Julia Musisi

Julia is a hero to 59 orphan girls in Kikyusa, Uganda. She would like to rescue many more but to do that she needs help.

Julia Musisi is a native of Uganda and a U.S. citizen since 2003. In 2007, after the civil war in Uganda ended, she went to Kikyusa and converted her own home to a girls school for three orphans. Now there are 59 girls at the school, 23 residents and 36 non-residents. They are taught the skills of tailoring, hair dressing, electrical installation, auto mechanics, and how to operate a personal computer. They graduate about age 18 and the hope is that they will either go on to college or get a decent job. Julia has a college degree, as do 8 of her 9 siblings.

Julia: "These are girls with both parents deceased due to aids and civil wars in several villages in Luwero District. These are abandoned girls, or living with an elderly caregiver who stopped their education in elementary school or junior high school. We offer courses in Tailoring, hairdressing, motor vehicle mechanics, electrical installation, soap making etc."

The school has a paid staff of 3 teachers and a man who does anything needed plus five volunteers. There is no tuition and no charge for room and board.

Julia's major goal is to at least double the number of girls served, which means at least doubling the staff and which would require the construction of another building to properly house the students. Presently the school has to turn away applicants.

Julia: "My dream is to build a school to house 150-200 girls. At this point, we are turning away girls due to lack of space and funds."

Julia dedicates her considerable energy and all her spare money to the school. She developed the idea of starting a school after the civil war ended in 1996(?). From money Julia earned as an elder care giver in the U.S. she bought land in Kikyusu and contracted to have the house built. The first 3 girls entered in 1997. She knew that at some time she would provide water, so the house was plumbed when built.

Until 2017 there was not running water at the house. The girls and teachers had to haul water from a village well. Last year Julia raised $10,000 from donors for a well on the school grounds. She went from the U.S. to Uganda, hired a local company and supervised the digging of a 140(?) foot well and installation of a pump and piping. Now the school has running water, to the delight of the girls.

The school has 4 computers. Wireless access is available from a local provider at reasonable cost. One of Julia's goals is to have one laptop per person and to have a proper computer lab. She wants to move beyond word processing and other fundamental skills and offer technical training in skills that would lead to well-paying jobs, such programming, web site construction, image processing, etc.

Think of it. Every girl who goes through the school means one less left on the street to fend for herself.

The organization's web site is: www.voluntaryheartscommunity.org

Their stated mission is:
Voluntary Hearts Community for Girl-child Concern (VHC-GCC) is a registered (Uganda) Non Profit-making Government Organization (NGO) dedicated to helping Ugandan girls rise up strong.
We envision fully educated and empowered young women engaged in the economic and social well-being of their communities.