The foundation draws inspiration from the legacy left behind by Alice Dora Nankinga (1992-2018) after whom it is named. Alice was a budding philanthropist passionate about helping underprivileged children to achieve their dreams. By the time of her death, Alice Dora had already taken up the care of three children from a poor family in Kiboga, western Uganda, for whom she paid school fees and buying scholastic materials. This is in addition to supporting a family in her home village, Kayini, with agricultural inputs to start a tomato growing project. In doing this Alice operated as a non-incorporated self-funded charity who spent a significant portion of her individual savings to meet the needs of her identified beneficiaries. Occasionally, she approach her siblings to help top up when her own savings were not enough to meet these needs. To a number of less privileged children in this community, Alice provided a reliable support system in the fulfillment of their dreams. In addition to providing education opportunities to children who are in need, Alice had a dream of improving the well being of less privileged families at large which would involve providing basic needs for the elderly and empowering the youth to develop and exploit their skills for sustainable living. She wanted to heart the heart of everybody in need.
Alice’s life was however cut short before her dream could come true. Barely three months after celebrating her 27th birthday, Alice succumbed to cancer in December 2018. Following a diagnosis which detected a cancerous tumor, Alice’s family did their best to save her life by seeking medical attention both from Kampala and India where she underwent a series of radiotherapies, chemotherapies and a surgery. At the time of her death, Alice was left with one last round of chemotherapy to be declared cancer free in January 2019.
During her battle with cancer, Alice exhibited a lot of resilience and a positive mindset with which she would always stand strong amidst challenging developments including severe bodily pain, occasional blackouts and loss of her beautiful hair. Alice and her family members believed that they were left with just a few inches to victory after which she would continue with her life plans. Key among these was getting married to her fiancee who had engaged her on 15th February 2018. She also had to make an exploit of her qualification with a Bachelor of Library and Information Sciences of Makerere University which she obtained in January 2016.
To celebrate the victory over cancer, Alice’s family had planned to travel to Dubai. Suddenly, however, her condition continued to deteriorate instead. Subsequent examinations indicated that the cancer had widely spread to the body and it was too late to rescue the situation. Sooner, Alice was admitted to the HDU and later to the ICU where she breathed her last on 6th December 2018.
The idea of Alice Dora Foundation is therefore grounded in keeping alive Alice’s spirit of making effective use of the resources she is privileged to be entrusted with to solve the society’s most pressing challenges. Through the foundation, Alice Dora continues to live.
