Here's an wonderful new easy way to support Kisa Foundation USA, and it won't cost you a cent. Anytime you want to buy something on Amazon, log into smile.amazon.com and specify Kisa Foundation USA from the "pick your own charitable organization" window. From then on, Amazon will donate 0.5 % of everything you spend to Kisa Foundation.

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Help us continue our work of providing art therapy to HIV-AIDS patients, and free art workshops for orphans and street children in Uganda. Register for Amazon Smile now, and pick Kisa Foundation USA as your charity of choice.

Peter Kibanyi, KFUSA Treasurer has started a new project to recognize and publicize artwork created by inmates in U.S. jails and prisons. The project, 1heartart.org was recently profiled in Huffington Post, an online news service.

1HeartArt raises funds for former inmates pursuing art, as well as for students whose parents are serving time in prison. They also offer a penpal program inviting anyone to write a letter and form a connection with an aspiring 1HeartArt artist.

1HeartArt is also sponsoring an art contest with the public as judges of the artwork. To see some of the artwork, check out the Huffington Post article, or go to the 1HeartArt.org website.

Photo, "Jazz" by Darrion Harris.

1heart.org website

Kisa Foundation USA donated a laptop computer to Josephine Namuwawu, a student in the Hotel & Institutional Catering program at Kampala YMCA. The computer will help Josephine to produce high quality school papers and research.

Kisa Foundation USA. KFUSA is helping Josephine and two other Ugandan young people to complete their education.

We held a two-day bead-making and painting workshop for about 75 young people at Kiyita Family Alliance (KIFAD) in Nansana August 23-24. James Nsamba, Farouk Mukwaya and Peter Kalyongo were the teachers. The colorful beads are made from narrow strips cut from pages of discarded magazines. The strips are rolled up, then glued and varnished. Glue can be made from banana skins. The kids also created a large acrylic-on-canvas painting.

Uganda Art Consortium has joined with the Art in Kibera Project to host an exhibition of art by Ugandan and Kenyan children. The Exhibition will be held at Georgetown University in Washington DC in the Inter Cultural Center Galleria Sept. 29th-30th and October 3rd-4th from 9AM to 9 PM.. Georgetown Associate Vice President Charles De Santis and Margaret Halpin, Dean in the School of Foreign Service conduct art classes for children every summer in the Art in Kibera program in Nairobi Kenya. From Uganda, artwork from UAC's free kids art workshops at Sanyuko Ministries will also be on display. The show which is sponsored by the Georgetown African Interests Network, which will hold a reception Sept. 28 to open the exhibition and celebrate the 3rd anniversary of the group.

Bathing, washing clothes and dishes, cooking and drinking for 400 kids plus about 50 staff people uses an enormous amount of water..about 5,000 liters a day. Kisa School depends on the municipal water supply for much of its needs, but the water, like the electric power is sporadic, and the pipes don't always flow. About 5 years ago, we installed a rainwater collection and storage system on the roofs of the main house and part of the main classroom building. This lets us collect and store about 15,000 liters, a three day supply. When we run out, we have to hire men with bicycles to haul water in jerrycans. We could save a lot of money if we could store more rainwater. So we are starting a fund-raising campaign to help us expand our rooftop water system. For $5,000 we can double our capacity and ease our dependence on hauling water.

You can help!

In another art workshop at Kisa Primary School in April, children created a large oil painting based on the sketches and ideas of over 2 dozen children. We'll bring back the painting on our next rip to Uganda, and plan to display it in the U.S. later this year.

More Photos of kids painting workshops

Happy art buyer Ginny Hughes shows off the wood cut print she bought at Uganda Art Consortium's recent exhibition at Electric Maid Gallery in Washington DC. The print, "In African Design" by James Nsamba was one of over 2 dozen art works snapped up by eager buyers at the show. Proceeds from sales provide art therapy for HIV-AIDS patients and free children's art workshops in Uganda

Uganda Art Consortium's 2011 art exhibition opens April 8 at Electric Maid Community Exchange, 268 Carroll Street Northwest
in the Takoma Park neighborhood of Washington D.C.

The show will feature over 70 new paintings and prints by UAC artists including paintings and prints by Hassan Mukiibi, Kizito Fred Kakinda, Charles Mbaziira, Mathias Tusiime, James Nsamba, Ivan Muganga, Moses Kiganda, Mulago Hospital HIV-AIDS Patients and the Children of Kisa Primary School.

The opening reception will be held Friday April 8, 5-8 pm. The show will be open 10-8pm Saturday April 9 and noon-5pm Sunday April 10. Call Tom Herriman, (206) 353-5978 for more information.

Two of the artists, Mukiibi and Tusiime were invited by Kisa Foundation, the University of Florida and the University of Maryland to travel to the U.S. during the exhibition. Both have been denied visa by the U.S. State Department. It is notoriously difficult these days for foreign citizens to get visas to visit the U.S. Our State Department assumes that most visa applicants are just planning to illegally over-stay their visas. It is up to the applicant to prove that they intend to go back home when the visa expires.

An exhibition of new work by Uganda Art Consortium member Mathias Tusiime opened in Kampala March 4. The work consists mainly of acrylic painting on heavily textured paper which Tusiime makes by hand. The exhibition which runs through April 4 is held at Woodside Furniture Store on the Lugogo Bypass.

