A night of poetry, music and philanthropy is fast approaching to raise funds for the Spinoza Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that helps bring goats to children and youth living with HIV in Uganda to provide nutrition and elevate the family’s quality of life.
“We agreed that goats were good because of their resilience to the weather conditions and disease, so it’s not very expensive for the families to maintain the goat.”
Since 2020 they have helped 63 children and youth in Uganda by giving goats to their families which will help them become self-sustainable and they can sell a goat once they have three or four to pay for school fees and other basic needs.
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“I remember some of the children feeling a sense of owning something maybe for the first time, because some of them are five or six years old. They get the leash of their goat and you can see the sense of ownership,” said Okuku.
“It’s all about people feeling seen and feeling valued like they matter because here is someone getting something for the first time they didn’t expect to get and just the gratitude and the appreciation is commendable.”
To help continue the program, a virtual concert called A Night for Uganda will feature more than 20 musicians and poets who will share their talent and stories to raise funds in hopes of delivering more goats to more families this year.
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One of the performers is poet and writer Jayitha Vunnam, who is from India and now lives in Canada.
“I think for me because I come from a country where most of us live below the poverty line, it was important for me to help the people in Uganda that are also living below the poverty line that have these struggles and if there’s any way that I can help them I would love to,” said Vunnam.
Jonathan Itamah will perform with his band, Soul Pool.
A Night for Uganda takes place Feb. 12 and tickets are by donation. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com or follow them on Facebook for updates.
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