Hanspeter Spalinger

Swiss certified banker, Rudolfstetten

Sponsor of Obed Rekyeraho

Attorney, graduate and lawyer

A Report of my Experience as the Sponsor of a student in Uganda

When Eva Winizki introduced the association and the idea of UECD to me in the summer of 2007, the decision was quickly made for me: Here I can help directly and unbureaucratically! As an enthusiastic traveler to Africa, sponsoring a student in Uganda gave me the opportunity to give something back to the continent that has almost become my second home over the past 10 years. There was also a concrete request from an already selected student, and so I became sponsor of Obed Rekyeraho, law student at the University in Kampala, Uganda.

We then got in direct contact via e-mail and Obed sent me the list of fees for the first semester at the university, which were already due. So hurry was the order of the day! At the Western Union counter at the main station in Zurich, I was able to make my first transfer of about CHF 800 to Uganda quickly and easily. Already on the same day Obed was able to withdraw the money in Uganda and pay his costs for the semester.
 

Now who is this Obed in Kampala, Uganda, to whom I could make possible a study of jurisprudence? By email, we first introduced ourselves to each other and told each other about our lives, dreams, experiences and goals. I got to know Obed as an open, faithful, hardworking and grateful young man. Quickly the first photos were exchanged and the sympathetic first impression gained from the written contact was visually confirmed.

Since then we have been in regular contact by e-mail, keeping each other informed about the news in our lives and looking forward to the moment when we will get to know each other. The contact is warm and touching, as contacts with Africans usually are. What fascinates me above all is the fact that the people in Africa are content, even if they have almost nothing and have to fight daily for survival. It is a wonderful feeling to help someone fulfill a dream. To support a person who does not remain anonymous, who can become a friend!