The Comfort Dog Project

The first and only canine-assisted trauma therapy program in Africa.

In 2014, The BIG FIX Uganda launched Africa’s first canine-assisted trauma therapy program in response to the deep psychological wounds left by a 20-year civil war in Northern Uganda. With over 700,000 people suffering from PTSD and almost no access to mental health care, survivors were left to suffer in silence.

The Comfort Dog Project pairs war trauma survivors with rescued street dogs—both beings who have endured great suffering. Over a 20-week healing journey, these human-dog teams form powerful bonds that help reduce PTSD symptoms and restore hope. In a region where dogs were once feared and neglected, the program is changing lives—and changing hearts.

120+ pairs have graduated from The Comfort Dog Project.

Training a young dog requires patience, concentration, empathy, and clear communication—social skills often damaged by the trauma of war. Through The Comfort Dog Project, survivors relearn these essential skills by working with rescued street dogs, forming deep bonds built on trust and mutual healing. These human-dog teams complete an intensive 20-week training and therapy program designed to reduce PTSD symptoms and rebuild emotional resilience.

More than 120 human/dog pairs have graduated from the program, with clinical evaluations showing lasting improvements in reducing PTSD, as well as improvements to overall mental health and wellbeing. As guardians regain the tools to connect, they are better able to rebuild relationships with their families and communities.

In 2021, The Comfort Dog Project’s Scientific Advisor published 5 years of therapeutic data in the peer-reviewed journal Intervention, illustrating the effectiveness of the program.

Learn More about the science behind The Comfort Dog Project.

“This dog saved my life. Without this program, I would be dead.”

-Akumu Filda, CDP class of 2014

CDP Guardian Moses, with Comfort Dog Fifi by his side, reads his poem about the impact The Comfort Dog Project had on both of them.

Project Management

Francis Okello Oloya has served for 10 years as Project Manager. Francis graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Community Psychology from Makerere University. As a child, Francis was severely injured in a bomb blast which left him blind. His unique perspective has made him highly effective at helping others to regain their lives after severe trauma.

Francis’s exceptional work with BIG FIX was acknowledged when he was named International Education Champion by the World Rabies Day Awards. In 2024, he earned a Canine Intervention Specialist Certificate from the University of Denver School of Social Work.

Achan Laura serves as Project Social Worker. Laura has a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences from Makerere University and has extensive experience as a mental health counselor, with a focus on trauma counseling. Her work experience includes serving as a counselor at Palabek Refugee Settlement. Her emphasis has been on counseling victims of GBV (gender-based violence) and sexual assault and providing psychosocial support to formerly abducted persons and war trauma survivors.

Francis Okello Oloya, CDP Manager

Achan Laura, CDP Social Worker

Trauma Counseling

For the past ten years, The BIG FIX has been holding monthly group counseling sessions for trauma survivors in five different villages. All participants in The Comfort Dog Project were selected from these counseling groups.

The Comfort Dog Project makes a lifetime commitment to all dogs and guardians in our program. We provide ongoing psychosocial support and even counseling for family members of project guardians. Monthy meetings of all CDP participants also feature opportunities for group and individual counseling and support.

Dog Training

Comfort Dog Project graduates are empowered to serve as dog trainers and mentors for the subsequent CDP classes.

Our Lead Dog Trainer, Akumu Filda, is a graduate of our first Comfort Dog Project class (2015) and her natural ability to communicate with dogs and to teach others has been widely recognized. Filda is one of Africa’s only Certified Evaluators for the Good Canine Citizen Program administered by the American Kennel Club (Evaluator #101763).

She was also honored as a Silent Hero of the Month by Silent Heroes Foundation and was featured on the BBC series 100 Women (2019).

Akumu Filda, Lead Dog Trainer

Carrying it Forward

15 of The BIG FIX’s 32 permanent staff members are graduates of The Comfort Dog Project. Many more CDP graduates work with BIG FIX on a day rate basis as members of our School Education Team, trainers and mentors for the new CDP teams, field educators at our village clinics, and as community mobilizers. Three of BIG FIX’s Hospital Veterinary Assistants are CDP graduates, as well as our Lead Dog Trainer, both of our Animal Welfare Officers, and some of our security staff. CDP graduates make up 100% of our Animal Welfare Team (handling all rescue calls, rehabilitation, fostering, adoption, home checks, and care of the animals on The BIG FIX premises.