Ignite the Future is a US-based 501c3 non-profit designed to support Light the Future Foundation, a Uganda-based non-profit, which was started in 2021 by Patrick Ssenyondo.
Patrick is an incredible young man who grew up in Kampala, Uganda at a school for children who could not afford to be educated. In the early teens of the 2000s, Patrick received support for his tuition and other basic needs. His school was run by a Ugandan non-profit organization that raised money for children who could not otherwise afford their education, food, medical needs and more. At his school, Patrick learned not only the academic subjects through primary and secondary education, but also how to participate in many aspects of maintaining his home/school, and also how to farm local crops for his school’s food.
Young Patrick grew up under these circumstances, and when he graduated from high school, he stayed on at his school for a while and continued to learn from his mentor until he moved out on his own. He then started his own non-profit foundation in another area of Uganda, desiring to “pay it forward”, in such deep appreciation for what had been provided for him. His desire is to help the current 25+ students (but eventually up to 150+ children) who need tuition, food, and medical help.
In an effort to reduce the amount of money needed for tuition (which includes the cost of food), Patrick made efforts to purchase a 5-acre tract of land to farm so that he could provide food for his “children”, and thereby reduce their tuition costs. It was a huge undertaking, to say the least, for Patrick to raise the money for this land, but his goal was achieved in the fall of 2022! Now with the land purchased, he has prepared the land, planted corn, beans and other produce, and is currently gathering the first harvest!
Currently Light the Future Foundation has main initiatives of:
1-Providing tuition for these students, and to potentially eventually build a school;
2-Provide food for the children and community, both that of what the crops yield, and additional food that cannot be grown locally;
3-Provide medical needs for these students, as those needs arise;
4-Meet urgent needs of the community as they arise (such as the need for a new well, provide hand-cleaning equipment to prevent spread of disease, and more); and
5-Manage/maintain/farm the 5-acre plot of land to produce food for the children (managing includes: paying annual taxes on the land; providing farming supplies; paying hired helpers; purchasing seeds, pesticides, and more).
After the land was fully paid for, there are and will be on-going equipment and other supply needs, as well as the needs to pay for the hired help to plant, maintain, and harvest the crops.
Now, in this first year of owning the farm (and every year thereafter), there are taxes due on the land.
To summarize LFF’s financial needs, these include the ongoing tuition, outside food needs, and medical care demands that are constant, in addition to the requirements for maintaining the farm. Donations will go far to assist Patrick and LFF in meeting the constant onslaught of needs for his “children” in Uganda.
Ignite the Future 