In 2007, Dr. Ngobi and Gideon felt God’s call to use their personal struggles to lay the groundwork for a multi-faceted mission. They created Hope Institute of Uganda, Inc. (HIU), a nonprofit, faith-based organization formed to provide education, health care, economic opportunities and vocational training for young Ugandan men and women. “Things like education, job training, vocational training. These are the pillars of hope, and hope is desperately needed in Uganda,” says Dr. Ngobi

On one of their visits to Uganda, Joy had an idea. On this particular mission trip to Jinja in 2006, starving children desperately snatched extra bits of food from the American visitors while local women tried to sell them the jewelry they had made. The Americans bought the brightly colored necklaces, bracelets, and earrings by the dozen. Then came Ngobi’s “aha” moment: What if she could provide a platform for these Ugandan women to sell more of their jewelry? 

Jinja, a town of about 100,000 residents northeast of Kampala, typically doesn’t attract that many tourists, so Ngobi wondered if she could help the women sell their jewelry back in the United States.

Then the jewelry-makers could make a better living for themselves and their families—and any extra money brought in by the jewelry sales could be put back into the community. she decided to test her idea—first at church, where she usually sold between $250 to $500 worth of jewelry from Jinja at a time. Later, at a private jewelry party hosted by one of her colleagues at Mercy Hospital in Janesville, Wisconsin, where Ngobi now practices, she sold $2,200 worth of jewelry in one night. “That really opened our eyes to the potential,” Ngobi says. “There are lots of people here who are willing to help, I’ve discovered that.”

In 2007, Dr. Ngobi and Gideon felt God’s call to use their personal struggles to lay the groundwork for a multi-faceted mission. They created Hope Institute of Uganda, Inc. (HIU), a nonprofit, faith-based organization formed to provide education, health care, economic opportunities and vocational training for young Ugandan men and women. “Things like education, job training, vocational training. These are the pillars of hope, and hope is desperately needed in Uganda,” says Dr. Ngobi

On one of their visits to Uganda, Joy had an idea. On this particular mission trip to Jinja in 2006, starving children desperately snatched extra bits of food from the American visitors while local women tried to sell them the jewelry they had made. The Americans bought the brightly colored necklaces, bracelets, and earrings by the dozen. Then came Ngobi’s “aha” moment: What if she could provide a platform for these Ugandan women to sell more of their jewelry? 

Jinja, a town of about 100,000 residents northeast of Kampala, typically doesn’t attract that many tourists, so Ngobi wondered if she could help the women sell their jewelry back in the United States.

Then the jewelry-makers could make a better living for themselves and their families—and any extra money brought in by the jewelry sales could be put back into the community. she decided to test her idea—first at church, where she usually sold between $250 to $500 worth of jewelry from Jinja at a time. Later, at a private jewelry party hosted by one of her colleagues at Mercy Hospital in Janesville, Wisconsin, where Ngobi now practices, she sold $2,200 worth of jewelry in one night. “That really opened our eyes to the potential,” Ngobi says. “There are lots of people here who are willing to help, I’ve discovered that.”