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The three of us run together the 22STARS foundation and met back in 2009, when I (Stella) was volunteering at an Aids Information Center in Kampala, where Aidah was working.
Aidah connected me to Susan, because I did research on post war victims. We used a translator to communicate, but to understand Susan's jokes and see her big heart no one needs a translation!
Susan knew in her heart that she would see me again and she wanted to be able to talk to me directly. Hence when I sent once a year money to Aidah and Susan for their handmade paper jewellery, Susan took this opportunity to go back to school!
And Susan was right, I went back to Kampala end of 2012! Susan learned not just English, but she also how to read, write and use a computer! So we could start chatting directly without Aidah being in between!
Time passed and Susan became in 2015 our project manager in Acholi Quarter in Kampala- an internally displaced camp for people - like Susan - who fled from the war ith the LRA and Joseph Kony in Northern Uganda.
And Aidah, she of course did not leave the picture! Instead, she focused on a new group of women. She moved to Jinja at the end of 2015 to serve the community where her father was born!
In 2016 we started our second 22STARS program over here. Currently we are sending 190 kids to school in Kampala, and 125 kids in Jinja and run our 5 development projects in both communities.
While Susan is our local project manager in Kampala, Aidah is our local project manager in Jinja, and me Stella, well I work a few months a year from Uganda and the rest from anywhere! Susan and Aidah know best what their local communities need, while my unique nomadic lifestyle brings also a lot of advantages in.
I am in Uganda about 5 months a year, bringing visitors to the projects, making payments and helping out where needed. The other 7 months I connect with donors around the world and make sure the operations run smoothly.
Thank you for your support! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us!
