Hi, my name is Lea Sophie Kabitzsch, I am 26 years old and I founded ULT together with my partner, Bonface Kangonga (introduction in the next newsletter). I live in Berlin and work full time for the association as a volunteer. On the side, I work as a web designer to finance my living, which, seriously, works so-so. ULT has grown into my heart’s work and it is difficult to manage other projects besides the association.
Team introduction - Lea
Here's what we've been thinking about: ULT (UNDER Lea's TRUST) has, thanks to your help and support, developed significantly since its foundation in 2021 and is growing steadily from day to day. In order to share this with you and to bring you up to date as transparently as possible on who is behind the name ``UNDER Lea's TRUST``, from now until the end of the year a member of our team will introduce themselves personally in each newsletter. We have come up with five questions that each member will answer. We will start with our founder and namesake Lea.
What are your tasks at ULT?
I run the German association and basically move around in every area of our association. My responsibilities range from sponsor acquisition and maintenance, to project management, accounting, marketing and much more. I also try to travel to Kenya at least once a year for a longer period of time and work closely with our Kenyan team and the children on site. In the last year I was able to build up a wonderful team in Germany, which supports me in the different areas and therefore I am able to focus more and more on the creative and sustainable development of the association.
Why did you found ULT?
I founded ULT, or started our work, when I was in Kenya myself in 2020 and saw the great need. I worked as a volunteer in the Soweto Youth Initiative, which does great work in the Soweto slum. They take care of the residents and have a big focus on supporting the children. Many of these children were not in school at the time because their parents could not afford the school fees. I personally felt it was very unfair, as I was allowed to enjoy a free education in Germany and these children had to play on the streets in the slum during the day, as their family’s financial resources were not enough. My motivation was awakened and I started the school sponsorship project. Now two years later, this is just one of our projects and our work extends to much more. The association became my life’s work and I cannot imagine a more beautiful job.
What was your favourite subject and what was your hate subject at school?
Even though I speak a lot of English today, I can say, funnily enough, that English (shortly before French) was my hate subject. I was never sure how to pronounce words correctly and had trouble concentrating in class. I can’t really pinpoint my favourite subject, more I had three favourite subjects. First, I was good at maths and always looked forward to that lesson. I also liked biology because I was very interested in the subject, even though I wasn’t very good at it. Sport was my passion. I went to a sports school in high school and the ambition and discipline I developed there still have a strong influence on my work in the club today.
Where do you see ULT in 5 years?
In five years, I would be very happy if we successfully run our school in Nairobi and by then we will be able to provide education for about 500 children through sponsorships. But I don’t just want to give the children a better education, I want to build a cultural bridge to other nationalities. Kenyan culture is so beautiful and I wish that in five years we could bring it closer to our sponsors.
Tell a funny/awkward/beautiful story from your school days.
In primary school we had an acting class and we performed the musical “Cats”. At that time I was very much into such acting roles and I took on the part of a (I’ll call it that) main cat. Her name was Demeter and to this day I am grateful that we sang playback. The whole thing was performed three times and there is an extremely (I think) embarrassing video recording of it.
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