Mission
The mission of the Achon Uganda Children’s Fund is to improve quality of life in rural Northern Uganda through access to health care and education, improvements to infrastructure and means of self-sufficiency.
Each development project undertaken as a partnership between AUCF and native Ugandans will transition to a state of self-sustainability and independence from outside assistance.
History
Julius Achon's father plows a field with a pair of ox near his home in Awake Village - May 2011
February 2010
AUCF announces the commencement of planning and fundraising for a medical clinic in Otuke County.
January 2010
Achon Uganda Children’s Fund partners with Australian counterpart, Love Mercy Foundation, to improve the lives of the children of Otuke County.
August, 2009
Water is flowing! For the first time in the history of Awake village, residents do not have to walk 3 miles or more to obtain clean water. Thanks to Care International, who located and drilled for water, a permanent well is now operating. This has made a tremendous impact on the lives of all the people of the village.
August, 2009
The first church/community center and pit latrine in the village have been built with the help of donations from Grace and Julius, members of the True Life Fellowship Church in Beaverton, Oregon, as well as friends from Australia.
April, 2009
AUCF received Internal Revenue Service tax exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
2004 – 2009
The eleven orphans remain under the care of Julius’ brother, Jimmy Okullo, and are attending school in Lira. Achon Uganda Children’s Fund has provided the funds to feed, clothe, shelter, educate, and provide health care to them.
Julius (right) poses in May 2011 with Chris, the sport master who brought Julius from Awake Village to the capital city of Kampala, where he ran on athletic scholarship at Makerere HS.
2004
Julius joined the Nike Oregon Project in Portland, Oregon, where he paced and trained elite US Olympic athletes under the direction of Alberto Salazar. Despite his modest salary, Julius and his wife Grace continued to help support the orphans and other members of his village, wiring money directly to his brother for the purchase of food, seed, oxen, clothing, shelter, school tuition and uniforms. When other members of Julius’ community in Portland began to take up the cause, he decided to formalize the effort by establishing the Achon Uganda Children’s Fund.
2003
While in Uganda in 2003, Julius came across a group of children who were sleeping under a bus in Lira. These eleven orphans had escaped from the same Otuke village where Julius was raised after their parents were killed by the LRA, and were then living and begging on the streets. Touched by their suffering and grateful for his own blessings, Julius decided to adopt them.