Recorded at the 6th edition of the gathering of Givers at Ndere Centre in Uganda, this episode marks the beginning of a series hosted by CivLegacy Foundation in partnership with the Uganda National NGO Forum and the Media Challenge Initiative (MCI).

The Comm_UNITY Podcast was created to document, spotlight, and celebrate African generosity, telling the stories behind the giving, and highlighting how philanthropy rooted in empathy and community creates lasting impact.

In this episode, host Jacqueline Asiimwe sits down with Barbara Masibo, Director of Ziingo Women &Children Initiative, an organisation committed to defending the rights of women and children in disadvantaged communities.

Barbara shares the moment that shaped her journey in giving, a scholarship that allowed her sister to complete her education. From that experience grew a deep commitment to ensuring other children have access to opportunity.

Reflecting on the realities of building and sustaining an NGO, she reminds us:
“Everyone has something to give no matter how small. Even a smile or a listening ear can change a life.”

🎧 Tune in for an honest conversation about generosity that stays and the quiet acts of giving that sustain communities for generations.

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🎧Listen now to previous episodes. Reflectdeeply. Pass it on.

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Recording and production by ⁠Media Challenge Initiative⁠

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#OmutimaOmugabi #KutoaNiMoyo #GenerositythatServers #GenerositythatStays #GenerositythatSustains #PhilanthopyWeek2025

At the Gathering of Givers 2024, David Lambert Tumwesigye introduced himself with a grin: “I’m a middle-aged man. Where is the middle of age? Right center.” The joke lands, but what follows is anything but light. He sketches a life shaped by sacrifice and lucky breaks, evidence that generosity isn’t window dressing; it’s load bearing.

He grew up in a warm rural community better known, he teases, for its hot springs than its headlines. The heat that changed his family’s fortunes, however, was human. His father’s trajectory bent because an uncle, Eliezan Kabir, paid school fees through primary; when that support ended and school stopped, an education officer noticed a bright boy out of class, intervened, and helped him return. One act of generosity, then another; a chain reaction that turned obstacles into on-ramps. “We are who we are because people made sacrifices, and because we were lucky,” Tumwesigye says, and you can hear both gratitude and resolve in it.

That conviction became his compass in social protection work. While advocating for the Senior Citizens Grant, he often met polished versions of the same objection: we can’t afford it. He answered with a straight face and a sharp edge, if we can fund bridges and big buildings, we can also fund dignity. He noticed something else too: many of the people now calling grants “uneconomical” once relied on public bursaries to cross their own bridges. Memory, he suggests gently, is a public good.

His own turning point came at NSSF when a managing director slid a stack of papers across the desk, an International Labour Office scholarship for advanced study in social protection financing. “If it interests you, come back,” the MD said. Tumwesigye went back, and that single opportunity set the arc of three decades. Someone passed a ladder instead of a lecture; he has been paying that gesture forward ever since.

Through friends he describes as “among the most generous I know,” he helped produce the Gathering of Givers, bringing not only time but tools. Often, he says, what’s missing isn’t money so much as intent: decide to put what you already have at people’s disposal and watch capacity multiply. The satisfaction of giving, in his experience, routinely outpaces the applause of receiving.

Ask him about young people and his cadence quickens. He will not accept the lazy myth that youth are “not ready.” He sees imagination, generosity, and problem-solving waiting for oxygen. Give them oxygen, opportunity, challenge, trust, and they will out-invent our problems. His aim is simple and stubborn: equalise life chances so luck isn’t the loudest variable.

Tumwesigye is not allergic to complexity; he is allergic to using complexity as an alibi. Generosity, in his framing, is disciplined, measurable, nation-shaping. It is the difference between a state that counts bridges and a society that also counts the people who cross them. A little goes a long way, sometimes all the way to a life that turns around and lifts others.

Quotable quotes:• “We are who we are because people made sacrifices, and because we were lucky.”

• “If you can afford bridges and big buildings, you can afford dignity.”

• “Even the most affluent Ugandans made it because government once believed in bursaries.”

• “The satisfaction you get from giving is often greater than the one who receives.”

• “Young people are super imaginative and very generous. Give them a chance and they’ll out-invent our problems.”