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has recognized Kisa Foundation USA as a non-profit charitable organization. This means that contributions to KFUSA are tax-deductible by donors, and this should enhance our fund raising capabilities. The announcement came in a letter from the IRS delivered on Dec. 24th

We worked with the children of Kisa Primary School every Saturday afternoon and here we created a large painting entitled "How I Understand Art". About 20 children worked on this large canvas. In this workshop kids also managed to make personal paintings, drawings and beaded work. Some of the Kisa kids have continued to visit us in our Namungona workshop where they are always welcome, and have a chance to continue to work on projects.

Some of the children had attended our previous workshops, and they already had some good skills. So we used them as assistant teachers. They work one-on-one with newer kids, helping them to develop their skills. acquired some the skills and ideas from our previous workshops and now they have some knowledge in Jewelry making and color mix and use. Our teaching assistants at Kisa were Bogere Fahad, Namakula Catherine, and Kiggundu Joseph.

On the first day we stretched the canvases with the kids and we had a small discussion about the meaning and importance of art in everyday life. We assigned each child a topic for a painting and told them to come back with a drawing on paper of what they wanted to paint on canvas.
In the following days kids came with their drawings on papers we provided them of which they transferred to the bigger canvas which was available for that purpose.

At first some kids were asking some question e.g.
* What can I draw?
* What color should I use?
* How do we make the bang?
* How do we select the colors for Jewelry
* Can I take some beads with me at home?
* May I come with a friend next time?

The attendance of the kids was impressive. On the first day we had about 20 kids and end of the 6 sessions we had over 50 kids. Some unlucky ones only attended the last day of the workshop.
Some Kisa School teachers came and watched the classes and had some good comments on their pupils� works and also what we were doing. They wanted to know when we would be coming back.
Several of the kids were naturally talented in art, and caught on very fast to techniques and materials. Others had to be coached and guided, but also produced beautiful art works.

Budget

Cost of materials for the six week project was $205.81. This was provided by Kisa Foundation USA from the sale of artwork by members of the Uganda Art Consortium. Teachers volunteered their time, but were reimbursed for transportation cost.

A Few Problems

We have struggled with a few problems in holding our workshops. 1. there is no time during the school day to hold art workshops, so we work mainly on weekends. But many schoolchildren have substantial homework, and this limits their time they can attend. 2. Its also a problem finding free space for our workshops. We depend on local schools to let us use their classrooms during non-school time, but not all schools are convinced to do this. We also have frequent shortages of materials...especially when the attendance grows day by day, and we end up with more children than we planned for. We never want to turn a child away. Weather can be a problem, because we like to hold many of our classes out doors. And our teachers are learning kids are not such people to handle easy so disturbance is always there due to their energy, competitive spirit and high energy.

We are hoping to develop enough resources that we can do follow-ups with some of the really interested kids. We also want to hold further workshops here and in other areas. In future workshops we also want to add sessions on music, poetry, dance, games.

Future Programs

But we want to continue this effort because we think our workshops give children the chance to express themselves, to appreciate the beauty in every day life, to communicate ideas and feelings, and to re their ideas and their vision with others.

So we are planning to continue and expand our childrens' art workshops.

We'd like to hold exhibitions of the children's work, so the community learns about our project and will come to support it. And we're looking for partners...other organizations concerned with disadvantaged children...and private companies who would support us in our work. We plan look at ways of encouraging different companies and individuals to join hands with us continue and expand our work.

Moses Kiganda has won the NABOTU 2010 Literary Award for his novel “Mice in Human Skin”. Kiganda raises chickens with the help of a small business loan from KFUSA. But he is also an aspiring novelist and this is his first major recognition as a writer. The award carried a small cash stipend which enabled Moses to pay off some of his remaining college loans, and make partial repayment of his KFUSA small business loan. Kiganda is also a member of Uganda Art Consortium.

UAC Artist Hassan Mukiibi won the award for Best Arts and Crafts Exhibitor at Uganda Manufacturers Association International Expo in Kampala in October. Mukiibi exhibited recent painings and wood cut prints.

One of Mathias Tusiime's recent artworks has been chosen for the cover illustration of The Minstrel, the literary magazine for TheKing's College in New York City. Tusiime is a founding member of Uganda Art Consortium, a project of Kisa Foundation. King's is a private college located in the Empire State Building in Manhattan. Tusiime's work has been achieving wide recognition in Uganda and elsewhere. Both of Uganda's Daily English language newspapers, Monitor and New Vision published extensive interviews. He was also featured in The Independent magazine and in TV interviews.

By Hassan Mukiibi

Zam Nakawoya is a single mother living with HIV. Every Thursday and Tuesday she comes to Mulago Hospital Infectious Diseases Institute for her medical check up. She has been taking advantage of the art workshops we hold there every week. As a result of our classes, she has developed a thriving business making necklaces and bracelets from paper beads made from re-cycled paper. She is earning a living and buying basic needs of her self and her two children ages 13 and 10. She has been able to pay school fees out of the art work she makes. "I have been able to teach my children to help me, and know they can make these beads also, giving us a labor force of three people," she says about her growing business.

"Having a way to make a living gives me new hope to live," Zam says. The art work also helps me occupy my mind, and not to worry to much about my medical problems."

Another workshop participant, Elizabeth Tindeybwa makes jewelery from recycled paper, and collages from fabric scraps. She said, "When I started making these beads in the workshop, I never dreamed they could be such a help to me," she says. "Many thanks to Hassan and Fred and their team may God bless them all."

In August, Uganda Art Consortium held a three day workshop for HIV-AIDS patients at the Infectious Diseases Institute at Mulago Hospital in Kampala. Hassan Mukiibi organized the activities with the help of Andrew Sekibala and Tony Bukenya and several other volunteers from the Margaret Trowell Art school at Makerere University.