Love Mercy exists to empower communities in northern Uganda to overcome poverty caused by the horrors of war.
We act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly.
story.
Our
Love Mercy began in 2010 in Sydney, Australia after Eloise Wellings, Australian Olympian, met Ugandan Olympian and former child soldier, Julius Achon.
Read the full story of Julius’ and Eloise’s chance encounter and their journey to uplift the women of northern Uganda here.
Our Vision
We see communities in northern Uganda thriving independently, by increasing access to health care, clean water, food security and income generation.
Our Mission
We exist to co-design innovative solutions and build on existing strengths with local communities to overcome poverty and increase wellbeing.
Our Values
One humble person can make a difference.
At Love Mercy, we strive to:
to raise awareness of extreme poverty in northern Uganda in order to create a more just world
to show kindness to others, regardless of faith, background, race, religion or gender
to hold others in higher regard than ourselves, being trustworthy, accountable and transparent in all we do
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Stay in
touch.
Our work is
locally led.
The Kristina Health Centre and Cents for Seeds staff know the community best. They have a deep understanding of the needs of the rural areas where we operate, and they work alongside communities to co-design solutions that build on existing strengths.
Our Well Worth It team are locally qualified engineers. They have knowledge of the rich Ugandan landscape, and know the ins and outs of drilling a well in a rural area.
Meet the Team
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Julius Achon
FOUNDER
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Jimmy Okkulo
LOVE MERCY UGANDA PROGRAMS MANAGER
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Florence Ademun
PROGRAMS COORDINATOR
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Jolly Aciro
VILLAGE SAVINGS & LOANS TRAINER
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Hilda Arombo
VILLAGE SAVINGS & LOANS TRAINER
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Sherry Okello
AGRONOMIST
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Betty Acheng
AGRONOMIST
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Oswarld Okello
MONITORING AND EVALUATION OFFICER
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Ocol Jimmy
AGRONOMIST
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Apio Catherine
VILLAGE SAVINGS & LOANS OFFICER
and in Australia…
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Eloise Wellings
FOUNDING DIRECTOR
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Rebecca Lloyd
CEO
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Daria Wild
SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR
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Zoe Crain
FUNDRAISING COORDINATOR
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Nick Tindale
OFFICE & ADMINISTRATION COORDINATOR
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At Love Mercy, we’re about transparency and accountability. Read our Annual Reports for details of what our team has been working on.
Our Board:
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Roger serves the organisation by bringing his skills in finance, governance, systems and partner relations. He completed a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours in Finance and Accounting. He was the founding owner and manager of Fiji and Pacific Specialist Holidays in Sydney. He now acts as a consultant for tourism and property development in the South Pacific.
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Eloise is a professional athlete and Australian Olympian. She serves as Love Mercy’s ambassador in a volunteer capacity and brings her vision and strategy to the board to direct the overall operations for the Foundation. She has in the past owned a small business as a personal trainer, and is a mother to two beautiful children.
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Katie Rosser joined the board in 2016 and took on the role of Chair in November 2017. Katie has a Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice Certificate, and is a UK qualified solicitor. She is co-founder and Director of Seldon Rosser, an executive recruitment and search firm. Katie’s experience in running a small and growing business adds value when advising on Love Mercy operations. Her recruitment experience is also invaluable in managing the HR needs of the organisation.
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Danielle went to Uganda on the first Love Mercy Foundation trip in 2010. She was immediately captivated by its people and has regularly returned with the LMF team. She is a Registered Psychologist with AHPRA and has worked in child protection and education settings. She brings to the board her skills in child protection, her experiences in Uganda, and a passion for seeing people improve wellbeing.
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Gerard joined the board in 2018. He is a qualified town planner and lawyer and practises in all aspects of planning and environmental law. Gerard is a keen runner and has completed 13 marathons, including an attempt at the Kampala marathon in 2017 on a trip to Uganda while visiting Love Mercy projects. He is committed to return to Kampala to finish it when he goes back next time. He serves the board with his skills in law, governance and strategic planning.
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James is a Chartered Accountant with broad experience across corporate and project finance. He has worked for Ernst & Young in their Sydney, London, and Johannesburg offices on client engagements across the AsiaPac, North American, European and African regions. After spending the last 5 years providing commercial and financial advice to government and private sector infrastructure developers across Africa, James returned to Australia in late 2017 and is now the COO of P2P business lending platform Grapple Fund. James joined the Board in July 2018 and serves the organisation as Treasurer by providing his skills in finance, audit, governance, systems and accounts.
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Lizzie is the Global Fundraising Director at Amnesty International. She has worked in fundraising across the health, international development, conservation and human rights sectors for over 15 years with local, national and international not-for-profits. Lizzie joined the board in 2019 (and is mum to Fern and Archie).
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Caitlin is passionate about innovative solutions to poverty and transforming the not-for-profit sector to focus on impact and local communities. As the founding CEO of Love Mercy Foundation, Caitlin is proud of the team she led who reached 17,800 women with Cents for Seeds. Caity now works as the Senior Programme Manager at Adara Group, continuing her passion for maternal and child health in Uganda and Nepal. She serves the board with her development programme management skills and is happy to still be deeply connected with the work of Love Mercy.
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Joanne Mirtschin is a Sports Dietitian currently working as the Foodservice Dietitian at the Australian Institute of Sport. She manages nutrition input of the food provision at the Australian and Italian bases of the Australian Institute of Sport. She has worked with Summer and Winter Olympic campaigns in food planning and food preparation for athletes. Outside nutrition she advises on and assists in management of businesses within her family enterprise. Jo is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Strategic Partnerships
Love Mercy and the Achon Uganda Children’s Fund have been in partnership since 2012, with the opening of the Kristina Health Centre. AUCF aims to bring healthcare, education, and the opportunity to start a new life to the people of northern Uganda.
We partner together in funding to increase our impact in northern Uganda.
Love Mercy Uganda is the strategic implementing partner of Love Mercy Foundation Australia.
Responsible for all operations in-country, the team consists of over 20 healthcare staff at the Kristina Health Centre, 10 Cents for Seeds Agronomy staff and 5 subcontracted engineering staff for Well Worth It. The governing board consists of:
Julius Achon
Grace Nakisuyi
Jimmy Okullo
Florence Ademun
In 2018, we partnered with Huber Social to run our first survey measuring the impact of Cents for Seeds. The results challenged and encouraged our team, motivating us to make changes to deepen our impact and celebrate how far we have come. Since then, we have completed annual Impact Reports to measure the collective wellbeing of program participants.