Building Our Cultural Heritage Center

A Home for Okarowok Heritage

The Okarowok Wibye Acel Cultural Heritage Center — known by its Lango name Ot Ngom Okarowok — is the most ambitious infrastructure project in the clan's recent history. Conceived as a permanent home for the clan's material and non-material heritage, the center will serve as a museum, archive, community hall, and living cultural space where ceremonies can be performed, elders can teach, and visitors can learn about the Lango way of life. The project is located on ancestral land at Akalo, in the heart of the clan's traditional territory, and is being built entirely through community contributions.

What the Center Will House

The design of the center reflects the breadth of Okarowok cultural heritage. A dedicated museum wing will display traditional artefacts — iron tools, ceremonial drums (bul), beadwork, hunting implements, and agricultural equipment — alongside photographs and documents tracing the clan's history from the founding ancestors to the present day. A digital archive room will house the clan's growing collection of recorded oral histories, ceremonial songs, and genealogical records, accessible to researchers and clan members alike. A large ceremonial courtyard, designed in the traditional gang (homestead) style, will provide space for public ceremonies, storytelling festivals, and cultural performances.

Community-Driven Construction

What makes the Akalo project distinctive is its financing model. Rather than depending on government grants or foreign donors, the clan has mobilised its own members — in Uganda and in the diaspora — to fund the construction through a tiered contribution system. Every clan household is expected to contribute according to its means; businesses owned by clan members have made larger donations; and diaspora members in the United Kingdom, United States, and Scandinavia have organised fundraising events that have generated significant resources. This approach ensures that the center belongs to the community in the deepest sense — not just legally but emotionally and spiritually.

Progress and Milestones

Construction began in 2022 with the laying of the foundation, which was accompanied by a traditional blessing ceremony attended by hundreds of clan members. By 2024, the main hall and museum wing had reached roof level, and the interior fitting-out was underway. The digital archive room was completed and equipped in early 2025, and the first batch of oral history recordings was transferred to its servers. The ceremonial courtyard is scheduled for completion in 2026, at which point the center will be formally opened with a three-day cultural festival that will bring together clan members from across Uganda and the diaspora.

A Legacy for Future Generations

The Okarowok Cultural Heritage Center is more than a building — it is a statement of intent. It declares that the Okarowok Wibye Acel clan intends to be present in the future, that its culture is worth preserving, and that its children deserve a physical space where they can encounter their heritage in all its richness. When the center opens its doors, it will be a gift from the present generation to all the generations that follow — a place where the stories of Oculi Abwango and the founding ancestors will be told and retold for as long as the clan endures.