Collecting bottles for over 20 years

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

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

The association, with its 56 members, is active in a variety of volunteer areas:

It cares for:

• - Orphans and socially disadvantaged children and young people in the Masaka/Uganda area by providing them with food, a home, regular school attendance, and medical treatment through sponsorships and other donations.
• - Dedicated women of the "Kawekulakulanja" group, who manage microloans independently. The association provides start-up and default financing.
• - The residents of the village of Nkoni and the neighboring village, for whom two wells providing clean drinking water have already been financed.
• - Healthcare for patients from other surrounding villages, by offering medical care twice a month on the orphanage grounds since March 2019, provided by doctors and nurses. The association covers the costs of personnel, medicine, and supplies.
• - the nearest primary school “Butale Mixed Primary School” through renovation and new construction of the buildings dating from 1927. A well and, where possible, school meals for the more than 430 children were also financed for the school.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, living conditions in Uganda have returned to normal. However, the cost of daily living has subsequently risen dramatically.

1. Orphanage: This primarily includes the cost of feeding the children and young people, as well as maintaining the building. Furthermore, everyday items such as the sofas in the living room, mattresses, the television, water tanks, and gutters are gradually aging and breaking down. Last year, two major disasters occurred: firstly, a lightning strike (despite the presence of a lightning rod!) destroyed two solar panels, the inverter, and all three batteries. Thanks to donations, including those from the schools on Bergson and Deroy Streets, the power supply was quickly restored.
   The repair of the defective well pump motor remains unresolved. Research in Uganda and here in Germany revealed that spare parts are unavailable in Uganda. Replacing the pump locally costs ten times as much as in Germany; instead of €400, it costs €4,000 there. For this reason, Thomas and Johannes Langsch (chairman and his son) will fly to Uganda from Germany in June with a new pump and install it together with the solar electrician.
2. Schools: It seems that a middle class is developing more and more in Uganda as well. In any case, the primary school, which until April 2025 had 33 children and young people from the project attending, was sold. As one of their first actions in April 2025, the new headmaster and his team tripled the fees for school attendance and requirements. The association can no longer afford this cost increase with this number of students. Therefore, another school was sought and fortunately found, so the costs will only increase slightly.
3. Southern Association: Last year, an audit by an external company was successfully carried out for the third time. It was also achieved that some of the young people with completed vocational training could be integrated into the association's board. Finally, the city of Masaka officially recognized the Southern Association as a non-profit organization. A certain fee is charged for this annually. The Southern Association covers this fee independently, which facilitates the work here at the Northern Association.

In Germany, the association has established a strong network since its founding: in Munich as a member of the North-South Forum and in Bavaria as part of the One World Network Bavaria.

Furthermore, the association is also actively involved in One World education. To this end, it gives presentations several times a year in schools and at other events about Uganda and its cooperation with partners in the Global South.

The association's work and projects have received financial recognition and support on three occasions: in 2013 from the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation's "Sternstunden e.V." for the kitchen wing of the orphanage, in 2017 from the Bavarian State Chancellery for a deep well in the village center, and in 2022 from the Schmitz Foundations for the construction of a deep well on the orphanage grounds.

The awarding of the One World Prize to the association on June 28, 2014, should also be noted.

In closing, the association would like to express its sincere gratitude to all students and dedicated colleagues for their continued support of its work.

Thomas Langsch

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