Town & Country Foundation supports Leipzig Deseret Foundation e. v.
Support for school meals in Uganda: The Deseret Foundation e.V. receives 1,111 euros in prize money. V. As part of its 11th foundation award, the Town & Country Foundation supports work with children and young people. At the same time, it recognizes the people who are involved in the projects – many of them on a voluntary basis. The Leipzig Deseret Foundation e. As a sponsor, V. is committed to providing children with a qualified education in a good social and economic environment in which they can grow into independent young people mentally and emotionally. The club has now been recognized for its commitment as part of the 11th Town & Country Foundation Prize. The prize money of 1,111 euros will be used for school meals for the approximately 300 school and preschool children. On behalf of the foundation, foundation ambassador Manuela Bellmann, managing director of Bellmann Immobilien GmbH & Co. KG in Geithain, presented the certificate and praised the commitment of the awardees: “They are ready to give a lot for the future of the children. Supporting you and promoting work with ‘your’ children: This is very important to me. It always gives me joy to hand over the checks to the Town & Country Foundation and thus honor this indispensable work with children and young people.”
Construction of new sanitary facilities for the school
School hygiene and a child’s education are inextricably linked. The school’s toilets were in very poor condition (outhouses without sinks). Due to poor hygiene, urinary tract infections and diarrhea occasionally occurred because boys and girls occasionally left the latrines without washing their hands and then touching food, etc. Therefore, we built more modern sanitary facilities with sinks. We realized the project with the support of the Edith Haberland-Wagner Foundation. Thank you for that!
Ballet project in school
Africans have rhythm in their blood. While dancing in Europe is largely aestheticized and children here receive training in a wide variety of dance styles in private and state music and art schools, the dancing and movement of African children is an elementary expression of their joy, vitality and creativity and simply happens. The graceful striding and apparent floating in ballet seems very far removed from the rhythmic stamping and the impulsive upper body and arm movements in African dance. But: isn’t it precisely the strangeness and contrast that makes us humans understand our own culture more deeply and love it more deeply? Together with the Leipzig dance teacher Dagmar Stolle-Stollberg, who traveled with me to Uganda in July, we carried out the dance project and the African children were carefully introduced to classical ballet training by her and learned simple ballet steps, turns and jumps in space . This all happened to classical music. Concentration, endurance and stamina were required, which were new to dance for the children, but are important in school and later in life. But above all, one thing can be recapitulated: the children had immense joy in ballet and couldn’t get enough of it. Many thanks again to Ms. Stollberg and also to the companies Tanzmuster and Cospo Art for donating the ballet clothing. (That made the girls happy!)
Chess course at school
With the support of the LIBRA Foundation, we initiated a chess course at school. Chess is rightly called “THE GAME OF KINGS”. You learn to think strategically, combine ideas and think ahead tactically. Very good development factors for children in Uganda. And the nice thing is that you learn it through the game, in a playful way! It has also been proven that children achieve much better academic performance if they learn to play chess under competent professional guidance. Chess, for example, promotes character traits and important skills such as decision-making, strategic and complex thinking and forward-looking action. And the children really enjoy it!
Purchasing land for growing food
Since food prices continue to rise due to inflation and the rain has been very irregular this year, people in Uganda fear an impending famine. For this reason and because there is a general nutritional shortage, we have now decided, with the support of the Peter Ustinov Foundation, to buy 2 acres of land in order to grow the staple foods of corn and beans ourselves. On the one hand, this is intended to provide school supplies and, on the other hand, to help the completely destitute in the community.
Piano for the school
With the support of the Peter Ustinov Foundation we were able to purchase a real piano for our school. This is something very special in Uganda. And the children love the piano. You now learn to play yourself and of course the piano also serves as accompaniment for singing together. In November 2022 I was finally back in Uganda after a long time and we were able to make some music together:
Photovoltaic system for the school
With the support of the Friedrich Pongratz Foundation, we were able to install a photovoltaic system in the school. With solar power you can produce enough of your own clean electricity locally, especially in Africa, and at the same time save money because you have to get less electricity from the grid and electricity is very expensive in Uganda and also often goes out. We can now prevent power outages, which very often hindered school activities. For devices that require strong electricity, such as large printers, we still use regular electricity. Everything else can now be covered with the photovoltaic system. This is good for the environment and saves money.
Water project for the school
Despite access to tap water, hygiene and sanitation are always a challenge. This is due to the limitations associated with tap water use, including high utility bills, frequent water outages, and water cleanliness. Using a professional water pump, the groundwater is now pumped out of the ground and then into a water tank that holds 5,000 liters. So we now have a reliable source of water, which is very beneficial for a good education. The water is clean, plentiful and free. The Merck Family Foundation made this possible for us and we would like to express our thanks to them.
New school sweaters
With the support of the Friedrich-Pongratz Foundation, we were able to purchase new school sweaters for our students at the Deseret Community School for their school attendance. In Uganda it is common for students to wear school uniforms. Due to the Corona crisis, most parents are unable to afford the financial outlay for school uniforms for their children. In order to enable the children to have a dignified everyday school life, we have purchased school sweaters for 200 children and hope to also be able to purchase sturdy shoes, sports equipment and school uniforms in the future.
Balanced school lunch for 1 year!
Our children now receive balanced school meals every day with the support of “A Heart for Children”. This is a very important support for us, as the children often had difficulty concentrating because there was simply not enough food. This is the basis for everything else. Therefore, many thanks again to “A Heart for Children”!