Our founder, Emmanuel Ssekitto Kalule, grew up with a mother whose heart overflowed for others. He learned early that you don’t need much to offer kindness, just willingness. His dream was to play football professionally, and in 2012, his mother sold a piece of land to fund his trip to participate in Gothia Cup in Sweden and Norway Cup in Norway. They won every trophy, but he returned to Uganda disappointed he hadn’t been scouted by a European club. He felt he had let his family down, who had pinned their hopes on a life-changing breakthrough. While recovering from this heartbreak, he got a serious injury. He shifted his focus to education, where he discovered new hope and purpose through art at Makerere University. In his final semester, he began offering free art classes to children in his community, and when a little girl asked if he’d keep teaching after graduation, he made a promise. Faces Up was born from that promise, a space for young people to learn artistic skills, heal, and create new futures.
In 2019, a boy named Mark joined our art program. His first drawings were dark scenes of violence, death, and despair. We later learned he was a refugee from South Sudan, carrying trauma he couldn’t express in words. So we gave him what he needed: space, pencils, and presence. Over time, his drawings transformed from guns to flowers, from fire to birds in flight. His smile returned, his confidence grew, and his academic performance improved. Mark’s journey showed us that art is more than mere expression; it's a healing force.
So far, we’ve worked with over 11,000 young people, many who’ve gone from despair to hope, becoming more confident, more engaged at school, and even starting to earn from their creative talents. With every drawing, each session, and every smile, we move closer to our big change: of providing life-transforming opportunities to 750,000 young people by 3035.
