DEVELOPMENT STARTS WITH YOU

I recently had the opportunity to facilitate a session themed “The Impact of Creative Social Enterprises in Development” during a Creative Excursion hosted by Hatma Creatives Initiative, in collaboration with Kiggundu Art Studio. When Destiny Gladys Chaiga told me to facilitate the session, I immediately knew I didn’t want to deliver the usual rhetoric of “five points to making your creative social enterprise work.” That framing often feels distant from the realities creatives live through. Instead, I chose to speak from lived experience, from my journey as a community builder who has worked with and within different communities for over 12 years.

Throughout the conversation, I reflected on my journey as a professional artist, now spanning over a decade. From my early introduction to community development through Streetlights Uganda in 2014, to building community through Kiggundu Art Studio over the last five years, I shared both the highs and the lows — the mistakes, the lessons, and the often-unspoken struggles of growing from a passion project into a sustainable creative social enterprise that exists beyond the individual.

Passion Is a Starting Point, Not a Strategy

As creatives, we often begin with passion. We pour our hearts into our work and give it everything we have. Too often, the reward becomes burnout, compassion fatigue, and persistent stress.

One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced in my ten years of practice and one I see repeatedly among creatives is the belief that passion alone will carry you forward. While passion is necessary, it is not sufficient. At some point, reality sets in: you need to survive, and more importantly, you need to thrive. In 2017, I experienced a serious burnout that forced me to step away from all work-related activity for two months. I was dealing with deep compassion fatigue, having been consumed by the stories of the communities and beneficiaries I worked with. When you listen to certain stories for long enough, you begin to carry them as your own. That period away became essential — a time to rest, reflect, and reimagine the kind of development and impact I truly wanted to create. I began reading more, listening to podcasts, and intentionally engaging with the communities immediately around me.

The Hidden Cost of “Being Too Passionate”

Unchecked passion can lead to self-exploitation — and yes, I call it that deliberately. Many early-stage creatives begin earning money without understanding how to manage it or separate personal needs from their practice.

I shared an experience where I earned UGX 3.5 million in a single month from mural work, only to realise shortly after that I had no idea where the money had gone. At the time, I believed every shilling I made as an artist was mine to consume. That mindset followed me even into the early days of starting the studio in 2021, where separating myself from the organisation proved to be one of the hardest but most necessary lessons.

Building Systems Is an Act of Care

Today, Kiggundu Art Studio operates as more than just an art space. It is a Creative Social Enterprise, one that I also contribute to as a practicing creative. Through art, mentorship, and community engagement, the studio works toward social, cultural, and economic development.

Rooted in lived experience and local context, the studio demonstrates how creativity can function as infrastructure for community wellbeing. This shift only became possible when I began to see the studio as its own entity — something that needs systems, structure, and care to survive and thrive independently of me. This is something we are going to deliberately build on in our next hase of growth as a studio space.

Creatives often fear systems, especially solopreneurs. We struggle to separate ourselves from our work. Yet, creating systems; financial, operational, and emotional, is one of the most powerful tools for sustainability. It remains a work in progress for both me and the studio, but it is a necessary one.

Why Development Starts With You

Change begins internally. Too often, when we talk about community development, we focus on transforming others’ lives without examining our own. The change we want to see in areas like climate, culture, health, or education must first be embodied within us.

Define development on your own terms. Development is not a universal formula. It must be grounded in your context, values, and capacity. Building communities is meaningful work, but building yourself is foundational.

Impact is mirrored internally. The impact you seek in the world should be reflected within you and within the social enterprise you are building. You cannot teach what you have not learned, and sustainable solutions emerge when individuals and organisations develop from within. When people grow, communities grow. When creatives develop themselves, community solutions stop being imported and begin emerging locally.

In Closing

It was a deeply enriching engagement, and I’m grateful to Destiny Gladys Chaiga for organising the Creative Excursion, and to the team at Kiggundu Art Studio for hosting the creatives. We look forward to more meaningful collaborations in the future.