Nkwanga reaching out to the needy
A fresh graduate from Kyambogo University has given his life to sustaining the needy, other than focusing on massive job losses and unemployment during a nationwide lock down to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Mike Nkwanga, a graduate with a degree in accounting and finance has reached out to over 200 disadvantaged children in various settlements in Uganda since the lock down was instituted in March 2020.
While he has been serving with Kiwanis International Foundation Wakiso Club in Uganda, a global charity organization, Nkwanga extends his service to personal outreaches. As of last week he reached out to Nakivale Refugee Settlement single handed.
Nkwanga notes that charity has been a lifelong passion for him in that after making close to 100 job applications in vain, he resolved to take care of children that had lost parents during the Covid-19 crisis.
Over 3250 people have died in Uganda from COVID-19 related complications since the first case was recorded in the country in March 2020. Some of the victims died after spending weeks on treatment leaving families with huge hospital bills to clear.
At the onset of the lockdown, in March 2020, Nkwanga’s dream for a white-collar job faced reality that drove him into looking for any source of income that could provide him with a meal for a day.
After graduation in September this year, during a second lockdown instituted in June, Nkwanga shifted between boda boda riding and making chapatti with friends that had already established themselves in the field.
Through such experiences he realized there are people that did not have access to even the 3,000 Uganda Shillings for a meal that he would earn per day.
Nkwanga reveals that beyond seeking to be a solution to those in abject poverty, he believes that success is not limited to what kind of job but making a difference among lives.
Josephine Nkinzi Nabukenya, who is a board member and in charge of mentorship program in Kiwanis International Foundation, reveals that Nkwanga is a role model to her for his passion for charity which she says, is unique among of young men.
Mark Williams Munyonyozi, a boda boda cyclist in Nabisunsa for whom Nkwanga used to work for at a commission, noted that he was able to entrust the fresh graduate with his motor bike because of his heart towards charity.
Another friend of Nkwanga, James Wadika from Banda explains that when the situation was so tough on Nkwanga during lockdown, he would always let him work along and give the fresh graduate food to eat.
He however notes that it is from that little that Nkwanga saves to go out on individual charity outreaches.
Nkwanga is not unique to the experiences of many fresh graduates that have failed to get into employment as the lockdown situation resulted into massive job losses and restrictions on the number of employees work entities can support.
Coronavirus disease continues to ravage the world with at least 5.2 million deaths across the globe.
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