News3

Wrong Here you can find al news about our actions and progress in Uganda and Belgium.

Here you can find al news about our actions and progress in Uganda and Belgium.

10/07/2020: The way to the school and health care centre is improved.

08/07/2020: The city of Antwerp acknowledges our work and support it with €5000 for the further development of the Mama Sabina Health Care Centre.

05/07/2020: ERUDEC, Ekisande Rural Development Center, which is the local team and owner of all the local projects, investigates the option to purchase extra land for Mama Sabina.

03/07/2020: In spite of the corona measures, the work at the latrines of Virgo Maria is going well. We have foreseen separate buildings for males and females. The classes also get new doors.

30/06/2020: Mama Sabina welcomes the first patients who stay overnight. They receive good care by our nurse.

09/06/2020: On top of the corona crisis, Bwera needs to cope with another disaster: excessive rainfall has caused floods from the water coming from the nearby Rwenzori Mountains.

14/05/2020: We sell summer wines for warm days. The wine is generally approved by everybody.

14/05/2020: The young girls from the village receive health education and get free hygienic towels.

29/04/2020: A sea container full of medical supplies has arrived in Uganda, a gift from Supplies Over Seas.

20/04/2020: The corona measures make life very difficult in Uganda. People are not allowed to go outdoors, which make them starve as they cannot go out for work and grow food. Ekisande Belgium vzw’s main goal is to invest in infrastructure to have a lasting impact on the local community. But the need is high, that is why we donate €1000 emergency relief for food, sowing seeds and soap.

18/04/2020: Ekisande sends our president on his bike to thank all our monthly sponsors personally.

15/04/2020: Ekisande Belgium vzw holds its yearly general assemblee.

  • Income / expenditure
    • Account Ekisande Belgium vzw
      • Income 2019: €29020,62
      • Expenditure 2019: €26956,87
      • Transfer to 2020: €2063,57
      • Income 2020: €14656,24
      • Expenditure 2020: €9178,85
      • Balance 15/04/2020: €5477,39
    • Project account King Boudewijn Foundation (KBS)
      • Income since April 2019: €6214,50
      • Expenditure:
        • €500 KBS contribution
        • €2300 second building Virgo Maria
      • Balance on the KBS: €3414,50
    • Transfers ERUDEC
      • Total Ekisande: €21804 – in 2019: €15779 – in 2020: €5000
      • Total since the start: €63580

22/02/2020: A water well is drilled at Mama Sabina. This is done in a very traditional fashion, which makes usability for drinking water questionable. But this water can always be used for crops, cattle, showering, washing the dishes, cleaning and flushing.

21/02/2020: Ekisande Belgium vzw sends €2000 for the wages of the teachers and to buy school benches.

19/02/2020: The school buildings have received a kitchen garden and a fence.

17/02/2020: Another set of photos from the terrain. Mama Sabina, the health care centre, and Virgo Maria, the primary school, is also used as a gathering place for the local community. Both need clean water and electricity. We are working on it.

15/02/2020: Virgo Maria, our school, has started with extra toilets (latrines) and school benches.

31/01/2020: The profit from the “Warmste Week” is €5812,69. Thank you everybody.

09/01/2020: Apart from the Warmest Week, all other New Year’s gifts are hart warming. De company where Jan works Verhaert Masters in Innovation, is the champion.

29/11/2019: Ekisande raffles a coupon to eat at the Lewis restaurant on Instagram

19/11/2019: Emma Verhas and Pauline Verbeke, the two students who went to help locally, are selling tote bags for the WW.

6/11/2019: Ekisande sells the Warmest Champagne – served chilled in the frame of the Warmest Week. There is also the Warmest Soup, the Warmest Collect Jar.

25/10/2019: Dirk visits the congress “Investing in people, by investing in higher education and skills in Africa” for cooperation between European universities & colleges and partners in the Global South.

17/10/2019: Fr. Tom publishes a book. Bishop Kiiza Thomas Sibayirwa Changed Our Lives: Stories to Inspire You to Respond to Your Calling (Greatness Series) Paperback – 12 Oct 2019 by Dr Patrick Businge (Author)

11/10/2019: Dirk visits the Global Minds congress for cooperation between Flemish Universities of Applied Sciences and partners in the Global South.

07/10/2019: Ekisande Belgium vzw is one of the good causes of the Warmest Week from StuBru, national radio

28/09/2019: Antoon & Beate, two Ekisande enthusiasts, organize an marvellous auction for the good cause. A lot of atmosphere a lot of profit.

14-31/08/2019: Greet & Dirk visit Tanzania in the frame of the ACTEA project, with colleagues from other higher educational institutes. Dirk continues his journey to Uganda and also visits Ekisande Rural Development Center in Uganda. It was an intense trip, with very strong impressions.

07/08/2019: Construction is going on well.

  • Mama Sabina 1
  • Mama Sabina 2
  • Mama Sabina 3
  • Mama Sabina 4
  • Virgo Maria 1
  • Virgo Maria 2
  • Virgo Maria 2
  • Virgo Maria 3
  • Virgo Maria 4
  • VAMCAST

31/07/2019: Ekisande Belgium vzw receives €5000 from the city of Antwerp for the conversion of Mama Sabina Health Care Center. The design is from the hand of Emma Verhas, Pauline Verbeke & Ying Liu of the bachelor and post graduate Space & Service Design of Thomas More University of Applied Sciences.

15/06/2019: ERUDEC (Ekisande Rural Development Center) welcomes a Canadian delegation. They sponsor 3 class rooms (left on the photo).

