Meet The Team

In 1996, at the age of 17, Felex was stuck in the rural outskirts of Ikamiro near Lake Bunyonyi after he had been forced to quit school due to his inability to meet the outstanding school dues.

As the first born in a family of 11 children, the chances for him to continue furthering his education were minimal. As a result, he chose to leave his home without the consent of his parents, and seek a job to sustain himself and contribute to the rest of the family. Luckily, he got a job at Karibuni Beach and campsite at Lake Bunyonyi. While there he met a young couple Abby and Miles who were travelling by overland truck. They were surprised to find a young boy working there, as he was surely supposed to be in school, and so asked if they could sponsor him. Of course this was good news for him, and he chose to join Lake Bunyonyi in 1997. While there, he lost contact with the young couple, and again he could not afford to pay the fees. It was then he decided to become a tour guide on the island, since many tourists would visit the leper colony and the schools there. It was there that he met Kevin Schultz, a young American student who was on holiday in Uganda with his family members, and they became friends as Felex’s showed them around as their tour guide.

When Kevin returned home to the USA, he told his mother Gale Schultz, about his new found friend- Felex, his level of poverty, and the fact that Felex could not afford to attend school. Gale decided to get a second job on top of her teaching job, so she could make a difference in Felex’s life. She agreed to sponsor him to go back to school. She paid for his tuition from Secondary School straight through university. During his study period, Felex started a crayfish selling business to supplement his income. Luckily for him, he met Annie Devonport from UK who was then Volunteer with VSO. She became his customer and a friend, and she was instrumental in mentoring him so that he can be a responsible Ugandan citizen. She did this by asking her twin sons Crispin and Dustin to create a fund that would help Felex establish a business for himself after graduation, as he always wanted to have a sustainable business project. In 2004 Felex graduated from Nkumba university with a Diploma in Tourism Operations and Management and was able to start a small Tour company “Felex the Cat Africa Safaris”, which he then used to organise tours for volunteers around Kabale. Along the way he met Patrick Bartes from Germany, who designed a website for free which made Felex much more popular, and who now is the proud co-owner of a much-improved business Kazinga Tours. In 2019 Felex travelled to the USA to meet Gale Schultz for the first time, and it was an emotional moment. It was in tribute to her commitment and sacrifice that Felex started the sponsorship program – in honour of Gale Schultz who changed his life for the better in many ways since – and he believes there are many rural children in Uganda who are very smart but have no access to education due to financial constraints. Felex is dedicated to facilitating linkages between Ugandan students and generous sponsors from all over the world, through Kazinga Tours.