The story of our Uganda project

I have noticed that although many here know me and also the Uganda project that I run with my husband Michael, they do not know the story behind it.

Therefore I think it makes sense to make a small summary.

My name is Elke Zaksek , everybody calls me Elli.
I was born on 24.12 1966.
So I am 55 years old.
My husband Michael is 60 years old.
We live in Germany and have been together for 31 years.

In this long time we have traveled a lot and always as backpackers.
That means we always just book the flight and then travel around the country,
to get to know the people and their culture.

In December 2016, we traveled to Africa for the first time, to Uganda.
This is a great country with very nice people, but also with great poverty.

We had a great vacation, visited the mountain gorillas and also a school.

We couldn't get the children out of our minds and since the school we visited had just built new dormitories but didn't have any beds yet, we wanted to help.
Back in Germany, we started a fundraising campaign:
"Beds for the children".
A double bed cost $80. We had the money for 13 beds together,
when a landslide there left a family homeless.

We then continued to collect for this family so that they could have a house again.
With the help of other sponsors, this also worked out.
As soon as this was done, a boy we also knew became seriously ill.
He had to be operated on, otherwise he would have died.
With the help of many people who donated, his life was saved.

So this is what 2017 looked like.
One disaster after another, one fundraiser after another.
This took up a lot of our time and it was clear to us that it could not go on like this (it was not planned like this in any way...).

We then went there again in December 2017.
There, where everything started, where the school was, to Lake Bunyonyi.

We arrived there with 1000,-€ donations and looked for a company that sells solar panels. Our idea was to make life a little easier for the poor farming families by bringing them light.
They have neither electricity nor water in their houses.

Seven families and the school received a small solar system.
We also bought food and other useful things for the school.

Our own project started and was called "We bring light".

From the beginning we always reported about everything.
So we took the donators a little bit with us to Uganda and they could see
what was happening with the money they entrusted to us.

It was never planned to make it a bigger thing.
In fact, we just wanted to buy a few beds....

Today we ourselves stand there in disbelief and amazement,
what has happened in the last 5 years.
We are just a normal married couple.
We are not rich, have only a very average income.
And nevertheless it was possible with many other people,
to do great things and help a lot of people.

All of us together have accomplished the following in 5 years:

• 13 beds for the school
• 1 child's life saved
• over 200 solar panels
• 6 water tanks
• 3 houses
• 1 kitchen
• 2 goats
• chickens (unfortunately deceased)
• lots of toys for the children
• clothes, mattresses, beds
• lots of school fees
• medical expenses /hospital expenses/medications
• 6 months food in lockdown for some hundred people

It's amazing and it makes you happy!
Here and there!

We thank all those who have supported us and walked the path with us!
And of course we also thank our friend Bosco in Uganda,
who implements our help on the ground.

We have always said we will continue as long as there are still people who trust us with their money.
There is no end in sight......