SOVCO Staff

Nancy is interviewed for her profile by Francisca, a volunteer. As you know, an organization is only as good as the sum of its parts. So I think it's time to introduce you to the people who work directly with our children, our Ugandan staff. This weekend they were set to sign new contracts. At left is a typical moment in the SOVCO office a simple brick building by the side of the road. People who are passing by stop by and poke their head in the open door, and sit down on the plastic chairs for a chat with the staff.

You probably know about Opiyo Tonny, our director. He is a young man of 27 years, and he is the one who started SOVCO, when he came back to Ongako after finishing his university degree in Information Management. He has lots of energy and organizational skills, and he can talk a blue streak! It's fun to hear him switching back and forth between English and Acholi.

I have not met Yaru Kevin, because she was just recently hired as a Program Director and especially as a mentor for the girls. Kevin has a degree in Public Administration, and before beginning to work at SOVCO, she worked for SALVE, an organization that works with street children in Jinja, a city in the south of Uganda. She gives the kids lots of practice in English, and she herself is learning Acholi, as she is from a different area of Uganda.

Ocan Oscar, on the left, has been a faithful volunteer for many years, and we are now able to provide him a small salary. He comes each morning to open the office and maintains a presence while Tonny and Kevin are out visiting schools or homes. Odoch Collin, on the right, does these things, too, but I think he goes out on errands more often than Oscar.

Acan Beatrice is the very talented trainer and designer for the Women of Hope bead project, an income-generating project for women in the community. She is only twenty years old, but she grew up making paper beads with her mother, who is a master beader for Bead for Life, a well-known paper bead company. Beatrice is also Tonny's wife, and they are expecting their first child soon.

So, I think they are a great bunch of young people with vision to help the needy in their community. The do all this good work with very little remuneration. I hope that as time goes on and SOVCO grows, we can begin to pay them what they are worth!