About Sopadad
Our story
„When I came to Uganda, I saw many kids suffering and I was very touched that these kids were not having anyone to take care of them.“ - Pauline Odee
At SOPADAD, we take care of orphans and vulnerable children whose parents are financially challenged, suffer from alcohol addiction or abuse them in different ways. These children often run away and have no possibility to continue their school education.
In the beginning of SOPADAD, Pauline and her husband Simon Peter took them into their own house until they had to expand due to the increasing number of children who need their help.
In 2023 they started building a house on their own land which they donated to SOPADAD. The children have moved into the house of love in 2024.
If the school fees can’t be paid immediately, the family takes on debts in order to provide the children the education they deserve.
When the children come back to the center from school, they are provided with projects, courses and guidance to an independent lifestyle while giving them the care a child needs.
Who we are
We are a team of change-makers who believe that every helping hand can raise a child and create a better future for them.
Pauline started SOPADAD in 2007 with the support of Rosa Weigl by giving children the opportunity to go to school who otherwise couldn’t. While raising her own 5 children, she and her husband took more and more children into their home who had lost hope, giving them a new perspective and a safe place.
Margret was one of the first beneficiaries who Pauline supported and who she took to school. Now, she is a secondary school teacher and lives in the SOPADAD residential house completed in 2024 where she takes care of the children.
Sophia is a primary school teacher who supports financially challenged students through providing education. She lives at the SOPADAD residential house as well, takes care of the children and offers additional courses.
Our approach
Our Mission
Our mission is to make sure all young people and children get all the support they need, when they need it, no matter what it is.
Whether it is a reassuring conversation, financial help, education, professional training, or simply the assurance that they are loved and accepted, we will make sure that everyone gets support that meets them where they are whenever they need it.
Our Vision
We want to build a world where every child or youth feels loved, accepted and gets every possible help they need.
Our entire team wants to see a world where every child struggling in any way feels able to reach out, maximize their potential and has people who’ll help them with education, jobs, and more.
Our stories that speak
Emmanuel is with us since September after he lived on the streets by himself since he was four years old. Back then, he ran away as a half-orphan from a broken family.
Now, we go along with him in his healing process, witness how he gains back trust in a loving environment and help him begin his education so he can start school next year.
When Ekosile Simon Peter‘s wife died in 2010, he was left without work and with seven children to feed in a village in the east of Uganda. Pauline and her husband Simon invited him to live in their house in Emmaus Centre in the more stable central region where he was able to find a job.
When Pauline and her husband found a kind donor from Switzerland, Ekosile was able to build a house big enough to bring his children from the village to their new home. That way, he did not need to spent his money for rent but could send his children to school.
With an additional donation, his daughter could even go to university and fulfil her dream of becoming a nurse. She now, works at a nearby hospital and started her own family who she is able to support.
Unfortunately, now that all of his younger children go to school, the school fees sum up and can not be paid with Ekosile‘s small income.
Even though Ekosile is in a better situation now and can nourish his family, every new year is a struggle for him.
We want to help and are confident that if we all work together, generation for generation will live a better life.
We are partnered up with Feed the Hungry Deutschland who kindly support us in terms of our donations and give out donation certificates.
Feed the hungry Stiftung
IBAN: DE84 5519 0000 0844 1050 15
BIC: MVBMDE55XXX
Payment reference: Sopadad / … (ad the intended use here)