Our Vision: a future where every child has access to the resources they need to achieve their dreams and to break cycles of generational poverty.
About Our Vision
Our model is based on a "whole child" approach that emphasizes the holistic development of both community and school resources in order to transform children's lives. We focus on education, school support, and community development, and work in partnership with indigenous local leaders and community experts to ensure that our programs are sustainable and do not harm the communities we serve. Far Away Friends is particularly committed to ending the concept of "white saviors" in the nonprofit industry, and strives to uplift the voices of local leaders and protect the dignity of our beneficiaries and partners. We believe that local leaders and experts, who are born and raised in the communities we serve, are best equipped to identify and address the unique needs and challenges of those communities.
Uganda is a country where over half of the population is made up of children, yet nearly 75% of children living in rural areas do not have access to a quality education due to a lack of properly equipped schools and trained teachers. This lack of education limits children's opportunities and contributes to cycles of generational poverty. Girls in particular face additional barriers to education, and 1 in 4 girls will drop out due to lack of menstrual hygiene resources, available toilets at school, and peer mentorship. The lack of education also hinders the overall development of communities in a country that is poised to double its population by 2050.
Why Uganda?
meet our founder
Collines Angwech was born & raised in Amolatar, Uganda during the height of the LRA War. To evade abduction by the Lord’s Resistance Army, Collines became a “night commuter”, leaving her home and boarding school every evening alongside her classmates to hide during raids. Despite the challenges she faced having grown up in a war-zone, and helping her own teen mother raise her siblings after her father passed away, Collines was able to obtain a scholarship through an international NGO to finish her education and attend University, representing less than 1% of women in her community to achieve a Bachelor’s degree. Collines’ vision to leverage her education to help uplift resources for students in her own community inspired her, and her friends from Colorado to start Far Away Friends with the aim of empowering more youth in rural Uganda to achieve their dreams, too. Collines still lives & works in Northern Uganda, implementing our programs full time as Country Director.
Our Team
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Collines Angwech
Founder & Uganda Director
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Jayme Ward
Founder & USA Director
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Ritah Omia
Operations Director Uganda + Board Member
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Robert Omia
Uganda Programs Manager
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Tony Ameny
Schools for Schools Program Manager Uganda
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Kavika Kapoor
Schools for Schools Program Manager USA
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Isaac Omia
Head of Information Technology
Board of Directors & Strategic Advisors
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Dennis O'Connor
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Camela Giraud
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RachelMarie Asaro
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Connor Rock
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Sean Korbitz
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Max Folaron
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Jennifer Suber-Smith
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Rodney Archer
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Shannon Roher- Phillips
Strategic Advisor
Founder, Women’s Voice + Visibility Summit
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Nelson Ecam
Strategic Advisor
Former District Education Officer, Amolatar, UG
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Benson Ongom
Strategic Advisor
Northern Uganda Bureau Chief, NBS TV Uganda
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Ken Sommers
Strategic Advisor
CEO, Sunrise Scholars Foundation
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Skye Ziegler
Strategic Advisor
Social Impact Administrator & Operations Project Manager, Little Man Ice Cream
