, and maize would be visible as far as the eye can see. A holding area for cattle, chickens, and goats would be located parallel to the farm. Surplus foodstuffs will be sold at local markets, and the revenue would be reinvested into the development and maintenance of the property.”

If you are interested in learning more about how you can help make AGYA’s vision of a Community Garden a reality, please write to us at: amagezigemaanyi@gmail.com

To learn more about Save Africa’s Children, visit: www.saveafricaschildren.org