Before Andrew Ssewankambo, 38 Ugandan children kicked soccer balls made of banana leaves and played without proper uniforms, but Ssewankambo, 19, is changing that.
On a trip to Uganda two years ago, SFCC professors Carol Thomas and Kerry Chancey met Ssewankambo, a Makerere University student, and were inspired by his story.
Ssewankambo is a mentor and soccer coach to 38 Ugandan boys on his youth soccer team, informally know as "Andrew's Kids." An accomplished artist, he sold his paintings to fund the team.
Thomas and Chancey raised enough money by fundraising and selling Ssewankambo's artwork in Gainesville to buy uniforms, but they wanted to do more.
This semester they enlisted the help of the SFCC African Relief Club and Florida Rotaract at UF to develop a more sustainable campaign to raise money.
"This is people in the community who are just trying to help each other. And they're young people, which is amazing," Thomas said.
Brittney Davidson, a UF sophomore and the international chairwoman for Rotaract, came up with the idea to design and sell bracelets on the UF and SFCC campuses.
Her plan was inspired by similar campaigns like the LIVESTRONG bracelets, but she is hoping to design a more intricate product, she said.
Thomas and Chancey brought back beads made by Ugandan beaders out of rolled paper on their initial trip and have had SFCC students sew them onto leather bands to make about 375 bracelets.
Sale of these prototypes began on the SFCC campus Tuesday. Profits will be invested into making more bands in a more efficient design.
"We liked that the Ugandan beaders contributed to the original design, but the bracelets are difficult to make in mass quantities," Davidson said.
Rotaract is putting together a team to help Davidson apply for grants to pay for the bracelets and hopefully facilitate the launch of a finished product by the end of the semester.
