Education for sustainable social development
With our work, we are helping to alleviate a concrete poverty trap in the world. We promote sustainable economic development and help millions of children in Uganda to become responsible and educated citizens.
Education, sustainable economic development and disease prevention contribute a great deal to favourably influencing demographic development in Africa. The latter has been successful in many countries in South East Asia, which forty years ago had similar conditions to Uganda today. It therefore seems important to us to create positive impulses. Because every bit of help counts.
Combating illiteracy
An educated person earns an average of two dollars a day and can manage their own expenses. A person who cannot read and write, on the other hand, will find it difficult to find a job. As a result, they are unlikely to earn more than one dollar a day.
Functional illiteracy means that a person is able to read and write simple words, but cannot apply this skill to reading a medicine label, filling out a checkbook or a job application form.
This severely restricts their employment opportunities. It poses risks to the health, welfare, safety and security of themselves and their families. In a country like Uganda, illiteracy occurs mainly among people living in extreme poverty and often in very remote places.
The children and young people help out on the farm or look after their younger siblings. Meanwhile, the parents go to work. School is often so far away that the journey to school takes several hours. It is often very dangerous and, depending on the weather, not walkable.
School classes often consist of more than 50 children of different ages and educational levels. Lessons take place in poorly maintained buildings. Teaching materials are scarce and often not up to date.
Our scholarship programme enables children from low-income backgrounds to attend school and thus lay the foundations for their future lives. In this way, we are combating functional illiteracy and making a contribution to sustainable social development.
Promoting practical skills and critical thinking
Today’s world presents us with complex challenges and a wealth of information every day. Critical thinking helps us to analyse, evaluate and understand information before we accept or react to it.
Critical thinking involves carefully scrutinising arguments and statements and considering different perspectives. Only then do we reach a well-founded conclusion. Critical thinking is crucial for us to make smart decisions. It helps us to solve problems and be a responsible citizen.
But practical skills are also essential for many areas of life. Cooking, cleaning, sewing, repairing things or gardening help us to maintain our household and take care of ourselves. But practical skills are also important in almost all professions. Craftsmen, technicians, farmers and doctors, for example, rely on their practical skills on a daily basis.
This is why we place particular emphasis on promoting these skills in our schools.
Read the case study about our scholarship programme in Uganda.
In his study on the Kids of Africa scholarship programme, Valentin Varnholt shows the importance of education in Africa.
An analysis of almost one thousand scholarships for Ugandan pupils, which were awarded after the two-year school closures in Uganda, poses the question of whether the scholarships have a lasting effect.
Varnholt’s work confirms the considerable personal and social benefits that the unexpected scholarships have brought to the recipients, their families and their schools.
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Natumanya Julius“When I finish school, I want to give something back to Ugandan society. This scholarship is a privilege, but also a responsibility. I want to dedicate my work to God and my country.”
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Akankwatsa Mary Praise“My mum used to sell our cows or our property to pay my school fees, but now she has enough money for my siblings again. I no longer feel guilty for making my mum’s life difficult.”
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Ainemukama Joseph“I’m no longer the hopeless person who stayed on the floor for four years. I’m now a student with a vision for my future.”
Our aid projects
With the idea of “helping people to help themselves”, we are supporting an entire community with our projects in Uganda.
 | Children’s village in Kampala, UgandaHome for over 100 orphans in Uganda. | To the project |
 | ScholarshipsSupport for 1,000 children in 61 schools. | To the project |
 | Schools in UgandaConstruction and maintenance of 3 own schools. | To the project |
 | Vocational schoolHotel management school and forestry farm. | To the project |
 | Flying TeachersHow we fought the Covid-19 education emergency. | To the project |
 | Medical Days150 doctors and 6,000 patients. | To the project |
 | WaterDaily treatment of fresh water. | To the project |
