About Us

Bwindi Impenetrable Rainforest is a National Park in the south of Uganda, and is one of the last remaining habitats of rare mountain gorillas. Since the area was designated as a wildlife reserve the gorilla population is recovering.

The human population are less fortunate. The area has been badly hit by HIV/AIDS. Uganda was one of the worst hit areas leaving many orphans, some of whom are HIV positive.

Local people started Bwindi Orphanage Development Centre (BODEC) in 1998, providing the children with food, shelter and education. Some income is earned from the tourists who come to see the wildlife, with traditional dance exhibitions and sale of handcrafts. A sponsorship programme has been set up, and they have many creative and imaginative plans for income-generating and educational projects.

Friends of Bwindi Orphanage is a UK-based charitable organisation set up in May 2007. We aim to help BODEC find the funding for their work, help to raise the capital needed for the planned projects, and to find sponsors for more of the children.

We aim to work with the management of BODEC and other local people to help them implement sustainable and holistic projects for which they have identified a need. Our charitable objectives enable us to support other projects in the region, and we hope eventually to support other local projects. We also hope to work with other charities with compatible aims, increasing the profile of the orphanage and accessing useful programmes such as those providing livestock and agricultural resources/IT equipment etc.