• “Equalise life chances, that’s the work.”

• “Generosity is not a line item; it’s an inheritance.”

• “A little goes a long way, literally.”

🎧Listen now to previous episodes. Reflect deeply. Pass it on.

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Courtesy: Qweshunga and Media Challenge Initiative and CivLegacy Foundation  and CivSourceAfrica

#commUNITYPodcast #YoungGivers #GiveDifferent#OurGenerousSpirit #OmutimaOmugabi

The Gathering of Givers 2024 carried a single, resonant conviction: giving, at its purest, is less about abundance and more about intention. This year’s spotlight fell on young givers, people whose energy, empathy, and imagination are quietly redrawing what generosity looks like today.

Episode 9 of the comm-UNITY! Podcast (Season 14) captures that spirit in motion. Titled “The Inner Wheel of the Heart,” the episode features Dr. Norah Madaya (Director, NORPAP Consults) and Hope, an education officer within the national prisons service. Guided by host Jacqueline Asiimwe (CEO, CivSource Africa Galaxy), the conversation invites us to rethink what we call “enough,” and where the first spark of giving truly begins.

“I consider a generous person to be someone with a soul, one who gives relentlessly, regardless of how much they have,” Dr. Madaya says. She tells of a mother who could scarcely provide two meals a day yet still reached outward with encouragement. From encounters like these, Dr. Madaya helped form a women’s group, twenty women who gather to share, pray, and uplift one another.

“I asked them what they had,” she recalls. “They said, ‘nothing.’ But after talking, they realized they had something, willingness.”

That single word becomes a quiet engine. For every small contribution the women make to their poultry project, Dr. Madaya adds a little more, literally. “For each woman who joins, I add one bird,” she says. “From fifty-five birds, they now have seventy-five. It’s little, but for them, it’s impactful.” The math is simple; the effect is profound. Confidence returns. Savings begin. The story reframes generosity not as spectacle, but as steady companionship.

Asked to name a generous example, Hope smiles. She points to Inner Wheel, a global women’s organization born out of Rotary, whose members are committed to transforming communities through service. For Hope, that commitment takes shape among incarcerated women, many of them mothers, who often face scarcity alongside their sentences.

She tells of newborn twins who needed milk when a fellow inmate, previously sharing milk, was released. “We mobilized quickly and sent milk. It saved her life,” Hope says simply. In a world that often measures giving in large cheques and headlines, these small acts, milk, baby clothes, sanitary items, soap, sugar, are quietly revolutionary. They restore dignity where it is most fragile.

“It’s about checking on someone who has no hope in you, and making a difference,” Hope says. “That’s giving from the heart.”

Both women trace their instinct to give to habits modelled at home. “My mother taught me to never turn anyone away,” Hope shares. “Our home was always open, strangers, guests, people who just needed a place. She’d say, ‘It’s not their fault they’re like that. Give them the best.’” Dr. Madaya remembers a father who tutored her in reciprocity. “He’d give me something and ask me to return it. If I hesitated, he’d say, ‘It’s not good not to give.’ But if I shared, he promised to give me again.”

These lessons converge in one line that anchors the episode’s title: “Sharing doesn’t come from the lips,” Dr. Madaya says. “It must come from the inside, from the inner wheel of the heart.” The phrase lingers because it reveals generosity as a way of being before it becomes a list of deeds.

As the conversation closes, both women make a gentle, insistent ask of the next generation. “A meaningful life is a life of giving,” Dr. Madaya says. “If you want to find purpose, live a life that is shared.” Hope adds a practical lens for everyday practice: “Amidst everything young people do, let them have a passion to impact lives. Giving doesn’t have to be big. Just give and give from the heart.”

🎧Listen nowto previous episodes. Reflect deeply. Pass it on.

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#commUNITYPodcast#YoungGivers #GiveDifferent #OurGenerousSpirit#OmutimaOmugabi

At the 2025 Gathering of Givers, we sat down with Brenda Boonabaana, board member of Albinism Umbrella Uganda, whose journey embodies this year’s theme, Our Generous Spirit. Born with albinism in a community that didn’t fully understand it, Brenda’s earliest gift was the unconditional acceptance of her grandfather, who called her a blessingwhen others were shocked. From there, her life has been a tapestry of kindness, strangers offering rides to school, sponsors funding her education from primary through university, and mentors guiding her path.

