Horizons
is effecting change –and saving lives founded by Dunigan and his team of Ugandan professionals and colleagues, became the first organization in the world to offer free antiretroviral treatment for children. AidChild would go on to be selected by the Ugandan and US governments as a model for pediatric HIV/AIDS care for the entire continent of Africa.
Sustainability: The key to successful change Dunigan is quick to point out that his initial objective was not simply to start another orphanage, but rather “to identify the services most needed, and then try to establish an efficient, aggressive and sustainable system to deliver those services to the maximum number of children.” This approach to effecting sustainable social change is central to the concept of social entrepreneurship that has guided Dunigan’s own research as a graduate student, as well as his work at AidChild. In 2009 Dunigan received a fully funded Reynolds Fellowship to study social entrepreneurship at Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership. After receiving his Master of Education degree in Human Development and Psychology, he entered the doctoral program in Leadership Studies at SOLES in fall of 2010, where he is the recipient of a fully funded Dammeyer Fellowship in Global Education Leadership. Today AidChild is approaching self-sustainability,
with 70% of its income generated through in-country businesses founded by AidChild, and 100% of program administration handled by local Ugandans. Each month the organization cares for more than 3,000 children and families through outpatient and inpatient clinics, academies, comprehensive care centers, and laboratory services. AidChild has also promoted community development in Uganda through establishment of running water sources, electricity, and job opportunities. Dunigan continues to serve as chief executive officer of AidChild, Inc., USA, a foundation that has raised more than $4,000,000 to help supplement the group’s efforts in Uganda. He now divides his time between San Diego and Uganda and continues to find his work more rewarding than he had ever imagined. “When I moved to Uganda, I had no concept of the magnitude of hope that would come to me, and that I would come to rely on in the years to come, over and over again,” he says. “That hope is revealed to me through the laughter of the children, the joy in their hearts, and their great ability to rise above all that has come before.”
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