2024

In 2024, we travelled to Uganda twice in April and November as a small team. Our suitcases were once more packed to bursting point with a variety of work clothes, tools and some urgently needed spare parts. 

In November, we welcomed the six new trainees for the 2025 training year and gave them their work clothes and training materials, including textbooks.

Currently, some trainees live in the workshop and sleep there on mattresses. Even the body of a scrapped vehicle is being used as a covered sleeping area. In addition, there are two very cramped sleeping places in a small shed, but these can only be used during the dry season.

Unfortunately, the local conditions and the considerable shortage of living space or areas suitable for living in Gulu make it impossible to find accommodation for the young people in the immediate vicinity. 

Even after a long and intensive search, which began some time ago with existing local contacts, we unfortunately had to conclude that there is no realistic possibility of remedying this shortage in the short term. The search in the suburbs of Gulu was also unsuccessful at first due to the increasingly acute shortage of housing and space in the city. extremely creative and combines knowledge with craftsmanship to create functional solutions. The large number of tools we have brought with us in the past (including a welding machine, drill and extensive thread cutting sets) now make it possible for him to offer these services. We were pleased to see that the tools are being used intensively. He is also keen to pass on his knowledge and skills to trainees and is therefore a candidate for inclusion in our training programme.

We were offered a few plots of land, which we naturally inspected, but unfortunately none of them met the minimum requirements: location, price, development potential, accessibility (by bicycle if necessary, etc.). It was only shortly before our departure that we found a suitable plot of land. With the support of our local staff, we were then able to secure this plot of land for our training project.

On site, we were repeatedly confronted with a challenge that still needs to be solved: finding accommodation for homeless trainees during their training period. 

We are now aiming to use this plot of land for our purposes in the near future. We intend to lease the land on a long-term basis in order to build accommodation on it. This would solve the accommodation problem for trainees in the future. 

We also visited our good friend Issa, who runs his small workshop far away from the city in the middle of the bush. In addition to maintenance and repair, his focus is on the construction and assembly of small to medium-sized machines of the simplest design. This makes the daily agricultural work considerably easier for the local residents. As we could see, he is extremely creative in this field and combines knowledge with craftsmanship to create functional solutions.

The diverse tools we have brought with us in the past (including welding equipment, drills and extensive thread cutting sets) now enable him to offer these services. We were delighted to see that the tools are being used intensively. He is also keen to pass on his knowledge and skills to trainees, making him a candidate for our training programme.