The story
A protected home, volunteer house, and library form a small village of care.
The Dream Foundation of Uganda proposed its Bulenga Safe House as three related but distinct buildings: a residential home for children, accommodation for volunteers, and a public library. The residential program provides separate sleeping rooms, wardens’ rooms, washrooms, a shared living and dining area, kitchen, office, garden, and play space for up to sixty occupants. The volunteer house supports fifteen people without collapsing staff and resident privacy, while the library creates a reading and community resource sized for much wider use. Separating the library from the residential buildings helps protect domestic life while still allowing the site to serve the neighborhood.
Tropical rain, two dry seasons, local construction patterns, and outdoor space informed the schematic plan. The 2017 booklet documents programming, diagrams, site planning, and floor plans, but not construction. This remains a proposal. Its trauma-informed value lies in combining safety with ordinary life: sleeping, eating, learning, playing, and receiving support within spaces that feel domestic, legible, and connected.