From 42 to 519 children

Income.

Where the money came from, 2016–2025

Sponsors, both private people and businesses, pay for school. Other donations from individuals, businesses and charities pay for everything beyond school: meals, clean water, health care, solar energy, learning and emergency help. Where needed, one-time donations also kept children in school when they did not have a sponsor (yet) or when school fees rose.

Children and sponsorships, 2016–2026

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Education.

More children are moving on to secondary school

As children grow up, school fees and boarding rise. This is the main reason the cost per child is increasing.

The red marker in each column and the row under the chart show how many children board. Since 2017, every child in secondary school has boarded, and so has every child in P-7, the year of the primary leaving exam. In the early years their sponsor paid the full boarding fee; later, as fees rose, many children received a co-sponsor. Some younger primary children board too, when their home situation makes it hard to study. In 2026, 312 children board: all 200 in secondary school, 110 in primary (including all 61 in P-7) and 2 in vocational training. Boarding costs about twice as much as day school.

*2026: children in the programme on 8 October 2026.

Boarding: 2017–2021 are based on the number of children in P-7 and secondary school, who all boarded from the start; 2022–2024 come from the children register and 2025–2026 from the term 3 school fee lists.

Finances.

Income and spending have grown together

From about €10,000 in 2016 to €420,568 in 2025. In 2022 and 2023 we used reserves built up during the Covid years, and rebuilt them in 2024 and 2025.

Sponsorship.

Child sponsorship is the backbone of our income

The share of income from sponsors has grown as more children moved on to secondary and boarding school.

Spending.

Where every €100 went in 2025

Spending in the most recent full year.

• €91.50Programmes in Uganda
• €3.60Fundraising and visibility
• €3.50Payment and transfer fees
• €1.40Administration and meeting fees

Built and started each year

1. 2016First weekly hot meals for the children, from October.
2. 2017Foundation registered in the Netherlands. Children's centres rented in Kampala and Jinja. First micro loans and small business boost for 16 parents.
3. 2019Eye-care programme expanded with Wir helfen Sehen; the first two students start at optician school. Five family homes rebuilt.
4. 2020Covid: food packages for the families of all 380 children. Toilet blocks in Kampala and Jinja, two large water tanks, a minivan, the computer programme and the first maize field.
5. 2021Music and Local Leadership programmes start. 25 more laptops, solar panels and new tents for the weekend meals.
6. 2022First water borehole completed in Jinja. Outdoor kitchen and solar system at the Jinja centre; trees and a football pitch at a partner school.
7. 2023Construction of a dormitory in Jinja starts, with Das Freiheitspaket. 24 student computers and a kitchen at the Kampala centre.
8. 2024The dormitory in Jinja is completed and over 100 children move into boarding school. Our own maize field, and emergency relief for 45 families after the floods in Kampala.
9. 2025Two more boreholes, in Acholi Quarter and Danida. Solar cooking stoves at the community centres in Kampala and Jinja, and 19 water filters for families.
10. 2026Three more water boreholes, and solar cooking stoves at Elgon school in Kampala and Abba Father school in Jinja. A new round of micro loans and small business boost for parents (up to 1 October 2026).

This is not everything. Every year we also step in when families need it most: emergency help and extra food for the community, building and repairing homes, and handing out soap, blankets, mattresses, mosquito nets and water filters where needed. Many sponsors also send their child an extra gift, such as clothes, shoes or a birthday cake: in 2024 alone, 128 extra gifts were given.