Since I’ve been part of ULT from the start, I’ve been involved in almost every team over the years. Right now, I’m working on the annual report for our project “Daily School Meals for our Students”, which is supported by the Ein-Zehntel Foundation. At the same time, we’re preparing the follow-up application to make sure we can continue providing daily meals to our students next year.

Another big part of my work is being involved in several project teams focused on structure and strategy. Over time, we’ve also realized how important it is to have our own HR team, which I now lead. This means I’m closely involved in team communication, for example by moderating our monthly team meetings.

I also take care of our volunteers who travel to Kenya to support our local team. This usually starts with a video call where we get to know each other, answer open questions, and I try to prepare them as best as I can for their time on the ground. We stay in close contact until their arrival and support them with anything they might need.

I can only echo what my colleague Marina said in the previous newsletter: so much has happened at ULT over the past few years. Our team has grown, our structures have developed, and many things have become more professional. And still, at our core, we’ve stayed the same – a group of amazing young people, working together with open hearts, mutual respect, and incredible commitment toward a shared goal. That’s what makes working with ULT so special for me.

One of the biggest challenges, probably shared by many in our team, is balancing a full-time job with volunteering. I spend a lot of time in front of a screen at work, and when I come home, ULT tasks often pick up where the workday left off. There were phases where I had meetings or to-do lists four evenings a week, and there was barely any room for anything else. It definitely gave me square eyes.

It took a while to find a balance that works for me. These days, I set clearer boundaries – for example, I try to limit meetings to two evenings a week. Sometimes that means back-to-back calls, but overall it works really well. What keeps me motivated is knowing how meaningful our work is. I’ve had the chance to travel to Kenya several times and see the impact with my own eyes. It’s also been incredibly interesting to get to know the Kenyan way of working – even though, with limited vacation days, those visits can’t happen all the time.

One of the most emotional and defining projects for me was the purchase of the ULT Academy. When I was in Kenya with Marina in November 2024, we held countless conversations, negotiated agreements, drafted contracts, and managed the school purchase step by step. Looking back now, I still find it hard to believe what we accomplished together – as a team in Germany and in Kenya. What we built is something I’ll carry with me forever.