On 26th and 27th of November we were able to organise our second major update event this year in Kenya. Our local team had already been working hard on the preparations in the days leading up to the event. Many volunteers were on site, including Annika and Marina. We were also supported on the day by SYI, our partner organisation. The update events are essential for our sponsorship updates due to the large number of children we now support. However, we used the event for much more: Five extensive stations awaited the children and young people. On the first day, the primary school pupils came to us, followed by the secondary school pupils on the second day. 

But first they came to the starting point: registration. This was very extensive and very time-consuming. The sponsored children came to the meeting point together with their parents or guardians on the day and brought important documents with them, including their birth certificate and school reports. Every year, we obtain a written declaration of consent from the legal guardians that their children are part of ULT. We did this directly at this station. At the end, they received a slip of paper listing all five stations. 

The first station was our colouring and letter station. Here they could write and/or draw letters to their godparents. Annika and Marina then took these and uploaded them directly to our Google Drive folder. 

At the second station, we were able to learn a lot for our future way of working. Here we took a lot of time for the sixth form students and talked to them about their grades. What went well, what went badly and why. We quickly realised that many young people struggle with anxiety, so we are now thinking about how we can also provide support for the mental health of our children. 

The third station was the photo station. A Christmas picture was taken of each child to create a Christmas greeting for the godparents. Once again, we were able to take such great pictures. These were then uploaded to our Google Drive by the Kenyan team and could be further processed from there by our German update team. In addition to our annual Christmas updates, which the sponsors receive from the children, we were also able to record some interim updates and thank you updates for the new sponsorships. 

At the fourth station, they were then measured for their new school uniforms, which they will receive from us in January, just in time for the new school year. 

Finally, each child was able to pick up a packet of flour at the last, our fifth station. 

Two exciting and exhausting days lay behind our entire Kenyan team. 

Then the work in the German team could start and they had a lot to do since the event. Every folder had to be sifted through, every Christmas update written and planned for Christmas on Brevo. Due to the large number of updates, the team could not plan all of them specifically for 24 December (our email tool has a limit in this regard), but had to save many as drafts and then send them manually over Christmas. So if your update arrived a few days late, you now know why – this is where we reach our logistical limits. The update team had a lot to do in December to ensure that everything was ready in time for Christmas – many thanks to this great team for their fantastic work!