Orphans Club - Giving 150 AIDS orphans
a new home - Project Initiator -
Margaret Boogere

Margaret Boogere, mother of eight children and an elementary school teacher in Tororo - a small town in northwestern Uganda - was confronted with many abandoned children in the early 2000s, a situation in which the AIDS crisis had played a large roll. At first she took in 20 children, and subsequently began supporting other families in the community who had orphaned children in their care. Today, the Orphans Club includes 150 children. In bringing Margaret’s main goal to life, 40 children have completed school, college or training and become completely self-sufficient. ​

When a child leaves Club, a spot becomes available and is filled by a child aged 5-20 who are cared for and live together as a family. The project continues to be supported by the local Benedictines as it has for many years, despite doubling costs.

Today, this support is only sufficient for half of the 150 children, for whom school fees are covered. In the event that they attend boarding schools, they are offered regular visits to their Orphans Club families, as well as school clothing, materials and meals, even if they do not live at the boarding school.

​ The other half of the 150 children are supported from time to time by donors, or supported by Margaret herself.​

Project Goal:

To build a regular financial base that provides for the second half of the 150 children so the Orphan Initiative can continue to support all the children. ​

In some cases, training costs for further education are covered in the form of sponsorships, for example, when training as an operating room nurse, obtaining a public health master's degree, training as an electrical engineer, and training in skilled trades.  ​

Ideally, 15,000 euros per year will be collected for these two initiatives

Primary and Secondary School -
St. Margeret’s Primary School of Living Faith - Project Initiators - Margeret Boogere and Tereza Nyamwenge

In addition to her initiative for 150 orphans - the Orphans Club - Margaret Boogere founded her own primary and secondary school in Tororo - a small town in northwestern Uganda - in 2014 so the orphans there could receive a quality education together with children from the local population. In the beginning, the school was built with the support of Swiss donors. Today, the school has six classrooms and ten teachers who teach between 150 and 200 students. All school graduates have been successful in the state final examinations set by the state, indicating the high quality of education ​

Project Goal:

The school has the potential to be self-supporting when 400 or more students are registered, which would include sufficient teaching staff and salaries, and school fees for the children. However, the school requires the appropriate infrastructure to host this many students, including new classrooms. As there are no other qualitatively comparable schools in the area, establishing the necessary infrastructure would provide enough space for at least 400 students, and thus be able to generate enough funding to help subsidize the orphans from the Orphans Club for their schooling. ​

We plan to obtain state approval for the school in 2023 and complete the replacement buildings for the three wood classrooms. In the coming years, necessary buildings such as a new kitchen, dormitories for girls and boys, teaching supplies and administration buildings, playground, etc. will be built We also work on site with a civil engineer who is closely connected to the school and its aims. Once an AIDS-orphan himself, he was able to receive a quality education and now assists with the project where he can while overseeing all construction work on-site. We have had very good experiences with his work and with his support we implemented new washing and latrine structures a few months ago . ​

The total cost over the next three years will be around €60,000, and we are trying to get these investments together with associated donors. Until there are 350 - 400 students attending the school, the teachers' salaries need to be subsidized monthly. The teacher subsidy for the 10 teachers is about 1200 € per month.  

Supporting single-parent women from Sudan - Project Initiator – Heimanot "Heimy"

Heimanot "Heimy", originally from Ethiopia, came to Germany 20 years ago. Today she lives in Frankfurt with her husband and two daughters. ​

Four years ago, she opened an Ethiopian restaurant with the goal of earning enough money to help single mothers and old women in her homeland in Bahir Dar. ​

Their vision is a plot of land with a women's shelter community where single women and elderly women live together and can support themselves economically by doing their own work such as baking bread, providing services, and more. ​

In the short term, she has supported 8 women by providing them (as far as possible) with money at regular intervals so the women and their children can support themselves. Each woman has her own story, and some have also taken in orphans from other families. ​

The goal in each case is to enable the women to become independent entrepreneurs by providing them with small amounts of start-up financing or support in times of need. Heimi's 75-year-old mother and her relatives assist on-site to ensure that the money reaches the people directly. ​

Project Goal:

We want to support Heimy in her work on the ground in Ethiopia and to raise regular donations for the respective families in need.  ​

The commitment is medium to long term, because even if the women earn their own money, there may be need for support in case of shortages and emergencies, or possibly for the education of the children.  

Need per family is about €500.- per year.