15/06/2019: VAMCAST is building new building on land owned by fr. Tom. A fresh start!

10/05/2019: Dirk can once again receive a cheque from Virgo Maria in Merksem. Kindergarten and school children, teachers and parents again have done their best this year. What a boost for the local construction works!

03/05/2019: Water Step (www.waterstep.org), an NGO in the US supports Ekisande Rural Development Centre with equipment for clean and safe water, worth $7700. Thank you for much, everyting start with good health and good health starts with clean water.

01/04/2019: Fr. Tom is on a trip in the US to seek support for our projects. He founded a “Ekisande US” in Warsaw – Indiana to streamline all local initiatives.

His input:
“My visit to USA is going on well.
We have a container of medical equipment and supplies that will be shipped early April to Mama Sabina Community Health Centre. The supplies are free donations and the shipping cost has been paid by a church in Kentucky, USA.

I also talked at two schools-The children from the two schools are collecting learning items for me to carry to Uganda.

Thank you so much.”

15/03/2019: Dirk presents the achievements and plans of the project at Virgo Maria in Merksem (Belgium). Marie (daughter of Dirk) is the photographer.

08/03/2019: Due to payment problems to the owner, VAMCAST is evicted from the building. We are looking for a temporary solution for students & teachers.

08/03/2019: Students Pauline & Emma are working a day at Virgo Maria. Due to the amount of students, 300 at the moment, we have provide provisional classes.

03/05/2019: Ekisande Belgium vzw is approved at the King Boudewijn Foundation for a project account for all construction works. This means we can grant tax certificates to our sponsors, so they can deduct their contribution from their taxes.

30-31/01/2019: Kick-Off meeting van het ACTEA project.

18/01/2019: Project presentations of the students bachelor and post graduate Space & Service Design from Thomas More University of Applied Sciences.

Designs by the following students: Jack Sun / Sven Huysmans / Jelke Maes / Goran Nad / Cato Van Liefferinge / Charline Van Ocken / Sonja Huybrechts / Kaat Broeckx / Rose Kendall / Caroline De Queker / Jimena Pasella /Lotte Van Giel/ Bram Vanden Eynden / Karline Biscop / Carlos Martinez / Minka Pelkmans / Béatrice Guillaume / Marieke Evans / Esther Broeksteeg / Kato Van Mol / Pauline Verbeke / Emma Verhas / Ying Liu / Janao Denys / Marina Danielyan / Louise Feyen / Céline Liekens / Armen Harutyunyan / Mengyan Guo

04/12/2018: Students of the bachelor and the postgraduate Space & Service Design  develop the the public service and design the functional spaces of the Mama Sabina Health Care Center. 

05-17/11/2018: Fr. Tom is on an inspirational visit in Belgium. He visits the Artesis Plantijn University College, Thomas More University of Applied Sciences, Virgo Maria primary and kindergarten school in Merksem, Sint Lucia primary school in Oelegem, Gitok in Kalmthout technical secondary education. He is VIP guest at the Technical Education Conference in the PSV Eindhoven Football Stadium. He visits our partners in Zwolle and Amsterdam, acquaintances in Blankenberge and Brussels. He visits the refugee centre in Arendonk and meets with Ekisande Belgium vzw. During that period he is guest at the home of Greet & Dirk and gives and international interview to Dr. Patrick Businge from London, from the kitchen. A full schedule and a excellent opportunity to get to know each other better. We should be glad with Fr. Tom as the leader in Uganda. This way things definitely move in the right direction.

03/11/2018: Van Merode Vocational Training College in Bwera, Uganda becomes of the Van Doorne Foundation in the Netherlands. http://www.vandoornstichting.com/projects/what-has-been-achieved/van-merode-vocational-training-college-in-bwera-uganda?fbclid=IwAR0-SWAxkOxV0Dbol8Hne8nab22V9rC9sTHu2EScBMK7MoedHMLw3Thdc5k

30/10/2018: Ekisande Belgum vzw is member at Trooper. You can d your online shopping through https://www.trooper.be/ekisande. With having to spend extra money, you can collect money for the good cause, for our non-profit organisation.

05/11/2018: Fr. Tom receives a award for his humanitarian work  Manchester: The Global Award As A “Distinguished Fellow” of The Order of St.Hadrian of Canterbury.

24/10/2018: ACTEA – Applied Curricula in Technology for East Africa is officially handed over to the AP University College in Antwerp. This is an  Erasmus+ KA2 Capacity Building in Higher Education (CBHE) project, in which a consortium of European and African partners will develop a new technology curriculum for 6 universities in Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania, supported with the proper educational lab equipment. To do this we received €1 million of the European Union. 
Van Merode College of Applied Sciences and Technology is involved as  associated partner. This means that the teachers will receive training in industrial electricity automation and renewable energy, free of charge in train-the-trainer sessions.

30/09/2018: The website is online.

12/09/2018: Out Jan sells home-made hot sauce. The profit goes to the school in Uganda. Very tasty…

07/09/2018: The account of the Belgian non-profit organization is opened: BE33 0689 1089 0146

23/08/2018: The construction of the new school building at the Campus Virgo Maria is started. This expansion is needed because we host about 450 students. As we own our own buildings we can ask for additional support from the Ugandan government.

20/07/2018: Yong girls receive sexual education. Young mothers get sessions about parenthood.

01/06/2018: Ekisande Belgium vzw has started.
Our Belgian registration number: 0696991421