Francis Abola - Kira Farm

In early 2019, Francis was a trainee at Kira Farm where he excelled. Upon graduation he gained employment with a construction company in Entebbe, further improving his experience and skills.

In late 2019 he moved to Byeyale, a bustling market town roughly half way between Kampala and Gulu, on the Great North Road. Here he established a small carpentry business making furniture for houses and schools. Over time he started training other young people and employing additional staff members. He rents a plot of land and has built a small workshop for his business.

Initially Kira Farm were able to provide some hand tools and more recently some from Workaid.

Currently he employs four people and has four trainees. Once a year he returns to Kira to speak to the students there. His talks are inspirational and he tells them that “anything is possible, work hard and never give up”.

This quiet and unassuming young man wants to do more to help young people learn practical carpentry skills and link them to training institutions where they can obtain their qualifications.

His biggest challenge is the lack of tools that he has in his workshop and the few tools he bought locally broke after a couple of uses. Through Kira Farm, Workaid will provide one small carpentry kit and table saw to help him with the lack (and poor quality) of locally purchased tools.

Benjamin Mwine, our Field Assessor, will visit Francis regularly to provide guidance and support to develop additional training opportunities for young people.