Faces Up has empowered over 11,000 young people – 62% girls and 38% boys – change their life prospects through arts and crafts education.
In addition, we’ve:
Faces Up has been recognized many times for its pioneering community work, including:
In 2021, we discovered Makano Bwato during our Positive Memories art contest. His intense passion for art and remarkable painting skills prompted us to provide full support for his development.
We relocated Makano from Nakivaale refugee settlement in Isingiro district to Kampala, Uganda’s capital, connecting him with valuable art development opportunities and a network of mentors.
Since then, Makano has transformed from a part-time artist on the brink of giving up into a full-time studio artist whose work is gaining global recognition. Today, he is celebrated as an international artist, with his pieces collected around the world and showcased in both local and international galleries. He has his own studio, held two solo exhibitions — I AM at Amasaka Gallery in 2023 and White Tooth at Umoja Art Gallery in 2024 — both among Uganda’s most prestigious art spaces. Makano is now on the radar of leading art collectors and gallerists worldwide.
17-year-old Mayambala aspires to be a world-famous comic artist. We first met him in 2020 and quickly connected him to an established comic artist in Uganda. Under his mentorship, Mayamala thrived. He’s published two comic books – ‘Sebuma’ and ‘Grio’ – and established ‘The Comic Hub’, a school club at Makerere High School, Migadde, where he inspires over 40 peers with his passion for graphic art.
Today, Mayambala is not only a skilled comic artist but also a budding entrepreneur. He has mastered digital illustration and launched his own freelance company, Ezie Comic, offering services in comic creation, illustration, graphic design, and social media management. He’s also ventured into merchandise, turning his digital artworks into T-shirts that he sells — using the income to support himself and contribute to his family’s well-being. He is also a junior facilitator in our program, where he shares his acquired skills with other young people.
Mayambala’s journey is a powerful example of what happens when young people are given the opportunity, tools, and encouragement to pursue their dreams.
In 2022, Ashim was on his way to school when he was involved in a hit and run accident that left him with serious head inquiries requiring emergency neurosurgery. Understandably, his family was unable to cover all the costs of their son’s medical treatment and support, so we stepped in to help.
Earlier in the Faces Up program, Ashim had created a painting called “Tinga Tinga”, which we managed to sell online for 600 USD. We then added 1,400 USD raised from a medical appeal that our online community generously donated to. Combined, the 2,000 USD was enough to cover the costs of Ashim’s life-saving surgery. Today, he’s back at school, pursuing his passion for art.
In 2020, we noticed that one of the children in the Faces Up program habitually drew images of guns, fighting, and accidents. Sadly, this reflected his experiences of witnessing civil war in South Sudan, and it was clear to us that he had unresolved psychosocial issues arising from what he’d observed.
Our free art empowerment program provided a platform for this child to express himself, working through his trauma and slowly coming to terms with what he’d been through. After just two months on the program, he was drawing flowers not guns, playgrounds instead of battlefields, and birds in flight rather than victims or war.
And it wasn’t only on the page that we witnessed a remarkable transformation; a smile had replaced the look of fear, and this once unhappy and withdrawn youngster was interacting more readily, socializing with his peers, and making new friends.
In 2020, we encountered Namakula Judith, a 10-year-old who had yet to discover her artistic talents. Just like any other child attending our free art workshops at the Faces Up community center, Namakula received support to uncover her true potential.
Fast forward to August 2023, and she has blossomed into a celebrated young artist, winning the Reminac Kid’s Award for Best Painter. She now serves as a role model for her peers.
Invest in the education of children from financially challenged backgrounds by purchasing their artworks or merchandise featuring their artistic designs. Visit www.store.facesup.org and help enable children at the margins to access life-changing education.
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