Katie Davis: An Angel in Uganda!

There are very few people that would pick up and leave the comfort of their home as well as everyone they know to travel to Uganda. Eighteen years old Katie Davis of Brentwood, Tennessee did just that in December of 2006. The inquisitive young woman felt an instant bond with the friendly people and simple culture. She enthusiastically agreed to return to Uganda in the summer of 2007 to be a kindergarten teacher at an orphanage.

Davis was appalled to see so many children working in the field or washing clothes for their family instead of attending school. Katie felt the urge to start an Education Sponsorship Outreach program. It offered three hundred dollar scholarships for each student to receive schooling, three meals a day and much-needed medical care. The program started with one hundred and fifty students has now grown to seven hundred each year.

Katie Davis established the 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization called Amazima Ministries International in 2008. It was set up to support the financial, emotional, and spiritual well-being of at-risk Ugandans. She began the Masese Feeding Outreach that fed in excess of one thousand and two hundred children, Monday through Friday, after being introduced to the Karimojong people.

In an effort to help the women of Masese become more financially independent, Katie began a vocational program that enlisted the women to create beautiful magazine bead necklaces. Amazima purchases them each month and sells the necklaces in the United States. The women can use the profits to support their families and send their children to school.

When people applaud the ongoing efforts in Uganda, she blushes modestly and states “People tell me I am brave. People tell me I am strong. People tell me good job. Well, here is the truth of it. I am really not that brave; I am not really that strong, and I am not doing anything spectacular. I am just doing what God called me to do as a follower of Him. Feed His sheep and do unto the least of His people.” The locals will forever call her the Angel in Uganda.