Where We Work
Uganda
Field programs · 2 active sites
1
Wakiso
Microfinance, Health and WASH programs · Friends of Sickle Cell partnership
0°24′N 32°28′E
SDG 3 · Good Health and Well-beingSDG 1 · No PovertySDG 8 · Decent Work and Economic GrowthSDG 6 · Clean Water and Sanitation
2
Okere City
Okere Smart City partnership
≈ 2°27′N 33°25′E
SDG 11 · Sustainable Cities and Communities
3
Lyantonde
Founding site · research began 1992
Historic site · 1992–2021, no longer active
0°24′N 31°09′E
SDG 4 · Quality EducationSDG 3 · Good Health and Well-beingSDG 1 · No PovertySDG 8 · Decent Work and Economic GrowthSDG 6 · Clean Water and Sanitation
UN snapshot
50.0M
people
17.8
median age
157th
of 193 on the Human Development Index
73%
of adults have an account
Malawi
Field programs · 1 site
4
Lilongwe
Microfinance, WASH and Food Security programs
13°58′S 33°46′E
SDG 1 · No PovertySDG 8 · Decent Work and Economic GrowthSDG 6 · Clean Water and SanitationSDG 2 · Zero Hunger
UN snapshot
21.7M
people
18.9
median age
172nd
of 193 on the Human Development Index
50%
of adults have an account
Canada
Current partnerships
CA
Women's ROSCAs
Diaspora groups — placeholder
SDG 5 · Gender EqualitySDG 8 · Decent Work and Economic Growth
Historical Timeline — Where We Work
First applied, 1992 · rev. 2026
Timeline of celebrated milestones.
1992–2021
Lyantonde, Uganda
Founding site of Salama SHIELD Foundation — the origin point of the organization now operating as the Mbuntu Foundation.
1992
Dr. Dennis Willms (McMaster) and Prof. Nelson Sewankambo (Makerere) begin HIV/AIDS ethnographic research here as co-principal investigators — the field origin of SSF's participatory action research model.
1994
Salama SHIELD Foundation incorporated as a registered Canadian charity to fund the research turned program.
2004
The Lyantonde Community Development Centre opens, becoming SSF-Uganda’s operating hub for microfinance, health and WASH programming.
2013
Salama Vocational Education Centre opens, training local youth in trades — agriculture, bricklaying/concrete, carpentry/joinery. Now its own UBTEB-registered institution on a 20-acre campus.
2021
SSF-Uganda indigenized — independently registered in Uganda as an Indigenous NGO, autonomously managed and administered by Ugandans.
2022–Present
Lilongwe, Malawi
Microfinance, WASH and Food Security programs extending the model south into Malawi.
2022
Malawi projects reintroduced, with Microfinance, WASH and Food Security programs based in Lilongwe.
2022–Present
Wakiso, Uganda
Microfinance, Health and WASH programs in the district, including the operating partnership with Friends of Sickle Cell.
2022
SSF-Uganda’s work evolves into Wakiso District, with Microfinance, Health and WASH programs and the partnership with Friends of Sickle Cell.
2022–Present
Southern Ontario, Canada
Community partnership in Whitby, Ontario, and diaspora women’s ROSCAs, with conceptual events for research and implementation.
2022
SSF receives a Canadian Women’s Foundation grant (July 2022 – June 2023), in partnership with Sovereign Core, a Whitby, Ontario community organization.
2026
Conceptual events begin in Southern Ontario, for research and implementation on ROSCAs.
2026–Present
Okere City, Uganda
Partnership with Okere Smart City, in Otuke District — a rural community on a stated path to becoming a sustainable, futurist city.
2026
The Okere City project is introduced in Uganda, in partnership with Okere Smart City.
2026
Mbuntu Foundation
Salama SHIELD Foundation (SSF) is revitalized and renamed the Mbuntu Foundation.