Q1 Report 2026
Organizational Summary
Fight For The Forgotten is a registered 501C3 non-profit organization that has operated in Uganda since 2015. The organization is focused on the sustainable development of the Pygmy tribes in Western Congo and Eastern Uganda. This commenced with land security, clean water, and re-establishment of the forest so beloved by the people. As the organization matured, shifting from Congo to Uganda, a new vision evolved, one of whole community development, one that envisions the Batwa living in peace amongst their neighbors, flourishing in their environment once again and thriving as a people with health, education, joy, and hope for the future.
Bundibugyo Update
Karambi Rising
Karambi is transforming. Across health, livelihoods, agriculture, and community governance, the people of Karambi are building a future that is entirely their own.
Agriculture:
Karambi is flourishing. One thousand new banana trees have been planted, alongside coffee, mangoes, and shade trees. Gardens are thriving, a new school garden is taking shape, and with growing productivity, the people of Karambi are feeding their future. What began as survival is growing into abundance, and this is only the beginning.
Livelihoods:
The second cohort of students in tailoring, barbering, and hairdressing have graduated and are establishing new businesses in Karambi and the surrounding communities. A new group of carpenters and bakers is now in training, carrying the momentum forward.
Across Karambi, small businesses are taking root. Fashion, hardware, fresh produce, a tea shop — entrepreneurship is becoming part of the fabric of daily life. Through small business start-up grants and financial literacy training, Fight for the Forgotten is giving new entrepreneurs the foundation they need to succeed. And we are seeing results.
Health:
Karambi's new health center opened in February and is steadily building a strong reputation in the community. Eight children have already been born there, meaning mothers no longer face a three-hour walk to deliver safely. For more complex cases, an ambulance stands ready to transport patients to the nearest hospital. For a community that once had nothing, this is a profound change.
Sustainability:
Sustainability must be led from within, and the Karambi community is doing exactly that.
Residents have organized themselves into a Community Based Organization to manage and grow their town, coordinating everything from community events and clean-up initiatives to maintenance of the community center, village savings groups, goat rearing cooperatives, and more. What began as a partnership with Fight for the Forgotten is transitioning into something the community owns and leads for itself.
Kisoro Update
Ground Breaking Change
From a community without land to a school bursting at the seams with students, the stories of Kanaba and Gitebe are powerful reminders of why this work matters. In just one year, everything has changed.
Gitebe Primary School Upgrade
Gitebe Primary School was built by the community years ago, but when the walls fell in, students were left learning in a wind-swept community hall, keeping many children away.
Fight for the Forgotten provided materials for parents to rebuild the school into a warm, safe place to learn, and upgraded the hall to shelter overflow students.
The results speak for themselves. Combined with water and sanitation improvements from last year, enrollment has soared from 80 to 220 students. A new teacher is on board, hot lunches are served daily in partnership with local farmers, and the children of Gitebe are showing up.
The future is theirs.
Kanaba Community Development
After 40 years without a place to call home, the Kanaba community received something transformative last year: land of their own. In January, ground was broken on a new community hall, water supply, and sanitation facilities. Community members are already working their individual garden plots, growing food for the season ahead.
For people who spent decades laboring on other people's farms, the shift is profound. They are now working for themselves, building toward their own future, and the energy in Kanaba reflects it. Hard work, excitement, and joy are visible everywhere. Lives really can be changed.
Hear From The People
"We Will Not Waste This Opportunity" Flaviah, Chairperson for Women, Kanaba Community
My name is Flaviah. For most of my life, my community had nothing to call our own. We were about 40 households with no land and no homes. We moved from place to place, squatting on other people's gardens, working as laborers just to survive. Our children suffered most. Many could not go to school. Some ended up begging on the streets. As parents, this was deeply painful, but we had no choice.
We had seen organizations come and promise help before. They never came back. Over time, we stopped hoping.
Then Fight for the Forgotten came, and for the first time, we were truly listened to. What happened next was something we never imagined: they bought land for us. Today, we are no longer squatters. We have our own land, our own village, our own home.
Development has already begun. A water system is being constructed. A community hall is taking shape. And more than 80% of our people are working alongside the contractor, earning income, supporting their families, and reclaiming their dignity on the very land that is now theirs.
We have received seeds and started cultivating. For the first time, we are farming on our own land. Our children are going back to school. We are no longer just surviving. We are beginning to live with purpose.
This project has given us more than land. It has given us hope, identity, and a future. On behalf of all the women and families of Kanaba, I say thank you. We will not waste this opportunity.
Where We Work
Mission
Fight For The Forgotten exists to work with the Pygmy People and their neighbors to build better lives by providing dignified housing, clean water, essential services, and livelihood opportunities because Africa's most impoverished and oppressed people deserve a fighting chance.
Values
Agency:
We value community voice and ensure that the solutions we pursue reflect the needs people define for themselves.
Justice:
We believe everyone should have a fair chance in life.
Authenticity:
We are genuine and true to ourselves.
Compassion:
We are driven to put compassion in action.
Integrity:
We always strive to
Commitment:
We give it our all and fight to the end.
Accountability:
We take responsibility for what we say and do.
