AIM Uganda, formerly Rakai Orphans Development Initiatives (RODI), is a grassroots organization operating in Southern Uganda in the Kyotera and Rakai Districts. This area of Uganda is ground zero of AIDS. Since the disease was discovered here in 1982, more than a million people have died, leaving behind more than 1.2 million orphans. 

In Uganda, HIV/AIDS has significantly reduced life expectancy, depleted the labor force and reduced food security. Many children are being raised by elderly relatives and these children often have no choice but to work as laborers, rather than attend school. Many communities are trapped in cycles of poverty and disease. The goal of AIM is to transform the lives of these young people and their communities. 

AIM Uganda was founded by Johnson Lwondo and Richard Mutaawe; two people who have lived their lives in the area and have been profoundly affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Johnson’s parents died of AIDS when he was 11, leaving him to raise five younger siblings. Richard grew up with Johnson under very similar circumstances—orphaned at age 10 and left with three younger siblings to raise. The assistance they received from various organizations allowed them to complete school and obtain master’s degrees. It also inspired them to help young Ugandans in similar situations. 

According to Johnson, “Knowing that I have survived and succeeded because someone reached out a hand of help to me, how can I turn away from those children who are now in the same place I was as a child?”