My Nonprofit Reviews

When it comes to a success story it doesn't get any better than this. A gifted California doctor and his wife go to Uganda to do a medical assessment of an oppressed people group called that Batwa. These hunter-gatherer pygmies are true conservation refugees who are in such a deplorable state of health that the Kellermanns feel called to stay.

Over the course of approximately 20 years, what begins as a rudimentary roadside clinic to these Batwa people, grows into a fixed clinic then grows, and grows, and grows and grows, thanks to generous supporters, until today the work that they begun is now all Ugandan run and includes three, large, fully operational, robust ministries. It includes a 155-bed, full service, award-winning hospital (Bwindi Community Hospital), a 400-plus student nursing school nearby (Uganda Nursing School Bwindi) , and a thriving ministry to the Batwa pygmies through 11 settlement communities.

This outreach to the Batwa is managed through a fully-staffed Batwa Development Program which provides education through schools that Kellermann builds, as well as teachers, and training, meals, and tuition-assistance to the student families. But it doesn't end there. The Batwa also participate in agriculture programs through farming their land; they live in interlocking brick homes through its every-growing homebuilding initiative; they practice cultural preservation through the Batwa Experience; they receive spiritual development and formation through the Jesus Film, formation programs and One Bible Story; and they receive assistance through micro-loans to develop sustainable work through craft-making, sewing programs, bead and basket making, selling their produce, carpentry, and other sustainable projects like Day for Girls feminine hygiene program through the Women's Center.

All of this and more is such a blessing to be a part of as Kellermann and it's partners in Uganda serve thousands daily in this very impoverished, but beautiful Bwindi region of southwest Uganda.

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There are non-profits that do extraordinary, ground-breaking work that often fly under the radar because they don't spend big marketing dollars promoting it - and the Kellermann Foundation is definitely one of them! Their results speak for themselves and they are invested for the long-haul, to do the laborious work of helping a whole region and an ancient people group, the Batwa, become self-sufficient by addressing the root causes of why this region is the way that most African 3rd world regions are -subsistence farming, no manufacturing, poor housing, poor education, no healthcare infrastructure and hardly any doctors. Add to that equation a people group who were living on the fringes of other tribal territory after being forcibly expelled from their forest homeland and you start to get the picture of the Batwa people. Again, the Kellermann Foundation IS IN THIS FOR THE LONG HAUL. The development of a region and people group takes time but KF is doing it in partnership with very committed Ugandans who seek the same outcomes: new schools, healthy diets, better farming practices, spiritual outreach and encouragement, home building, the establishment of a top notch hospital, a 400 student nursing school next door, 11 Batwa settlements, and the next generation of Batwa students who are now starting to attend university after their tribe left the rainforest 30 year prior. And yet the KF is helping them maintain their culture and history and traditions. The organization does all of this while keeping administrative costs very low.

The Kellermann Foundation (KF) is doing groundbreaking work in Uganda. Starting as a medical outreach to displaced people group - the Batwa - the organization has rapidly expanded over the past 20+ years. It supports a 165 bed hospital , an award winning Nursing School affiliated with Uganda Christian University as well as the Batwa Development Program which oversees and implements an array of education, farming and other development programs and initiatives which serve 12 Batwa settlements in the district. Their work in partnership with mainly U.S. medical schools continues to improve the expertise and array of services the hospital can provide.

Have been involved with this foundation for 9 years and a board member for 2 1/2 years. The mission of KF to provide sustainable support for the Batwa pygmies continues to grow and the results prove it. Healthcare through the Bwindi Community Hospital and the Uganda Nursing School Bwindi serves a population of 300,000 people in a historically underserved area of Uganda.

I have been affiliated with the Kellermann Foundation for eight years. First as a volunteer in Africa, as a financial supporter, and now as a board member. Uganda is a challenging part of the world in which to work, and yet the our work being done there is nothing short of extraordinary, thanks to the Lord and the pioneering work of Scott and Carol Kellermann and many, many others. The work has gone from a makeshift 'roadside' hospital on a groundcloth with IV bags hanging from tree branches to one of the best hospitals in the country in 15 years. The hospital leadership, doctors, nurses and staff are all Ugandan, and the accredited nursing school is growing rapidly. It has impacted the public health of this whole remote region of SW Uganda. The other part of our work has to do with supporting the Batwa people of the region which were displaced from their homes - the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in the early 1990s. In partnership with the Church of Uganda we have been resettling these wonderful people and helping them transition to a new way of life quite different from the rainforest. Please go online and see the amazing story of our work there!