Archive 2020
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December 29, 2025
Over Christmas, we once again received generous donations, enabling us to transfer funds to the school to cover the costs of the dish dryer, sports jerseys for girls, and the finishing work on the exterior of the future computer room. Construction work has already begun and the first materials have been delivered.
December 14, 2025
The time has come: Our volunteer Anton from Markelfingen was given a proper send-off by the school community and received his certificate from Headmaster Saad Luyinda. He’s flying back to Germany from Kampala today. As soon as he’s recovered a bit from the flight and adjusted to the time difference, he’ll surely post an update on our website (see also “Anton’s Blog”).
December 11, 2025
On December 4, 2025, the SHAK Junior School in Bulabakulu held its now traditional end-of-year celebration. This celebration also marks the transition of the “big kids” from kindergarten, the so-called “top class,” to elementary school. It is truly a celebration for the entire school family, as the children’s parents are also invited. This gives parents an impression of the school’s work and what the children have learned over the past year.
A celebration like this for everyone, with dancing, music, food, drinks, cake, etc., is ultimately also a major financial challenge and is only possible with your support. A large number of large and small donations made this possible. Thank you very much for this. Once again, you have ensured that the children there have a brighter future.
25 November 2025
Last weekend, the Friends Association once again had the opportunity to report on its activities over the past year during a church service in Ulm-Jungingen. With the support of Kai Evers, Ricarda gave a presentation on the activities at SHAK Junior School. This allowed visitors to see how the donations were used and how the school is developing. Ricarda and her team also sold their wonderful flower arrangements again.
Overall, the day was a truly unexpected success – financially too! Around €1,300 was raised for the SAHK Junior School through flower sales, food distribution and collection bags. What a sum! Together with school director Saad Luyinda, we will discuss how the money should be used. Part of it will certainly go towards the big end-of-year party, which we will also report on.
We would also like to draw your attention to a new video by our volunteer Anton on his blog.
02/11/2025
The final work on the veranda roof has already been completed. Now we are just waiting for a little more donations so that we can continue.
28/10/2025
We immediately transferred the donations from Ulm from the Reichle family and from the sale of pictures to Uganda. And now the workers at the school are already getting to work. They are tackling the veranda and roof of the future computer room. This way, they can directly see how their donations are being used to create new rooms and buildings!
22/10/2025
On the ‘Anton’s Blog’ page, there is more news about Anton’s stay in Bulabakulu.
Thanks to generous donations from the Reichle family, we were able to transfer a total of €1,110 to Uganda.
After consultation with Saad Luyinda, a further step is being taken towards the use of the future computer room: Step 1: Fixing the veranda ceiling (to protect the room from strong winds and to plaster the exterior walls of the front part and cement the veranda area).
13/19/2025
Today we would like to report on the latest news from Bulabakulu.
We were able to transfer €660 and then €658 to Uganda in two instalments. A woman from Ulm donated €660 for new bed frames for the boarding school. The amount was collected on her birthday! Thank you very much! A donor contributed €658.99, exactly the amount needed for the long-awaited desktop computer. Finally, practical school administration is possible at SHAK Junior School, which now has 348 children!
For the first time, a young man will travel to Bulabakulu to do voluntary service at the SHAK Junior School. We, and of course especially school director Saad Luyinda and his team, are looking forward to the support from Germany. Anton Mayer from Markelfingen will first travel to Kampala next week (18 October 2025), where he will be picked up by Saad Luyinda. This will certainly be an exciting time for Anton, who will be reporting on his experiences at the school here on this page. We wish him much joy and success in Bulabakulu with wonderful, formative experiences!
15/09/2025
Over the summer, school principal S. Luyinda developed a new idea. Employees produce school chalk!
The idea behind this is easy to explain: the school is trying to tap into its own sources of income. The school chalk produced benefits the school itself directly, but it is also sold to schools in the surrounding area, generating income for SHAK Junior School.
A video produced by Saad clearly shows the production process for the school chalk “Made in Bulabkulu”!
25/07/2025
News from Bulabakulu!
1. in the summer, we usually don’t have as much money available. Nevertheless, we were still able to transfer around 800 euros for new school furniture.
2. further training in Ugandan! Various training courses were recently held for teachers at SHAK Junior School. Take a look!
3. the school complex is also constantly being expanded. A short clip shows the new outer wall of the school.
22/06/ 2025
And another step forward: we were able to transfer the amount needed to install doors and windows for the future computer building (916,-). Now the building can also be used temporarily for other purposes.
08/06/2025
Director Saad Luyinda sent us a recent photo showing the new school desks and chairs in use. Another significant improvement in conditions!
28/05/2025
There is news again from Bulabakulu. Firstly, the new serving table (we thought it was a serving trolley…) has arrived and is already in use. The photo is proof for Carmen, who financed the serving table. Secondly, we were able to finance the further expansion of the future computer room. At the moment, the foundations are being laid.