Yet alongside generosity, Brenda has faced harsh discrimination, from exclusion in classrooms to deeply harmful myths that put lives at risk. She painted a vivid picture of the challenges persons with albinism endure: social isolation, barriers to education and employment,limited access to healthcare like sunscreen, and dangerous misconceptions.

Her call to action was clear and urgent:Acceptanceis an act of generosity. “The moment a person with albinism is accepted in the community, everything else keeps flowing,” she said. For Brenda, acceptance is not passive tolerance but active inclusion in schools, workplaces, relationships, and every sphere of life.

Her dream is simple yet transformative: to see persons with albinism treated just like any other person, judged not byskin color but by character, capability, and humanity. In her words, “We are all Africans. We eat the same food. We can do anything any other person can do. Then why would you discriminate?”

Brenda’s story is a reminder that generosity is not only about giving things; it’s about giving people their rightful place in the human family.

🎧Listen now to previous episodes. Reflect deeply. Pass it on.

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#commUNITYPodcast#YoungGivers #BeyondTheGift #GiveDifferent #PodcastForTheFuture#EachOneReachOne #OurGenerousSpirit #OmutimaOmugabi

Live from Ndere Centre at the Gathering of Givers 2024, we sat under the sun (and some serious generosity) with Tugshamwa, Joel, and Eshban, three men navigating the complexities of giving in a world that often defines it through status, visibility, and material success.

But here’s the twist: they’re not here to echo that narrative.

They're here to redefine giving, not as a transaction, but as a practice of presence, service, and belief. Belief in country. Belief in community. Belief in the unseen value of tipping a little more when faith is fading. Of responding to that midnight call from a broke friend. Of choosing kindness even when the world has been unkind.

They speak of military men who gave their lives without medals, of friends who paid for strangers' dialysis during lockdown, and of communities like 4040 whose long-haul commitment to giving outlives trends. They speak of generosity as agency, the moment when young Africans stop asking for permission to help and start writing their own story of impact.

There are moments of laughter (“Eshban didn’t invite me!”), me!”),moments of wrestling (“Why am I generous to people who are mean to me?”) and moments of awakening, like when Jacqueline Asiimwe calls us to honor acts of giving the way we honor saints. Because perhaps we are writing our own Acts of the Givers, chapter by chapter, meal by meal, tip by tip, fight by fight.

 This episode is layered with love, honesty, and fire. It’s about owning the narrative of who gives, why we give, and what giving looks like when done in our skin. It’s about dismantling the myth that philanthropy belongs to the wealthy and planting the truth that we are the givers we've been waiting for.

🎧 Tune in to be affirmed, inspired, and maybe even convicted. Giving isn’t charity. It’s a claim on the future.

🎧 Listen now to previous episodes. Reflect deeply. Pass it on.

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#commUNITYPodcast #YoungGivers #BeyondTheGift #GiveDifferent #PodcastForTheFuture #EachOneReachOne #OurGenerousSpirit #OmutimaOmugabi

What if the story isn’t over, just paused?

In this powerful episode of The Gathering of Givers, host Jacqueline Asiimwe Mwesige sits down with Rebecca Cherop, the brave and visionary founder of The Semicolon Nation. After surviving childhood trauma, the loss of her parents, and a clinical diagnosis of anxiety, depression, PTSD, and OCD at just twenty-two, Rebecca made a life-changing decision: to pause, heal, and then rise, not just for herself, but for others navigating similar storms.

Her story is not one of endings, but of continuations. With deep vulnerability and unshakable purpose, Rebecca speaks on the quiet generosity of sharing one’s truth. She shows us how empathy, storytelling, and advocacy can become lifelines for healing and tools for reshaping systems.

Through The Semicolon Nation, Rebecca is shifting narratives around mental health across Uganda and beyond, especially among youth and communities facing humanitarian crises. Her mission is bold: to end stigma, champion inclusive mental healthcare, and remind every survivor that they are not alone and their story isn’t finished.

Tune in and be moved by a story that proves sometimes the most generous thing you can give… is your truth.

