Uganda · under way

Medical and School Truck

Two vehicles that carry care to places no road reaches. Both are paid for. What is decided now is how often they roll out.

See the vehicles Where we stand
  • Purchase and conversion — largely funded
  • One medical truck, one school truck
  • Conversion finished — on their way to Uganda
The real problem

One is too far away. The other never comes at all.

There are schools in the region — and since March a kindergarten we built ourselves. But for the youngest, the way there is too long and too dangerous. And health care that comes to the village does not exist at all. Getting to a doctor costs a whole day. In the end, the people who need to get there simply stay home.

the last mile The village where the children live Clinic & school where the help waits
  • The villagewhere the children live
  • The last mileon foot, on dirt tracks
  • Clinic & schoolwhere the help waits
Care comes to the people

Until now a village has had to find its way into the health system. We turn the direction around: the medical truck stops where the families live — check-ups, vaccinations and medicine at their own door.

A school run that is safe

In July 2026, twenty schoolchildren and one adult died in eastern Uganda when their bus left the road and overturned (report). Our school truck is built for what counts as a road here: all-wheel-drive chassis, fixed benches, seat belts, a closed roof.

A pick-up service for the youngest

Fixed stops, fixed times, a fixed route plan. No child has to wait alone at the roadside, and no family has to weigh up in the morning whether the way is too far today.

The medical truck

Medicine that arrives

Imagine running a fever. Your child has been coughing for days. Or you are expecting a baby. The nearest doctor is hours away — and there is no way of getting there. No car. No road. No money. Only waiting, hoping, holding out.

That is where the medical truck comes in: a converted off-road vehicle that stops where there is otherwise no care at all. Examinations, medication, health advice, minor procedures — right in the village, on a fixed weekday, so people know when it comes.

No waiting room. No journey. No obstacle standing between a person and their treatment.

The medical truck opened up, fitted out for the Mityana region
Rendering of the planned interior

A piece of dignity on four wheels.

The school truck

Education needs wheels

In Uganda, getting to school usually means walking. Every day, in sun and in rain, for kilometres — even for the youngest.

A small van is already running. It was meant as a stopgap, and it behaves like one: too little room, too little safety, no good off-road. In the rainy season the school run turns into a test of nerve — tracks become slippery slopes, the van gets stuck or drops out altogether. And a child who is not picked up stays home that day.

The school truck replaces it: rugged, off-road capable, weatherproof, with room for everyone. A school bus you can count on in November too.

The Jona Foundation school truck on a dirt track near Mityana in the evening light
Rendering of the planned school truck
Filmed at the workshop in Willich
Built, not drawn

Here they are

Two Mercedes Arocs on all-wheel-drive chassis, built for roads without asphalt. One stands fully converted in the yard; next door the second chassis is up on the lift.

Up to this point the truck was an idea, a quote, a drawing. From here on it is a vehicle with number plates that simply has to get somewhere else.

Where the project stands

Where we stand

Most of it is behind us: both vehicles are built, converted and paid for. What remains is shipping, paperwork and the people who will drive them — and we show it step by step.

01

Vehicles acquired

Done

Two Mercedes Arocs on all-wheel-drive chassis. This was possible because Osterath in Willich pre-financed the vehicles — so we did not have to wait for the last donation to come in.

02

Conversion completed

Done

At Osterath, two chassis became a mobile surgery and a safe school bus: examination couch, medicine cabinet, water and power supply on one side — benches, seatbelts and a solid roof on the other.

03

Funding nearly complete

In progress

The larger part is in place. That was possible because Osterath pre-financed the purchase and the conversion — we did not have to wait for the last donation. For the remainder we are in the final conversations. What has already been spent is in the annual reports.

Your part

How far will you come along?

We do not count in donation tiers but in kilometres: your amount becomes distance, distance becomes village visits, village visits become children treated or driven to school. Move the slider.

Basis: running costs per kilometre including fuel, maintenance and tyres. The figures come from our project costing and are updated each year.

150Euro
300kilometres on dirt tracks
1village visits
45children reached
Fund this distance Talk first
Our answer

We turn the direction around

Instead of bringing people to care, we bring care to people. Two vehicles built for dirt tracks — here is what is inside them.

The school truck is a transport vehicle. Lessons happen at the school and the kindergarten, not on board.

01 02 03 04 05
Setting off

The engine is running. All that is missing is the distance.

Thank you for reading this far. You know how much it matters when help is there at the right moment — that is exactly what these two vehicles make possible, on every day they are out on the road.

Donate now Talk first
A laughing child from Mityana, Uganda
Two children arm in arm outside the kindergarten in Mityana
A girl in an orange dress in Mityana, Uganda