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Buyamba—How Love Can Knit Two Nations Together

Buyamba Uganda, a non-profit based here in Westlake Village, has linked thousands of individuals across the Conejo Valley to Kampala, Uganda. Those fortunate enough to know this organization know Buyamba’s story is one of unshakable hope in the power of love and the belief that changing a nation begins with loving a single person, a child, one at a time. 

Buyamba, which means “help” in Luganda, the native language of Uganda, started in the living room of Buyamba’s founders, Pastor Bethuel and Florence Dongo, where they mentored and taught orphaned children from the slums of Kampala. What started as their in-house mentoring and tutoring sessions led to the Dongos adopting 17 children! After seeing that the slums had no access to education, they set out to build a school for the Kampala orphans. With this vision, in 2005 God Cares School was born. Since then, God Cares School has expanded into a 5-story primary school, 5-story secondary school, nursery, and dormitories. Each of the 1,800 students have sponsors who cover the entirety of their education, food, and campus housing. The school has national standing in Uganda, preparing their students for international standardized tests and university. 

As Buyamba CEO Julie Dimas said, the “Conejo Valley has been instrumental in the Dongo’s story.” Based in Westlake Village, CA, Buyamba has grown largely from the support of citizens within the Conejo Valley. Local churches and schools have paid for the building and development of God Cares School, and the majority of student sponsorships come from individuals in the Conejo Valley. Over the years, thousands of people from the Conejo Valley have gone on mission trips to visit God Cares School, and many have gotten to meet their sponsored children. 

At its core, Buyamba is about mentoring the next generation of Ugandans. Buyamba is much more than a monthly sponsorship. Those who sign up to support a child become part of mentoring that child who has unique stories, needs, and talents, and who will, true to Buyamba’s name, “help” transform their community through the training they receive at God Cares School.

It is easy to see why Buyamba is becoming a household name in the Conejo Valley by demonstrating the power of love to knit together two communities on opposite sides of the world. It has shown that changing a nation begins with loving “the one,” and through this love, we are also changed. As Julie Dimas says, “God’s love doesn’t just transform the children at God Cares School. It transforms us too. When we see God’s work in the lives of these children, we cannot help but be changed too.” 

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