A future together

Three years after Farid first financed Wynne’s dream of providing refugees with the tools needed to establish a sustainable future, the pair have created a community where the displaced can seek refuge.

In 2014, Farid established the Kamran Farid Foundation, which partners with Just Path, a nongovernmental organization that is based in the Nakivale refugee camp, located in southwest Uganda. There, the agency is able to provide emergency relief and clean water, construct permanent homes and offer education and health programs. Through a grass-roots effort, the foundation seeks not only to provide refugees with a safe living environment, but the organization also helps families get back on their feet by learning a person’s skill set and helping them create a business that utilizes their abilities.

Fast-forward to 2016 and Wynne and Farid have built a home that provides 60 refugees — that once housed the Ndihos — with a permanent residence in Mbarara, Uganda, and they have paid for 178 children to attend school.

“We spent about $50,000 on the first stage (of building housing). Now, Kenny is going to do stage 2 — finishing the inside,” Farid said. “This is going to be permanent housing and it is also going to be a place for us to bring in people who want to help refugees.”

Once stage 2 is finished — it is scheduled for completion in December — more than 100 people will have a place to call home. “Yes, it will house close to 100, but it will benefit close to 1,000. Anyone who is traveling is going to stop there because it is on the main road,” Wynne said. “It has become a sanctuary for people. They can speak their language, they can pray and they have resources available.”