The beginnings of the Zimu Foundation incubated as a 3-year Lenten project with St. Anne Parish in Barrington Illinois. The Parish funded the improvement of an impoverished medical clinic in Nakasongola run by the diocese of Kasana-Luweero in rural Uganda, and then secured additional funding to erect the foundation and roof for a new maternity clinic on the campus. By 2013, others heard of the work being done and offered support, both financial and organizational.

In order to see the projects through to completion after the Parish’s Lenten commitment had ended, a grass-roots effort began to organize into an independent foundation. In 2014, a Board of Directors was established, and incorporation and charitable status applications filed to make the Zimu Foundation a reality.

The inspiration for Zimu Foundation comes from Fr. Peter Mukasa. Upon returning to Uganda after finishing seminary studies in USA, Fr. Peter was ordained a priest in his home diocese of Kasana-Luweero in 2011 and has dedicated his life not only to the spititual needs of people in his parish, but also to helping those in his community caught in the shackles of poverty who did not receive the same opportunities as he did to find hope in a future that includes a good education, sustained healthcare, and hope for a vibrant economic future.

“Zimu” is an acronym for “Zinunula Munaku”, a Lugandan saying which is literally translated as “hope for the poor or the downtrodden.”

The need for Zimu Foundation is profound. Such small help manifests into so much benefit, not only for clinic construction but also for making a difference in the lives of many underprivileged children and their destitute mothers in remote villages of Uganda, who barely survive in the crudest conditions of life.

The Foundation addresses children’s challenges to good, quality education so that they may have a bright future for a good job and self-sustenance. We support educational sponsorships, income-generating activities and medical treatment to enable children and their families to live, learn, work, and improve their future prospects.

In the U.S., the Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors led by Rhonda Dehn, Chairperson of the Board.

Please consider supporting the Foundation’s work today by making a donation pledge and/or volunteering.