Redeem a deposit for "Hand in Hand for Uganda e.V."

For more than 20 years, dedicated teachers have been collecting students' empty bottles in Munich schools and redeeming the deposit and using it for various social projects worldwide. The schools at the Bergsonstraße site have been involved since the beginning.

The technical school and the vocational schools on Deroystraße have also been involved in this bottle project for years now and have been supporting the Munich association "Hand in Hand for Uganda e.V." since 2020. Founded in 2009, the association has grown steadily since then and now has its own orphanage with more than 60 children and young people, some of whom are already in training or have completed it.

The association with its 56 members is active on a voluntary basis in a variety of areas:

It takes care of

- Orphans and socially disadvantaged children and young people in the area of Masaka/Uganda by providing them with sufficient food, a home, regular school attendance and medical treatment through sponsorships and other donations.

- committed women of the group "Kawekulakulanja", who manage micro-loans on their own responsibility. The start-up and default financing is provided by the association.

- the residents of the village of Nkoni and the neighbouring village, who have already been able to finance two wells for clean drinking water.

- the health care of other surrounding villages, by offering medical care by doctors and nurses once a week on the property of the orphanage since March 2019. The costs for personnel, medicine and aids are covered by the association.

- the nearest primary school "Butale Mixed Primary School" by renovating and newly rebuilding of the buildings from 1927. A well was also financed for the school and, as far as possible, school meals for the more than 430 children.

The corona pandemic has completely changed the living conditions of an incredible number of people in Uganda, similar to ours:

1. Schools/Orphanage: Schools were closed for a total of almost 19 months in 2020 and 2021. As a result, the children were forced to live in the orphanage, which had never been built for such many children. To create more space for everyone, the association built a new house in autumn 2021 where the older boys can sleep separately from the girls. In addition, two laptops were purchased for the home schooling of the older pupils in the final classes.
2. Vaccination: All children and employees at the orphanage have been vaccinated at least once at the beginning of 2022 at state expense. The association has initially paid the cost of a second vaccination, which must be paid privately, for 20 people. More will have to follow.
3. Families: In most families in the country, parents could no longer feed the children because all the shops were closed. As a result, the number of street children has reached unbelievable proportions. It was particularly the young girls who, on the advice of the president, were sold to neighboring countries for marriage. For 30 families from the village, the association has financed large food packages, so that food could be secured for at least a few months.
4. Mobility: The fact that transport options came to a complete standstill during the lockdown was threatening. For example, people with medical problems could no longer get to hospital. This also affected, for example, children of the orphanage, who developed a severe fever at night. At short notice, the association has therefore purchased a motorcycle that can also be used for villagers in an emergency.
5. Crime: The partners from Uganda unanimously report that violence and assaults have increased sharply due to the loss of income (e.g. in small shops, self-employed in taxi and boda-boda companies). In the village of Nkoni, too, families were attacked several times during the night, adults were killed or abused, and children were left alone. The village community therefore organized a private security service, which was subsidized by the Association.

Here in Germany, the Association has been well networked since its foundation: in Munich as a member of the North-South Forum and in Bavaria in the One World Network Bavaria.

Finally, the Association is also involved in one-world educational work. To this end, lectures on Uganda and cooperation with the South's partners were held several times a year in schools and on other occasions.

The work and projects of the association have already been financially recognized and supported twice: in 2013 by the "Sternstunden e.V." of the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation for the kitchen building and in 2017 by the Bavarian State Chancellery for a deep drilling well in the villiage center. For 2022, the "Schmitz Foundations" have currently approved €10,000 for the construction of a deep drilling well on the property of the orphanage.

The awarding of the "One World Prize" to the association on 28.06.2014 should not go unmentioned.

Thomas Langsch

Source: Technikerschule - Städtische Fachschule für Maschinenbau-, Metallbau-, Informatik- und Elektrotechnik - Jahresbericht 2021/2022

Donation account:
Hand in Hand für Uganda e. V.
Volksbank Raiffeisenbank Dachau
IBAN: DE79 7009 1500 0001 5290 72
BIC: GENODEF1DCA