The name of María (Boadilla del Monte, Madrid, 7-11-1996) It sounds about 50 times a day in the alleys of Kikaya (Uganda), a town of about 3,000 people who survive on ‘posho’ – a mixture of flour and water, rice and peas and little hope that the smallest of the place they can carve out a minimally decent future.
“It is a village 30 kilometers from Kampala isolated by Lake Victoria from the capital of Uganda,” explains María Galán, the only white one in the place where the little ones have found a door of illusion to reach adults.
He has 32 ‘children’ in his orphanage Kikaya House, a home for children between one and 16 years old that she has lovingly run since 2020 The coronavirus pandemic made him see that his life is no longer in Spain. “I am not considering leaving my children under any circumstances,” says this 26-year-old girl who gave up the job opportunities offered by her career in Economics and International Business to dedicate himself body and soul to this humanitarian project that his mother launched years before, ‘Babies Uganda’, where he accumulates more than a million followers on his Instagram account that help finance these solidarity initiatives.
“I went in 2020 to do a three-month internship at the orphanage, But I was trapped for six months due to the coronavirus,” remember. Already in 2021 she decided to settle permanently in Uganda because “I never wanted to be separated from my children again,” she adds. Next to her, in the distance, is her boyfriend who supports her at all times. “I couldn’t have someone next to me who didn’t share this love I feel for children,” he explains. Along the way, in addition to joys and fatigues, María Galán has caught malaria twice and typhoid fever almost 10 times. “It’s normal,” she says without giving herself any importance and still surprised when they stop her in the streets of Madrid to congratulate her for her dedication to the Kikaya community.
Adequate nutrition so that children grow strong and healthy
The children of Kikaya House grow up surrounded by love and with luxury food in those parts of the poorest Africa. “Almost everyone lacks nutrients, but here they eat meat, chicken, fish, vegetables and fruits every week,” she says, delighted that when her boyfriend travels to Uganda he helps her prepare special Spanish recipes on Sundays. “They even have snacks here,” emphasizes María Galán by launching his book ‘Life of Sami’ to raise more funds for ‘Babies Uganda’.
In 2012, his mother, Montserrat Martínez, and her friend, Maribel Garcíathey prevented that another orphanage be closed where 38 children now reside. “Then we opened our Kikaya House where the children live until they want to leave,” he explains while remembering that they also manage a nursery and primary school for 650 children, a clinic that serves 1,000 locals a month and a school for blind children where 52 children already reside. “Having a disability in Africa is a taboo subject and children hide it,” says María Galán, who travels to Spain three times a year to disconnect from a titanic job which begins every day before 8 in the morning.
“At that time I attend to everything that has to do with social networks,” he continues. From nine in the morning to nine at night there is not a single free minute: classes start at nine, At one o’clock food is served and at six o’clock in the afternoon the baths begin so that they can have dinner at seven o’clock and go at eight o’clock to put this army of children to bed.
“Now we are also teaching them to swim because in Africa “People are very afraid of water,” María celebrates as she looks enthralled at Dudu’s photo, a little girl with down syndrome who rescued from the streets of Kikaya and now lives happily with the rest of his ‘brothers’ under the attentive and loving gaze of his ‘mother’ María.
Campaign with Ibex-35 companies
María Galán’s NGO has now sent a burofax to the Ibex-35 companies to invite you to support the projects it develops in the African country to help children and families. This is a campaign to mobilize solidarity: “some very particular Kings: the Ibex-35 companies and the large companies of this country”. The objective is to obtain donations with the purpose of consolidatingry grow the projects that the NGO develops on the ground to continue helping thousands of orphaned or abandoned Ugandan children.
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With the funds raised from ‘sponsors’ and companies, María Galán plans to open another school for secondary school children in February and a residence for children with disabilities.
“There is nothing that can make me happier,” she insists, convinced. “The affection I receive from the children is that extra satisfaction that makes you forget any sacrifice,” he concludes.