🎧 Listen now to previous episodes. Reflect deeply. Pass it on.

🔗⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.civsourceafrica.com/podcast-1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

#commUNITYPodcast #YoungGivers #BeyondTheGift #GiveDifferent #PodcastForTheFuture #EachOneReachOne #OurGenerousSpirit #OmutimaOmugabi

In this episode of Gathering of Givers, host Jacqueline Asiimwe sits down with Abaas Mpindi Apuuli, a visionary media entrepreneur redefining Africa’s media landscape through innovation and empowerment. Abaas reflects on the early lessons in generosity he learned from his grandmother, a woman known in her community for her warmth, hospitality, and insistence on basic courtesy. These early values of giving, sharing, and serving others laid the foundation for a life committed to lifting others as he climbs.

A defining moment in Abaas’ journey came when the late legendary journalist Bbale Francis entrusted him with his fifty-year-old media brand. Fresh out of college, Abaas took that act of trust and transformed it into the Media Challenge Initiative (MCI), an organization that has since become a catalyst for change in Uganda’s media space.

Now celebrating a decade of impact, MCI equips young journalists with the skills, leadership, and social consciousness needed to drive meaningful storytelling. Since 2017, it has trained over 3,000 journalism students, launched more than 10 youth-led media startups, and supported 130 fellows in solutions-based journalism. With programs like the Mobile Newsroom, offering hands-on training across 17 Ugandan universities, and the Media Hub, a collaborative space for media innovation, MCI is nurturing a new generation of storytellers committed to truth, impact, and change.

With a strong focus on underserved regions and emerging podcasters, MCI envisions the creation of the First Youth Newsroom, content created by and for the youth. But for Abaas, this work goes beyond building skills; it’s about transforming the very narrative of Africa. He is determined to challenge negative stereotypes and promote stories that celebrate growth, acknowledge complexity, and spark collective responsibility.

Generosity sits at the heart of Abaas’ mission, not just the generosity of resources, but the deeper kind: sharing space, time, privilege, knowledge, and opportunity. Through MCI, he practices leadership model grounded in abundance and access, ensuring others are empowered to step into their purpose and tell their stories on their own terms.

Abaas’ journey is a testament to what generosity can look like when it’s woven into vision and practice, a reminder that true giving is about opening doors for others and holding them open long enough for transformation to take root.

🎧 Listen now to previous episodes. Reflect deeply. Pass it on.

🔗⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.civsourceafrica.com/podcast-1⁠⁠⁠⁠

#commUNITYPodcast #YoungGivers #BeyondTheGift #GiveDifferent #PodcastForTheFuture #EachOneReachOne #OurGenerousSpirit #OmutimaOmugabi

People often tip the waiters but forget the chefs, the quiet alchemists working behind the scenes, seasoning stories into every bite, far from applause. Just like that, we often overlook the everyday gestures of generosity: the silent kindnesses, the held doors, the shared smiles, the wisdom passed over tea. Not all giving jingles in a collection box.

In this compelling episode of The Gathering of Givers, host Jacqueline Asiimwe is joined by Catherine Mutesi Mugabo, a vibrant young giver, as they unwrap what it means to give in today's world, beyond coins and campaigns. Together, they explore the evolving spectrum of charity and the subtle, sometimes invisible, ways generosity shows up in our lives.

Catherine opens up about how her own son redefined her understanding of giving. Through him, she sees generosity not just as grand gestures, but as a cumulative effect, a daily collection of small kindnesses, time freely offered, talents quietly shared, and treasures humbly given. “Money isn’t the only thing we give,” she says. “It’s the Three T’s: Time, Talent, and Treasure.”

She also reflects on The Gathering of Givers as more than an event, it’s a moment of recognition. A celebration of those whose behind-the-scenes giving leaves visible impact. Catherine applauds CivLegacy Foundation and CivGalaxy for putting African philanthropy on the map, both through research and by elevating it into boardrooms. “Africa is the Invisible Chef,” she says, “quietly nourishing, often unseen, yet foundational to the feast.”

🎧 Listen now. Reflect deeply. Pass it on.

Because there is more to generosity than meets the eye, and more givers among us than we may realize.

