African Projects
Our program "African Lives Matter Absolutely!" (ALMA) started in 2016. ALMA also means "Soul" in Spanish. As a charity we want to do something to draw attention to the plight of Africans in many countries, whose terrible suffering and hardship are often not reflected in the world news. We are grateful that we can now expand our refugee work to other parts of the world in need.
ALMA! (AFRICAN LIVES MATTER ABSOLTELY!)
Uganda hosts the largest refugee populations in Africa. The border region of Northern Uganda and South Sudan has been plagued by more than 30 years of on-and-off conflict, from Joseph Kony's child soldiers to the independence struggle in South Sudan to tribal conflicts that have displaced thousands.
In 2016, Anything for a Smile organized a health camp on the Uganda-South Sudan border, where the majority of the population lacks access to basic medical care. Our medical team treated hundreds of patients in a few days.
During the month of Ramadan, AFAS regularly donates food boxes to refugees from Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, in addition to the Bugaya Orphanage Care Home in Eastern Uganda.
In 2024, two Turkish doctors and Turkish volunteers together with local artists began the "Coloring the World" wall mural project in Africa. We cheered up two hospitals and a village school in Uganda with professional wall murals. Research has shown that a bright and cheerful environment can positively affect a child's well-being, attitude and intelligence.
We also organized a mini health camp in Western Congo, towards the Congolese border. More than 160 patients received treatment, and 54 Ugandans received free dental examinations.