10/05/2025
We from the Friends’ Association had been discussing the purchase of suitable school furniture for the classrooms with principal Saad Luyinda for a long time. Which combinations of desks and chairs are most suitable for the children from an educational point of view? But which ones are also reasonably affordable from a financial point of view? These questions had to be discussed at length. After all, these are purchases for years to come. Many photos and considerations were exchanged between Bulabakulu and Germany. We can now present the results. Incidentally, the wooden parts can also be easily replaced if necessary. A contribution to longevity! From a pedagogical point of view, the individual tables and chairs can also be rearranged again and again according to the respective pedagogical requirements.
15/04/2025
Another small, unexpected surprise/miracle: a dear (voluntary) member of staff at the church community in Engen bought a serving trolley for the dining hall for €211,- (see “What’s needed list”)! Thank you so much Carmen!
13/04/2025
The next steps in Bulabakulu concern the plastering of another classroom and the construction of the walls of teacher’s house no. 6. Photos no. 1 and 2 document these steps. A lot has also been done in the entire school complex: the school entrance area with the gate now looks very inviting. The grounds, flowerbeds and plantings also create a beautiful, attractive overall picture.
07/04/2025
Of course, the donors would like to know what is happening with their money: and rightly so! So what has happened to the large individual donation (4500) and the rest of the income from the Lenten meals?
The entire amount has already been transferred to Bulabakulu via “Remitly” and “WorldRemit”. Work immediately began on the roofing of the future computer rooms to protect the building from the weather, e.g. driving rain. Meanwhile, the roof is already finished! Take a look at the series of pictures!
410 euros were used for the plastering of another classroom and we were able to finance the rest for the teacher’s tiny house no. 6! All these donations help in two ways: they mean work and secure income for the construction workers and construction helpers in Bulabakulu. So they always help twice – the school and the children and provide local people with work and income for their families!
25/03/2025
Last Sunday, the Caritas committee of the Seelsorgeeinheit Oberer Hegau held its annual Lenten dinner at the parish centre. All proceeds went to the SHAK Junior School. The staff (Inge, Carmen, Gaby, Roswitha and Birgit) had prepared the premises and the food in advance. It was an unexpected success. The jacket potatoes were eaten with the home-made dips at the various group tables in a very relaxed and cheerful atmosphere. A very pleasant atmosphere! And the proceeds for the SHAK Junior School? 5,022 euros. This included a major donation of 4,500 euros for the roof of the school’s new computer room!!! By the way, the shell of tiny houses no. 4 and 5 is already finished! Now it’s on to the next one!
20/03/2025
Teacher Tiny House No. 2 and 3 (duplex) are completed, including the facade paint. The women of the craft circle in Mühhausen-Ehingen will be particularly pleased about this. House No. 3 is ‘theirs’!
Simona and Christopher’s new water tank is also already in operation…
11/03/2025
Thanks to the income from the Christmas market in Ulm last year, we were able to make a record donation to the SHAK Junior School. Despite the less than ideal weather, numerous community members and many volunteers worked hard for the good of the school in Uganda. We were able to collect 5900 euros. 5000 euros have already been invested in Bulabakulu and are being used for the construction of teacher tiny houses no. 4 and 5. The remaining 900 euros are the basis for house number 6! Hopefully we will also manage the remaining two, no. 7 and 8!
As usual, as soon as the money arrives in Uganda, construction begins! See pictures!
01/03/2025
The additional water tank has arrived! There was a slight delay because the new tank was not immediately available. Now the water supply for the growing number of students is secured again, thanks to the very generous donation of a young family from Stuttgart. Thank you Simona and husband!
15/02/2025
Director Saad Luyinda is not only concerned about the structural development of the school but also about the pedagogical development of his school team. In February, a teacher training course was held on the topic of effective lesson preparation and effective approaches to the learning process for better learning outcomes.
The pictures show the teaching staff during the training.
21/01/2025
Shortly after Christmas, we were also able to transfer the amount (924.-) for 7 bedsteads to Bulabakulu. After seeing that some children had to sleep on the floor, we were able to react immediately. The new beds are already in use – see photo!
11/01/2025
At the beginning of the new year, we experienced something of a belated Christmas miracle. The young teacher who, at the beginning of last year, sent us a large sum of donations to re-equip the school with balls, has struck again, together with her husband. She donated 658 euros for the purchase of an additional water tank for SHAK Junior School. Simply amazing: we are very grateful for this. The money is already in Bulabakulu and Saad Luyinda is in the process of getting the water tank. Thank you Simona and Christopher!
A little later, S. Luyinda sent us a photo showing the current state of development of Tiny Houses No. 2 and 3.
