Our mission is to feed, shelter, and educate vulnerable children at the Home of Good Hope in Mugiti, Uganda.

The Home of Good Hope is a nursery and primary school serving children in the rural village of Mugiti in Eastern Uganda.The school was founded in 2015 by Dan Dambirenza, who was born and raised in the village. Dan is a tailor by trade, and runs a small tailoring business in the central market of Mbale, where he employs several other tailors in filling commercial contracts and private orders.

Initially, the Home of Good Hope was little more than a chalkboard under a tree, and during Uganda’s long rainy season, class instruction was a challenge.

Combining his tailoring earnings with donations from friends of the school, Dan was able to construct a simple classroom structure in 2017.

By this time, Dan was joined by his wife Lydia, herself a teacher, in operating the Home of Good Hope.The school quickly outgrew this initial space, and in 2023, Dan and Lydia poured their savings into a larger classroom structure, with the assistance of additional donations. Even with this modest expansion, as the school’s enrollment grew, its limited classrooms no longer sufficed and classes spilled outside.The Home of Good Hope serves a population of children that cannot afford the fees required for other schools in the area. Malnutrition is an unfortunate reality for many of the school’s young students. Some of the children are orphans or otherwise lack a secure home, and for these students, the Home of Good Hope provides shelter and food in addition to schooling.

Khali Goddard, a close friend of Dan and Lydia since her time living in Uganda in 2016, has been a longtime supporter of the school, and in 2025 enlisted the help of friends in forming the Mugiti Good Hope Foundation to partner with Dan and Lydia in serving the children at the Home of Good Hope.The foundation is committed to ensuring that the school has the resources needed to provide for the children’s needs, while also charting a course towards self-reliance.With the help of generous donors, including those who participated in the Run for Mugiti, Dan led the construction of a new four-classroom structure in the fall of 2025. We express heartfelt thanks to all who helped accomplish this project!