THE DEPARTMENT OF POSSIBILITY
Community-led change in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Uganda
There is a spark inside every person.
Sometimes it glows quietly.
Sometimes it hides beneath ash.
But it never dies.
Here in Nakivale—in the midst of displacement and uncertainty—we choose to see not the wound, but the wonder.
We begin where others end: at the ember of dignity, breathing it back into fire.
OUR MANIFESTO
We believe every human being carries a capacity for greatness—and when you meet it with trust, it becomes a force that can light the world.
We refuse the old story that measures people by their wounds.
We choose to see their wisdom.
Their courage.
Their creativity.
Their joy.
WHO WE ARE
We are an indigenous-led, community-rooted collective—refugees and neighbors, builders and growers—creating economies where dignity is the currency and joy is the return on investment.
COMMUNITY-LED
We don’t just work here—this is our home.
RECOGNIZED & TRUSTED
Licensed to operate in Nakivale Refugee Settlement by the Office of the Prime Minister of Uganda and the UNHCR—a mandate earned by walking alongside the people we serve.
LEADER SUPPORTED
Strengthened by the Possibility Corps—not donors, but allies—who carry the backbone of our work, ensuring every public act of support flows directly into impact.
OUR BELIEFS
Dignity is the first wealth.
Without it, nothing lasts.
Freedom is the real aid.
Choice is the power to live fully.
Possibility starts with strength.
We grow from there.
Kinship dissolves pity.
We stand with, never over.
Strength is contagious.
It multiplies.
And we know this truth: the best ideas for change don’t come from think tanks or boardrooms—they are born in kitchens, markets, and fields,from refugees and neighbors living the story.
THE WORK OF
POSSIBILITY
LOANS
TURNING CREDIT INTO CONFIDENCE
Fair loans are almost impossible to find here.
Loan sharks prey on vulnerability, charging crushing interest that keeps people stuck in survival.
That’s why we provide interest-free, collateral-free, strongman-free loans to self-governing savings circles.
A $500 loan doesn’t just buy a beehive. It rebuilds confidence, school fees, and the sense of tomorrow.
247 savings circles
4,178 individuals supported
64% women
95% repayment rate
JOBS & SKILLS
WORK THAT BUILDS PEOPLE
Empowerment grows when it’s modeled, not just imagined.
That’s why we built Ubuntu Village — a living model of possibility.
Studios — a garage, a sewing space, and a beauty salon — are offered to entrepreneurs who earn profit while training apprentices in skills that last a lifetime.
Here, jobs are more than income. They are identity, pride, and the dignity of passing skills forward.
50 apprentices graduated into dignified work. (launch 2024)
CLIMATE
PLANTING FUTURES, NOT JUST TREES
Nakivale is on the front lines of climate.
Here, resilience isn’t optional — it is survival.
That’s why we partner with the Environment Protection partners and village leaders to empower youth to plant fruit trees in their backyards, and mothers to grow kitchen gardens that thrive with little water.
Each tree is more than shade. It’s nutrition, income, and the promise of a future rooted in resilience.
500 youth engaged
3,000+ indigenous fruit trees planted
LIVELIHOOD
SUSTAINING LIFE, SUSTAINING DIGNITY
Income creates opportunity. But true livelihood asks a deeper question: how do we sustain life?
That’s why we focus on the essentials:
Gender and Mental health supports to sustain hope and resilience.
Demonstration gardens that nourish families with little water.
A demonstration goat farm demonstration center showing best practices in animal husbandry for food and income.
Livelihood is where possibility becomes lasting. Not just progress, but the capacity to sustain it.
1 demonstration goat farm built (2025)
100+ kitchen garden demonstrations delivered
Prototypes underway for mental health supports
OUR VISION
We imagine a world where what we see in Nakivale—resilience, dignity, and neighbors building futures together—is not the exception but the norm.
A world where those too often overlooked become the authors of their own future.
YOU BELONG HERE
Dignity is wealth.
Strength is contagious.
Possibility belongs to all of us.
The spark is here.
The moment is now.
And if you believe this too, you’re already part of the Department of Possibility.