Page 16 - Oct - Dec 2023 Edition

THE AIDCHILD EQUATOR SHOP
Proudly the first business at the equator line on Masaka Road, AidChild brought water, electricity
and jobs to the whole village - thanks to a grant from USAID more than 20 years ago. AidChild
remains one of Uganda’s only galleries of original art outside of Kampala. The gift shop features
one-of-a-kind gift hampers and crafts, while the café offers favorites like jumbo muffins and tortilla
soup, as well as a number of vegan and gluten-free options. The organization practices fair-trade,
does not import from factories abroad, and is the equator's only eco-friendly business. One
hundred percent of AidChild’s profits have always gone to medication and to scholarships for
students living with HIV. (Full disclosure, this writer founded AidChild.) +256 780 282697,
aidchild.org/equator, @AidChildEquator (f,i)
Images by Nsereko Tom

AidChild Equator Gifts AidChild Equator Shop AidChild Equator Shop

PRIVATELY-OWNED BUSINESSES WITH A MISSION:
GORILLA CONSERVATION COFFEE
When considering the long list of impressive successes of Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Uganda’s
first wildlife veterinarian, it really should be no surprise that she has also founded and owns an
award-winning premium- and specialty-coffee company. In addition to paying an above-market
price to marginalized, smallholder coffee farmers living around Bwindi Impenetrable National
Park, Dr. Gladys also donates some of her proceeds to support the gorilla-conservation and
community-health programs of Conservation Through Public Health (www.ctph.org). You can find
this delicious coffee—in its eco-friendly, brown-paper packaging—at the outlets listed here:
gorillaconservationcoffee.org

Floating and sorting the coffee Gorilla Conservation Coffee Packets
by Jo-Anne MacArthur by GCC

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