Thomas Langsch

Thomas Langsch, born on 28 June 1954 in Fulda, is a graduate theologian and has been working as a vocational schoolteacher in Catholic Religion and German since 1980. Until August 2008 he taught the trainees for printing, media design and bookbinding, since then he has been working at the vocational school for electrical installation and building technicians.

Thomas Langsch is married to Renate Blank. He has two adult sons from his first marriage.

He met Emmanuel Musoke in his work as a teacher, who was his student in vocational training as a printer from 1992 to 1995. A close friendship soon developed between the two, which continued even after Emmanuel completed his education and returned to Uganda.

Starting in the school year 2000/01, Thomas Langsch, together with some colleagues, began to collect the empty bottles that the students left around the school and to pass on the deposit money to Emmanuel. Already in July 2001 the first 900 German Marks were handed over to Emmanuel and Goretti when they visited Germany. Since then, this bottle deposit project has grown continuously. The deposit, but above all the many donations, made it possible for a total of around 40,000 € to be donated to Uganda by 2009.

Visiting Emmanuel and Goretti in Uganda in 2006 was a tremendously strong emotional drive for Thomas Langsch to expand the activities he had started. Together with his wife, friends, and relatives, he founded the Association “Hand in Hand für Uganda e.V.” in 2009 and has been running it ever since.

In 2009, he switched to the vocational school for electrical installation and building technology. There he is mainly responsible for organizing the bottle collection project. In this way, good financial support for the Association's work has been achieved so far.