Jane - A Story of Hope

I met Jane in March 2021, during my first trip to Uganda. After spending a few weeks in the country, we heard one day about an elderly woman in the neighboring village who was said to have passed away. Not long after, it turned out to be a false alarm — the woman was still alive. We decided to visit, thinking we might be able to help in some way.

The house was almost empty. Only a mattress lay in the corner, half-covered by a drooping mosquito net. Sitting on the floor was Jane — twelve years old at the time.

She lived alone with her grandmother. Her father was struggling with alcoholism, and her mother had cut off all contact and has since passed away.

So Jane was left alone with her grandmother. But when Jane was just nine years old, her grandmother became seriously ill. She was suffering from advanced-stage AIDS, could no longer work, and was permanently weakened.

At the age of 9, Jane dropped out of school to care for her grandmother. She bathed her, looked after her, cooked, and worked in neighbors’ fields to earn a little money. Often, she wouldn’t eat anything herself. After three years, her grandmother’s condition worsened drastically: in the final three months, she was completely bedridden, barely able to eat or keep down medication. On the day we heard about her, she suffered a circulatory collapse and lost consciousness. When she didn’t respond to Jane’s voice, the girl panicked and assumed she had died. But after a while, the grandmother regained consciousness.

We racked our brains trying to figure out how we could help the young girl and her grandmother. The woman was so weak that the hours-long drive over bumpy roads to the nearest hospital wasn’t an option. So we decided to first try to build her strength back up.

The next day, we took Jane to a small day clinic to test whether she was also HIV-positive — thank God, the test came back negative. I spoke with her, and since I was planning to travel to the capital, Kampala, the next day, I asked her if there was anything I could bring her. After thinking for a long time, the girl — who owned little more than the clothes on her back — came up with just one request: soap, so she could wash her grandmother’s clothes more thoroughly.

I left Jane five euros (about 20,000 Ugandan shillings), enough for a few days’ worth of food, and traveled to the capital. While I was away, her grandmother passed away. Jane was devastated. She collapsed several times during the funeral. Later, we learned that she had used part of the money to buy clean underwear for her grandmother — so she could be buried with dignity. The rest she had saved.

Since no one in her family was willing to take responsibility for Jane, she was left completely on her own. I decided to become her sponsor and cover her school fees so that she could move into a boarding school. For the first time in her life, she was in a safe place, sleeping in a real bed, knowing she would receive three meals a day and have access to education.

At the time, I was still in Uganda and was able to witness how Jane changed within just a few weeks. Even though she continued to grieve her loss, she slowly began to experience what it means to just be a child. She was allowed to learn, to dream, to laugh. I took a photo of her just a few weeks after she moved into the boarding school — and I will never forget the smile on her face.

Today, Jane attends the first year of secondary school (Senior One). She has hope — and plans for her future.

This encounter touched me deeply. When I returned to Germany, I couldn’t stop thinking about her story. And she wasn’t the only one. I met other children facing similarly difficult circumstances. I began sharing their stories with friends and acquaintances — and more and more people wanted to help. What started as something small eventually grew into United Children Africa.

Jane in March 2025, four years after our first encounter: