The Sustainable Actions for Poverty Eradication (SAPE) Foundation is a Ugandan grassroots nonprofit organization born out of the lived experiences and vision of its founder, Richard Tusabe.  Having grown up as an orphan in the Ssese Islands on Lake Victoria, in conditions of abject poverty, Richard witnessed firsthand how lack of opportunity and environmental degradation reinforced cycles of suffering in his community. He tested the continuous hardship of going without basic needs, and he appreciated the relentless hustle of his father, who struggled to fend for his two boys after the death of their mother to HIV/AIDS. Sadly, their father also passed away soon after, leaving Richard and his brother as orphans facing hunger, limited access to scholastic materials, and the harsh realities of early childhood in a community already crippled by poverty.

Yet in the midst of this hardship, the power of community support came alive. The people of Ssese Islands, who had very little themselves, stepped in to help raise Richard and his brother. Neighbors shared food, teachers offered encouragement, and local leaders helped bridge the gaps that poverty had created. This communal safety net kept Richard in school during his most vulnerable years. Later, when his academic talent became evident, the Government of Uganda extended a hand—supporting him on a national merit scholarship through six years of high school and then on to university.

This journey, however, was not simply a privilege. As Richard notes, it was purely the mercy of a community that chose to nurture his potential. Without such intervention, he reflects, “I would see nothing, and I would be nothing.” His story underscores the seriousness of poverty: countless other talented children in ghettos, remote landing sites, and deep rural villages remain unseen and unsupported, their potential extinguished by circumstance.

The combination of community mercy, government support, and his own resilience shaped Richard’s conviction that NO Child, NO Family, and NO Community should remain trapped in cycles of poverty. These experiences—and the many marginalized lives he witnessed along the way—are captured in his book Mental Resilience. His education journey at Makerere University further deepened his understanding, particularly through his Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Management, which revealed the deep connection between poverty and environmental sustainability. Rather than viewing environmental problems as burdens, he began to see them as untapped solutions to fight poverty and restore dignity to marginalized communities.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown, Richard took his first step in translating this conviction into action. He mobilized a group of like-minded young people in a Kampala suburb to form the Young Environmental Stewards (YES)—an initiative focused on equipping youth with environmental knowledge and practical skills, while leveraging environmental challenges as avenues for innovative livelihoods. From these beginnings, the vision grew and matured into what is today SAPE Foundation.

SAPE now extends beyond youth environmental literacy into a broader mission of livelihood support, education, health, digital inclusion, and sustainability. The Foundation stands as a bridge—meeting survival needs while promoting environmental responsibility. Through its programs, SAPE encourages young people and communities not to see climate and ecological crises as overwhelming problems, but as opportunities for transformation.

Grounded in Richard’s belief that the fight against poverty and the thriving of our planet must go hand in hand, SAPE invests in community projects, school programs, fundraising initiatives, and partnerships. It nurtures a new generation of eco-conscious leaders and changemakers prepared to transform adversity into opportunity.

At its heart, SAPE Foundation is more than an organization—it is a lived story turned into a movement. It represents the power of community in raising its children, the transformation of personal adversity into collective hope, and the equipping of the most vulnerable not just to survive, but to thrive alongside nature.