🎧 Listen in and be inspired. 🔗⁠⁠⁠https://www.civsourceafrica.com/podcast-1⁠⁠⁠

#commUNITYPodcast #YoungGivers #BeyondTheGift #GiveDifferent #PodcastForTheFuture #EachOneReachOne #OurGenerousSpirit #OmutimaOmugabi

In this episode Jacqueline Asiimwe sits down with Denis Wembi, a youth leader involved in many initiatives, including the "Goal Next Generation" fellowship. Wembi reflects on the role generosity has played in shaping his life. He recalls how his father’s actions; always bringing him children’s books, not only sparked his lifelong love for reading but were also his first contact with pure generosity. He also shares a story from early 2024 when two women on a train asked him for help with their luggage.

This small favor led to an unexpected return; the women covered his entire journey to Diani, Kenya, a destination he’d never visited. To Wembi, it was the best thing that happened to him that year, proving how even the smallest act of kindness can have a far reaching impact.

Wembi mentions that as he works with young people, he witnesses generosity in action every day. He recalls how a friend who once helped pay his school fees was a gesture that left a lasting impression on him and praises how young people are proactive in sharing resources to support each other’s dreams.

For Wembi, generosity isn't just about grand gestures; it's the little things: like giving a pair of trousers or a handkerchief to someone who needs it that count. He believes in the principle that the more you give, the more it comes back and that the true purpose of giving is to uplift others. Wembi also shares his dream of creating a resource center to provide young people with access to literature; seeing knowledge as a powerful tool for empowerment.

He truly believes that even the smallest acts of generosity can make a big difference in people's lives.

🎧 Listen in and be inspired. 🔗⁠⁠https://www.civsourceafrica.com/podcast-1⁠⁠

#commUNITYPodcast#YoungGivers #BeyondTheGift #GiveDifferent #PodcastForTheFuture#EachOneReachOne #OurGenerousSpirit #OmutimaOmugabi

What if giving wasn’t just about money? What if generosity looked like mentorship, knowledge-sharing, advocacy, or simply showing up? In Episode 2, Season 14 of the comm-UNITY!

Podcast, we’re unpacking the power of giving beyond the obvious, because generosity isn’t just an act, it’s a mindset.

We often hesitate to call ourselves givers, as if time, skills, and care don’t count as much as financial donations. But the truth is, giving comes in many forms, and it’s often the things we share freely that create the biggest impact. What if generosity was less about what we give away and more about what we build?

In a world that moves fast, where self-interest is often celebrated, choosing to give, whether it’s through mentorship, knowledge, or simply standing beside someone, is an act of defiance and hope. It’s saying, “I see you. I believe in you. Let’s build something together.”

Meet the changemakers redefining generosity:

Ahumuza Ronah: Executive Director, ⁠Holistic Actions for Development and Empowerment(HADE).⁠ She is using mentorship as a tool for revolution, empowering young women in Ghetto communities to rise as leaders in gender equality, climate action, and urban development.

Mary Helda Akongo: Program Lead, Fundi Girlsat ⁠FundiBots⁠. She’s breaking barriers in STEM, ensuring that girls across Uganda and Kenya don’t just dream of the future, they build it.

Nambooze Angella: Head of the Support Team, ⁠Raremark Foundation⁠. As a sickle cell warrior herself, she is turning personal battles into advocacy, proving that giving time and voice can change lives.

Society might see generosity as self-promotion, but let’s be honest, sharing acts of giving inspires others to do the same. We’ve all been shaped by someone else’s generosity, whether it was a mentor, a friend, or a stranger who believed in us.

What if your generosity could be the spark for someone else?

Think about the last time someone gave you an opportunity, believed in you, or made your journey easier. What if giving wasn’t just about charity, but about paving the way for someone else to rise?

Let’s talk about giving that goes beyond the gift, giving that transforms, uplifts, and leaves a legacy.

🎧 Listen in and be inspired. 🔗⁠https://www.civsourceafrica.com/podcast-1⁠

#commUNITYPodcast#YoungGivers #BeyondTheGift #GiveDifferent #PodcastForTheFuture#EachOneReachOne #OurGenerousSpirit #OmutimaOmugabi