Tukundane Levi Napoleon is an inspiring Resolution Project fellow and 2022 Makerere University graduate of Journalism and Communication. He has a rich leadership background on which he premised the foundation of his initiative.

He was President for MasterCard Scholars and Guild president aspirant at Makerere University, President for BRAC alumni for Southern Uganda and chairperson of different student associations at University and in high school.

Tukundane started TOORA in 2017 and superintended its community operations until it’s registration in 2021 in Rukungiri District, South Western Uganda. TOORA runs different projects that promote social Justice and complement the realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. TOORA’s Vision is; Economically Empowered Communities for Sustainable Development.

Motivation to start TOORA.

“I grew up in a deep village and witnessed several social injustices in the community, also within my own polygamous family. Getting quality education was always a dream despite my brilliance until I won a scholarship to go to Ntare School for A ‘level and later Makerere University.” says Tukundane on a one on one interview with FAM Media. As he went to these top institutions, he always reflected on the many brilliant children who were deep down in his community without opportunities like the one he got to realize their dreams.

This motivated him to start community outreaches to do career guidance, motivation talks, and charity in form of scholastic materials to the academically talented but economically disadvantaged children which activities eventually turned into TOORA by the time he completed University. TOORA has now turned around his life and he is envisioning a long live commitment to community empowerment.

How he raised capital.

Tukundane admits of beginning from scratch and sharing the little he had with those in need. Sometimes, friends support kept him moving towards his dream of serving humanity. “From the start, TOORA entirely survived on my own pocket money from University stipend. Whatever I got for my upkeep would be halved for charity, even to my needy campus friends. I joined several charity groups at campus as well. But this was complimented by my empathetic friends who always moved with me even when we never had a penny, and would at times sacrifice the little they had.” he reminisces his struggles in the start.

In Jan 2022, we won our first grant from the Resolution Project to fund the Hands-on Skilling Project for PWDs, vulnerable women and youth. The Resolution Project funds, mentors, and supports socially responsible young leaders to enable them bring their ideas to life for social transformation.

Achievements.

We have been able to build a strong team of eight committed and competent individuals, largely professionals who volunteer with us in our operations to extend social Justice to communities in our activities. Hundreds of children have been mentored and given career guidance in communities where we operate.

At least 50 vulnerable youth and women have been mobilized, equipped with skills, given raw materials to make crafts and are making good crafts for sale to generate income for their families to better their living standards. These direct beneficiaries are required to mobilize and empower others with the acquired skills. This has been done and several community members have been impacted.

Challenges facing TOORA.

The biggest challenge faced is limited resource capacity to scale up operation and better lives of a wider community. Our present capacity is small due to limited funding. We continue to look around to tap into any available funding opportunities for our capacity building. Other challenges can be worked upon with enough resource capacity.

“In the next ten years, we are aiming to go regional and national. We recognize a great need for economic empowerment due to high rate of poverty in our communities. Many local communities need vocational skilling intervention to address the problem of unemployment and poverty.” Tukundane asserts with emphasis while pondering on future projection for TOORA. He believes that skilling unemployed youth and rural women will provide a huge multiplier effect to fight poverty in communities in Uganda.

Advice to all the young Ugandans and Africans.

Implementation of their ideas, I kindly beg them to start now with the little they have or can afford. Opportunities usually find those who have something small to reflect the bigger idea. Start small with whatever you have to dream bigger while in the course of events. It’s regrettable to sit on an idea for years without action. Better do something however small that will force you to dream bigger.

TOORA is open to partnerships that are targeting to promote social Justice for all and foster realization of Sustainable Development Goals for community transformation.