JOLLY LUX
Executive director
Jolly A. Lux was born on January 2, 1970 in the town of Kihande, in the District of Masindi, in Uganda. Her mother, Christine Ndagambaki Amooti, raised her in a three room house. Jolly established her own printing and stationery supply shop in 1996 after she was not able to complete her third and final year of accounting trade school in Kampala, the capital of Uganda.
Jolly believes her compassion and strong determination to help others was passed down from her mother and grandmother and influenced by her school upbringing and devotion to God.
Jolly’s mother took in relatives and strangers, cared for the ill and transported people to the local hospital on her bike. At age 67, she still does. Jolly’s grandmother, now in her late eighties, still cares for orphans and two of Jolly’s deceased uncle’s children who have HIV/AIDS.
In 2004, Jolly completed training and received her license as a massage therapist and in 2008 began her private practice, Jolly Therapeutic Massage, LLC, in Avon, Connecticut.
After a decade in the USA, Jolly became an American citizen. Jolly usually returned to her home country Uganda every two years. On January of 2011 one of her return visits to her home District, a young woman approached her during a visit that she and her aunt had taken to a remote village of Kabango. The young woman told Jolly that her husband had died from HIV/AIDS four years ago. She said she has AIDS now. And she asked Jolly with pleading eyes, “When I die who will take care of my four-year-old son?” That moment and that day will stay with Jolly forever. It’s a major reason why Jolly and her husband founded GLO, the Guiding Light Orphans.
During her visit, Jolly continued to visit some of the most remote areas in the neighboring villages of Masindi and the impoverished people Jolly met during this encounter humbled and touched her in a way that would affect her forever. Jolly saw this experience as a blessing and, after returning to the United States, Jolly shared her story with her husband and the couple vowed to make a difference in the lives of others. Jolly and her husband Kurt created the Guiding Light Orphans, Inc. on June 30, 2011 in the state of Connecticut.
Jolly’s vision was to create an organization that would help children and families combat the extreme poverty and AIDS stricken region of Uganda. As a young girl, Jolly helped raise funds for her school thanks to her strength and compassion to help the less fortunate. Jolly continues her mission today with Guiding Light Orphans, Inc.