The story of Mr. Kayemba

Kayemba Kalema was born in 1970. He lived his childhood in a small village together with his father Fredrick, four stepmothers and several half siblings. Kayemba's birth mother lived in another remote village, either unable or unwilling to raise her children. As can be assumed, each stepmother cared only for her own children, which left Kayemba an object of continuos mistreatment. His closest companion was his half-sister Alice, whose mother was also living elsewhere.

In a way Fredrick was a generous man. In addition to supporting his large family he hosted a good number of coming and going people at his property. At times there were altogether over sixty people to be fed and accommodated. When Kayemba was 10 and Alice was 8, they had to wake up before sunrise to fetch water to fill up two big water tanks. After returning from school they headed straight to crop fields to ditch vegetables. Carrying heavy potato sacks on their heads, Kayemba and Alice walked long ways to home. At that point they often fell asleep, exhausted by the day's work. When they woke up dinner had been prepared and eaten, and they had to wait with empty stomachs until breakfast. Some nights they ended up eating dog food to fight hunger.

"Out there must be other children suffering like me", Kayemba thought. "When I grow up I want to help them."

To avoid being woken up by stick hits, Kaeymba and Alice chose to sleep outside in the bushes. At the age of 10 Alice got raped by a visitor man. Because Kayemba was quickly forced to escape the threatening situation, he could not identify the man in the dark. After having lost her virginity Alice no longer had any value. Different men came to get her for periods of some weeks and she was returned home just to be picked up by someone else. Alice died with AIDS at the age of 22, leaving behind three orphaned children.

12-year-old Kayemba felt there was no way out of the helpless situation. He decided to commit suicide by drinking poison he had managed to acquire. But just before it was too late, he was found and taken to a hospital. Instead of returning home Kayemba went to live with his grand aunt. Since his life continued equally miserable there, he reattempted suicide a year later. This time he could not fight back nausea but threw up the poison, staying once again alive.

"Since God has saved my life already twice, he must have a special mission waiting for me. I must change my situation now so that I can take up the possibilities he will offer me."

Kayemba joined the National Resistance Movement army when he was 13. His intention was either to get killed in a battle or return with skills needed to take revenge on the people who had mistreated him. For the first time in his life he felt a sense of belonging, as he was part of a troop fighting to stop Obote's mass killings. He witnessed extreme cruelty, such as cutting open pregnant women's stomachs with big knives, revealing unborn babies that were claimed to be bombs. However, he did not stay in the army for idealistic reasons but in order to have access to security and food. In 1986, after Kayemba had been in the army for three years, Museveni became Uganda's president and the civil war was over. By that time Kayemba had forgiven his wrongful treatment and returned to his father's house.

Now that Kayemba knew how to handle a gun, Fredrick started fearing for himself and his wives. He took Kayemba back to school to complete his primary and secondary education. Despite studying Kayemba felt restless and out of place. That is when he was introduced to a local boy scouts group, which took him back to camping familiar from the army. Together the scouts served post-war Ugandans in many ways, such as traveling to emergency sites to help children and elderly people. Kayemba stayed with the scouts until he became a troop leader, and nowadays he continues to work with youths as a seventh day adventist pathfinder leader and enjoys challenging mountain hikes.

By the time Kayemba finished secondary school his father had got sick. Weakened by cancer, he was no longer able to work but was forced to sell off his property in order to support the household. He died in three year's time. One of Fredrick's tenants, civil engineer Daniel Nsibambi, supported Kayemba by offering him work at his buildings. When he saw the young man's skills and determination he decided to take him to college. Kayemba got a Craft 1 certificate and continued to work for five more years until he could afford to get his diploma in civil engineering.

After graduating from college Kayemba started his own house building business, met his wife Prossy and got five children. Now the family lives comfortably in a peaceful village, attending actively in local church and scout events.

Throughout all times, Kayemba has remembered the decision he made when he was 10. When ever he sees suffering children he feels their pain in his heart. That is the reason for founding Hope Children's Foundation, which has been Kayemba's main mission since 1999. Today his foundation brings together over 80 under priviledged children - orphans, school dropouts and members of very poor families - to provide them with basic shelter, food and education.

"If I cannot help these poor children, then no one can. I want to change as many lives as possible, to bring brighter futures to my country."