join us at the commons.
A common space for the common good
We never dreamed of finding a space this grand and accessible, but here we are, with a 15 year lease on a 5 acre property right in town, and we are ready to make the most of it! The building has a vast history, including being a safe home at night for children to sleep during the war. Now we’re doing big renovations and bringing big things to share with the whole community!
A SPACE TO CONNECT
Whether through a class, event, or shared meal, bringing people together is what we do best.
A SPACE TO COLLABORATE
We foster a unique culture of collaboration inside the walls of the commons, and teamwork never looked so good.
A SPACE TO CULTIVATE
We provide the space and resources to learn, and the community does the rest, creating exponential growth for all of Gulu.
A community that laughsplaysprayslearnseatsworks together, stays together
SPACE MATTERS
ERIC’S STORY
When Eric was young, he witnessed his sisters being assaulted and then dedicated his life to protecting women.
After learning how to fight, he set out to teach self-defense but had to sell his car and motorcycle (his entire livelihood) to rent a space for a classroom. He started a gym to offset the cost but still couldn’t make ends meet and had to shut it all down.
If he simply had a space to teach, imagine how many women could have benefited today. His story was the first of many that inspired our vision for Elephante Commons.
NOW OPEN
This is only the beginning! Some people say you should walk before you run – and we are. Walking to serve cafe customers, walking through thousands of trees planted by our partner Kijani Foresty, walking through the villages on our way to work that we hope to support with our space even more in the future.
ACACIA ROOM
A space to gather and grow together.
This classroom can seat up to 40 people. Equipped with tables, chairs, sound system, and projector, it can be used for a variety of parties, presentations, lessons, meetings, and even movie nights.
CAFE & PIZZERIA
Breaking bread together tastes so good.
A huge contribution to our monthly sustainability and a critical piece to building a community, we serve a variety of foods from all over the world. Open since November and already profitable, the cafe staffs 28 people and sets a high standard of service and quality for Gulu.
PARTNER SPACES
Let’s all go farther together.
Shipping containers for recycled plastic and yogurt manufacturing, office space for several partners, a water filter that provides affordable drinking water to Gulu, and a giant tree nursery that is making a huge dent in deforestation, our partners are already using our space better than we could have hoped!
Currently Fundraising…
Elephante Commons is open, but we’re barely scratching the surface of what we can accomplish with this space because we’re still fundraising to build out the rest of the facility. We’re inviting you to be part of building these projects so we can serve Gulu for many years.
01. LODGE & DORMS
With the potential to bring in enough income to cover 100% of our monthly operations, we are eager to get our 15 room lodge and 32 bed dorms up and running!
02. EVENT HALL
Our all-weather event hall is the only one of its kind in Northern Uganda. We can’t wait to see it equipped with everything it needs to host all kinds of events.
03. LIBRARY
We already have over 7,000 books donated but inaccessible to the community. We need a public space everyone can come to read and enjoy.
04. MANGO ROOM
Like our Acacia Room, this will be a medium sized classroom available for community leaders to use for sharing their expertise with their neighbors.
05. PEARL ROOM
A very unique room, tailor-made for intimate group gatherings where people can relax, let their guard down, and talk freely in a welcoming living-room-like setting.
06. OFFICES
Currently, the executive team is doing their work in what will become the catering kitchen, without most of the equipment, desk space, or meeting space needed to get the job done well.
More Projects…
Help us build the space Gulu deserves…
We Buy Local
We are committed to building a space with as many local materials and labor as possible. This is another way we can bring more development to Gulu and showcase the talent that lives inside the Acholi people.