Tomosi Foundation
The Power of Faith
The Tomosi Foundation begun in March 2009 in honor of a simple peasant man from western Uganda, who had faith in the power of small beginnings. In a continent where peasant families quiet often are reduced to begging for food or live on insufficient diets, Tomosi, a semi-illiterate herdsman, made decision that his children will
“never beg for food nor will his home suffer from hunger”.
It may sound a simple and insignificant decision today, until one learns that traditional Ankore herdsmen long ago, never cultivated and quiet often abandoned land as soon as the dry spells set in; and those who grew food on a small scale were ostracized by their community and presented often as failures in life who had lost cattle and resorted to “digging.”
Orphaned
Having lost both parents when he was 14 and left with no more than a handful of cows and no relatives, Tomosi converted to Christianity and learnt basic reading and writing in the church, during the East African Christian revival movement in the 1940s. He eventually got married to Erina Kebihembe in 1958 and raised a family of seven children, settling in present day north Ankore. He often said his family was “a dry leaf that fell on the ground and miraculously got back its life from God’s own hand”.
Using physical strength, he cultivated a five-acre banana plantation, grew vegetables and fruits and taught himself and his children eating a balanced diet. With the savings made by not buying food like many families had to, he was able to educate all his children on the proceeds from the sale of cows.
By the time he died in 1999, he was the single supplier of the best bananas, vegetables and fruits in his neighborhood, sustaining many families through the dry seasons that are a feature of the area. He also helped build a church and school that are now testament to his vision. He was also able to hold on to a large piece of land, even though he had few cows, as many families moved away in search of water and pasture leaving their ancestral lands to be taken.