AMAZIMA ASSOCIATION
Swiss partner organization of the KIGEZI ORPHANS PROJECT
NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2024
To all who are well disposed towards us and our heart project
Dear friends of the AMAZIMA association
Yes - it took a long time to get to this first newsletter. We simply had to gain clarity about our project and the project environment first. The last ten months have opened our eyes wide.
And no - we were by no means naive when we started this project. We were just ignorant. Just as our path led us to Uganda almost a year ago, we also happened to stumble into a task that pushed us to our limits in many different ways.
In the newsletter we can only report on the current status of the project and on the ongoing and planned activities. For more in-depth and further information and images, we are happy to refer you to other sources listed at the end of the newsletter.
We were not exactly duped by those responsible for the main project, the KIGEZI ORPHANS PROJECT, but our partners in Uganda were clever - or sly - enough to only gradually inform us bit by bit about the (dilapidated) state of the situation on the ground. We will make no secret of the fact that in the course of setting up our association and finding out the truth that came with it, we have already come close to giving up several times. The enormous expectations of our local project partners, combined with the resulting work and motivation, have sometimes brought us close to our limits. Ultimately, the obligation we imposed on ourselves to the children of Kigezi on our first trip to Uganda and our resulting strong commitment have always motivated us to persevere.
The donation from tourists from America, which led to the construction of the large school building ten years ago, was certainly well-intentioned, but not at all sustainable, as the donors then very quickly withdrew from the project. The school grew too big too quickly, without the local authorities developing the necessary strategies to deal with the long-term follow-up obligations beyond the understandable euphoria. Failure because of their own success.
At the moment, the school is not yet in a desolate situation, but it is certainly in a bad one. Maintenance and adjustments to the infrastructure are being postponed due to a lack of funds or due to other prioritization. Wages for teachers and other employees are several months late. Much of the food is purchased on credit.
At the same time, the Kigezi Orphans Project has legitimate and desirable expansion plans. In the long term, far more children in the region must be able to benefit from basic educational opportunities. This, in turn, is only possible if the entire regional community is strengthened to the extent that education will be affordable in the first place. So it is important to push forward the urgently needed agricultural projects.
In this whole process, we see it as our primary task to support the school as much as possible with its basic needs of food, infrastructure and compensation so that it can continue to grow to a desirable extent.
In this respect, we can look back on a successful start to our association's activities. Thanks to the initial fireworks of donations, we were able to provide an initial donation of CHF 5,000 last July - before the expected silly season arrived. This amount was used to reduce the wage arrears by one month and to secure the food supply for the next month.
On behalf of the local authorities and primarily on behalf of the children of Kigezi, we would like to thank you very much for your support!
In addition to individual donations, we also aim to establish partnerships with organizations and institutions. For example, we would like to initiate a collaboration with the communities and schools where the two association leaders are based. And perhaps one day we will be lucky enough to find larger supporters. We are aware that difficult undertakings in difficult times will demand a lot from us.
At the same time, we cannot and do not want to rely on any lucky strikes. So we will continue on the path of smooth continuity that we have been striving for from the beginning, to sincerely cultivate our base of convinced, possibly regular donors and to build on a gradual expansion of our circle of allies. This path will mean a lot of time and patience, as well as a lot of work. Knowing who this effort will ultimately benefit, we do not shy away from it and are not above showing up whenever possible in our local and regional circles.
This path will take a lot of time and patience, as well as a lot of work. Knowing who will ultimately benefit from this effort, we are not afraid of it and are not above supporting our heart's project wherever possible, both in our immediate and wider community.
With this in mind, we are also taking the liberty of enclosing some flyers with the first donors, with which we would like to draw other people's attention to our project, the upcoming activities and further sources of information. We would be grateful if you could pass these on - if possible with personal information - to interested people in your area who are enthusiastic about our idea.
The information links mentioned above can be found on the flyers and on the back of this newsletter.
Thank you very much for your interest in our commitment and the corresponding support!
Kind regards
AMAZIMA ASSOCIATION
Jürg König, Co-President Micha Bärtschi, Co-President