Rutooma · Mbarara · Uganda
The ledger
Small numbers.
Whole lives.
We are young, and we count carefully. Every figure is a person we can name, a family we visit, a community we return to. We would rather report twenty-seven honestly than two thousand loosely.
Our programmes
Practical support,
designed to outlast us.
A woman who can sew can feed her household. A child in school is a child in sight. We build the two together, because neither holds on its own.
Truly, Eseza was gold in the sand.Margaret MubandaFounder · Eseza's daughter
Our Success Stories
Two women.
Two turning points.
Our Partners
We do not work alone.
Stand with the daughters of hope.
Donate, volunteer, sponsor a programme, or bring your organisation alongside ours.
Home — About
Gold in the sand.
ESEZA Daughters of Hope Foundation was established to honour the life and legacy of our grandmother, Eseza — a hardworking, compassionate woman who dedicated her life to helping others.
Her life
She was denied everything a girl should be given. She gave it to everyone else.
Eseza and her siblings grew up as orphans. She had no opportunity to go to school, no voice to speak out for herself, and no say in what mattered to her. She was refused the men who wanted to marry her; her aunt chose a husband for her, against her wishes.
Her stories of a hard childhood shaped her married life. And yet, despite all of it, Eseza was always happy, always smiling, always caring for other children as if they were her own. She never gave up on the people who mistreated her.
Her daughters founded this organisation so that her love and her care would reach the girls and women who need it now — and for generations after.
Our Vision
A future where every woman and child lives with dignity.
Where each has the opportunity to live with hope, and the resources needed to thrive.
Our Mission
To empower, protect, and transform.
Through education, economic empowerment, skills development, advocacy, and sustainable community programmes.
Our Core Values
Ten commitments we are held to.
Not a wall poster. These are the terms on which our beneficiaries, our board, and our partners may judge us.
Continue her legacy.
Support a woman into training, or a child into school.
Home — Programmes
Six programmes.
One outcome.
We work where women's income, children's safety and community health meet — because in Rutooma they are the same problem seen from three sides.
Sponsor a programme.
Fund a full cohort of tailoring students, or a term of school support.
Home — Programmes —
What this looks like
Other programmes
Fund this work.
Direct your gift to this programme specifically.
Home — Impact
Every number is a name.
We publish exactly what we have done — no more. Our figures are small because we are new, and because we count people rather than attendances.
How we count
Honest arithmetic is the first form of accountability.
A "woman reached" is a woman we have met, assessed and recorded. A "woman currently supported" is receiving something tangible from us this month — training fees, shelter, land, or childcare.
We do not count a person twice. We do not count attendance at a community meeting as a life changed. When a project is complete, and only then, it enters the ledger.
- One person, counted once, in one category
- Support means material support, this month
- Projects count only on completion
- Figures reviewed by the board each quarter
- Corrections published, not quietly amended
What a gift does
Costs, in plain figures.
Tell Us Yours
Were you supported by ESEZA?
If the foundation has walked with you and you would like to share what changed, we would be honoured to hear from you.
Our Board of Directors
Governance, freely given.
Our directors serve voluntarily and review the foundation's finances, safeguarding and impact reporting each quarter.
Become a partner
Bring your organisation alongside ours.
We work with foundations, corporates, faith communities, universities and development agencies. We report on what your support funded, in the same terms we report to our own board.
- Programme sponsorship and co-funding
- Skills training, curriculum and equipment
- Research, monitoring and evaluation
- Advocacy and community mobilisation
Home — Get Involved
Five ways to act.
Every entry in our ledger began with someone who decided that a woman in Rutooma was their concern.
Give
What your gift funds.
Figures are indicative and reviewed annually. Gifts can be directed to a specific programme.
Volunteer
Bring a skill. Teach it, and leave it behind.
Our volunteers are tailors, hairdressers, teachers, social workers, accountants and web developers. Some are in Mbarara. Some have never left Vancouver.
- Vocational instructors — tailoring, beauty, hairdressing
- Mentors for teenage mothers returning to training
- Safeguarding and child protection specialists
- Grant writers, accountants and legal advisers
- Photographers and storytellers
Home — Contact Us
Come and see.
Our office is in Rutooma town. If you are anywhere near Mbarara, we would rather show you than tell you.
Reach us
Send a message
How can we help?
We reply within two working days. Your details are never shared or sold.
Message sent
Thank you for writing to ESEZA. Someone will reply within two working days.
Home — Leadership — Margaret Mubanda
Margaret Mubanda.
Founder of ESEZA Daughters of Hope Foundation, Eseza's daughter, and a lifelong advocate for social and economic justice across two continents.
Our Founder
A life given to justice and service.
Dr. Margaret K. Mubanda is a long-time resident of Surrey Centre, British Columbia — a dedicated wife, mother and grandmother, and a visionary leader on issues of social and economic justice, equality and community service.
Before immigrating to Canada in 1991, Margaret served as Deputy Headmistress at an elementary school in Uganda, where she taught for thirteen years. She was drawn to education by the injustice, inequality and poverty she witnessed from an early age — holding to the conviction that no child or family should live in poverty, be ignored, or be left behind. That same conviction is the foundation ESEZA is built on.
Recognition
Honoured for a lifetime of impact.
YWCA Women of Distinction Award (Community Champion), for her expertise in poverty-reduction strategies for children ageing out of government care.
British Columbia's Medal of Good Citizenship, for generosity, kindness and commitment to the common good of the province.
Honorary Doctorate of Laws, University of Canada West; and honourable mention for Volunteer of the Year, City of Surrey.
Nominated for the 100 Accomplished Black Women Award, recognising deep and lasting social impact in the community.
Service & Community
Three decades of building community.
Margaret served the province as a resource social worker with the Ministry of Children and Family Development for twenty-one years. Today she works as a community liaison facilitating trauma group-support, and runs her own small business, "Kaka Healing Stories," in Surrey — giving back to others for over twenty years.
She sits on the City of Surrey's Livability, Social Equity and Public Safety Committee, and has worked tirelessly to build strong, vibrant Black communities across British Columbia and Canada.
- Co-founding member and former president of the Daughters of Hope Society of BC
- Co-founder of the Aboriginal International Mission
- Member of Uganda Peace and Reconciliation of BC
- Dedicated foster parent for fifteen years
- Active member of the Surrey Poverty Reduction Coalition for over ten years
- Member of the Council of Senior Citizens Organisations of BC
Continue her work.
Stand with Margaret and the daughters of hope in Rutooma.
Home — Ask a Question
Ask us anything.
Questions about a programme, our finances, our safeguarding, or how your support is used? Send them here and we will answer honestly.
Before you write
A few things people often ask
- Where your donation goes, and how we account for it
- How we keep children and survivors safe
- How to sponsor a specific programme or trainee
- How to volunteer, from Mbarara or from abroad
Prefer to talk? Everything on our Contact Us page reaches the same inbox.
Your question
What would you like to know?
We reply within two working days. Your details are never shared or sold.
Question sent
Thank you for writing to ESEZA. We will reply within two working days.
Home — Privacy
Privacy policy.
Home — Terms