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What is Matovu Foundation?

The Matovu Foundation is a charity organization that is operating in Nansana, Wakiso district of the Republic of Uganda and is engaged in communal empowerment project and vocational support for single mothers, youths, support to orphans. This charity organization was founded by Matovu Joseph, who is an orphan from the same region and whose education was supported by a Japanese NPO at Waseda university. Matovu’s motivation to establish the foundation is due to very challenging lifestyle he went through with his abandoned mother while still a child and the death of his mother in 1998 saw Nansana community becoming another parent so this is the platform he has established together with very concerned members to give back to community by empowering the most vulnerable groups.

Learn more about our activities by visiting our FACEBOOK page.

One of the members of The Matovu Foundation I met during my stay in Uganda was a teenager then and was desperately studying every day to earn a scholarship to study at a Japanese university. She is currently working in an NPO in Japan with the aim of realizing a society where children who have lost parents around the world can have an education regardless of the hardships they are facing in their daily lives.

I am thankful for the environment that raised myself like her and I was impressed by The Matovu Foundation and I am committed to work on this project to make this come true.

One of the families (Ms, Nanami) stayed during her exchange program in Uganda during her school days. This lady in the picture is a single mother who just like any other woman in the area struggled to raise her children with a lot of difficulties. Doing just small scale business to sell maize on the streets of Nansana, she tried very hard to pay her children’s school fees, pay their medical fees and also feed them. It is our duty as The Matovu Foundation to support such mothers to enable improvement of their families’ income generating activities. They are so smart and not handicapped and very ready to take care of their own kids, and we cannot take full care of their families however much we want their lives to be better. Therefore, the sustainable solution is to support these single mothers to run small businesses so that they take care of their problems.  

◆ Single mother Zainab

Single mother Zainab is living in a small single room with her three children; 4 years old, 2 years old and 6 months old. Her only source of income is small scale business as shown in the photo above with a daily income of about 180 yen. Paying the rent of 950 yen a month, taking care of other family necessities, and paying school fees is a battle.

Zainab 's husband died to HIV / AIDS. Zainab herself is infected with HIV/AIDS. Fortunately, three children are not infected.

Local members of The Matovu Foundation, "Asked Zainab if she was aware of HIV infection through breast feeding?"  and the response was "yes, but what do you expect me to do if I cannot manage to buy food to feed the baby?". In Uganda there are many mothers like Ms. Zainab who have to breast feed to raise children despite the possibility of being infected with HIV.

About the mechanism of this project

Survey is conducted conducted locally, and a single mother to be supported is selected.

① Implemented vocational training for single mothers. 
② Business amalgamation and sub-grant assistance; form groups of five mothers doing similar businesses in different villages. Each group received approx. 100,000 Yen
③ Follow-up, assessment, review done by the Matovu Foundation. 
④ Sub-grant refund in 12 months.
5. 14 months, repeating the procedure with new groups of mothers….(the process continues)