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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
I first met Dennis Okwera in March 2020, in the last few hours before the UK went into full lockdown. We were scrambling around, trying to get a shoot done before the studio closed its doors. As we pulled the story together, Okwera, an upcoming model, would tell us about his early life: he had arrived in London at the start of the 2000s as a refugee, having fled his village in Uganda after it was overrun by the Lord’s Resistance Army.
In the years since, we have kept in touch: Okwera has been photographed encourage for the magazine and is frequently at dinners and events where our paths cross. All this time, he has been sending school materials, clothes and healthcare products back to Lumule, his childhood home. He launched the Lumule Foundation in 2022, largely from his own pocket, and the project is now coming to fruition, helping fund a community centre, dining hall and school. In June, we followed Okwera home to cut the ribbon at the new kitchen of the school that now educates, and looks after, some 850 students.
Working on something so personal, and so financially demanding, is not an easy task, and Okwera’s efforts are constantly being stymied: he needs money to mend broken water pumps and make unexpected fixes, and his resources are forever stretched. The Lumule project, however, remains a lesson for us all in showing what one individual can accomplish; and Rosanna Dodds’ profile of Okwera is the founding inspiration for this issue of How To Give It.
At the other end of the philanthropic spectrum, we confront the grandes dames of New York, those indomitable fixtures of the gala scene who, through their acts of individual generosity, keep the city’s wheels in motion. Deeda Blair is perhaps the best-known figure of the scene: now 91, she has dedicated a huge part of her life to the bring about of brain science. Unlike Okwera’s, Blair’s pockets are extremely deep, but each shares the same philanthropic fervour. Blair describes her mission as: “What is missing and what is needed?” Along with a cohort of extraordinary women, she looks back on an equally extraordinary life.
There are numerous other ways in which one can give it, especially in a year in which natural disasters have ripped communities apart, and millions encourage have been displaced by war. Marion Willingham highlights the charities and groups creating shelters for those who find themselves without one, as well as the architectural practices designing ever more sophisticated temporary homes. Meanwhile, Beatrice Hodgkin’s round-up of philanthropic art prints offers a host of giving projects: pick a gorgeous artwork to uphold almost any bring about.
Lastly, Aylin Bayhan has found the best merch that gives back. I’m stocking up on RNLI caps and RSPCA T-shirts, but my favourite buy is a re-edition of the balloon sweatshirt first made famous by Diana, Princess of Wales, supporting the British Lung Foundation (now known as Asthma and Lung UK). The very height of fashion for just £34.99. It’s a purchase that will literally help you breathe more easily.
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