ASSOCIATION BOARD MEMBERS
President
Gerfried Kroeger works for Hewlett Packard Enterprise in Germany as Channel Development Manager in the Worldwide Distribution organization. Between 2010 and 2015 he led a social responsibility project for the Distribution organization of HP in cooperation with SOS Children’s Villages to collect funding for 1 house in a village in Kamp Portal in Uganda. Leveraging multiple donation generation activities within Hewlett Packard and also with Partners and customers, in the end 135.000USD were collected to complete the project. When the house was dedicated in Nov-2015 with a visit, Gerfried and his team “stumbled” across their next project, when they took a boat tour on Lake Bunyonyi and visited the Island School for the first time.
Vice-President
Sabine Single worked for Hewlett-Packard for 28 years, holding different management positions in different Business units of the organization. 2017 til 2022 she held the General Manager Position of Bechtle Hosting & Operations, a company within the Bechtle Group. Since 2022 Sabine started her own company Consulting & Business Coaching and acting as board member in different Companies. Sabine has been volunteering her time to many different social projects over many years. Between 2010 and 2015 she was an essential part of the SOS children's Village project with the responsibility of conceptualizing and implementing the project. As a side job, Sabine freelances in "Single-Art"-Paintings and Workshops. She is also the Publishing Author of the book "Lebensträume" (ISBN:978-3-941221-05-5
Treasurer
Volker Jaksch completed his university as a civil engineer and can show the respective work experience in the industry, including 14 years within the Hewlett-Packard Organization, where he collected several years of sales experience. As of 2016, he leads a sound therapist center, in which he is self-employed. Volker has been part of many different social projects. He has been volunteering as a treasurer for the local dance club "TSC Rot Weiss" in Böblingen for several years and was an essential part of the SOS children's village project.
Secretary
Cecile Giraud worked for 12 years at Hewlett-Packard in Geneva, Switzerland, and became involved in the last phase of the social project that her teammates initiated in 2011 with SOS Children Villages, helping fund the building of a house in Fort Portal, Uganda. Besides a Master’s Degree in Business Studies from the University of Jean Moulin, Lyon, France, Cecile recently obtained a diploma in International Organizations Management from the University of Geneva. Her primary interest in working in the field of sustainable development turned into a new career path beginning of 2018 when she joined the International Organization for Standardization. “The positive impact of standards on international relations and on economic, social and environmental development is tremendous.“ A big fan of the Sustainable Development Goals’ initiative launched by the UN (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org), Cecile is very excited to make the Musana Ferry Project a real life-changing modus operandi for the children around Lake Bunyonyi.
LOCAL PARTNER
Denis
Denis Maniragaba has worked as a private science teacher (Chemistry & Biology) in various schools surrounding lake Bunyonyi for 12 years. He is a young generation role model and a mentor in the sub region. His basic works is towards community development through education and environmental sustainability practices. He is the President of Lake Bunyonyi Community and Island School Association since 2015, a community based organisation in the same region. Denis graduated from Kabale University in Environmental Science in 2016, which has enabled him to tackle environment challenges affecting the area and therefore improve resilience and adaptation. He has coordinated donations towards the refurbishing of about 100 years old dilapidated structures of asbestos on Bwarma Island, Lake Bunyonyi Secondary School, while collaborating with Belgium people since 2017. In addition, he has collaborated with the international community to sponsor different abandoned children, pupils and students from marginalised and disadvantaged families in various schools in Uganda. In 2015 he met Gerfried, Sabine, Volker, Cecile and Marc Deby, from where the idea of Musana Ferry germinated to present. This connection has helped in financing the school with solar systems that has enabled the school in lighting , providing charging cables, supporting all school going children with scholastic materials, back packs, mobile solar lighting and many stuffs in general. He has also coordinated exchange visits with other schools from USA and Slovenia to the school.
BOAT ENGINEERING
Tim
Tim Schuette joined the Musana Ferry project in the second batch while enrolled at the partner university of applied sciences Emden/Leer. As a team member of the universities Solar Boat Racing Team he is part of the engineering team of Musana Ferry since 2018. He topped off his university degree with his master's thesis designing the ferry with overall calculation and construction. In his professional career, he remains loyal to ships with working for BRIESE Research company. Employed as a junior superintendent he is managing the technical operations, dry dock planning and execution of the German research vessels.
Henrik
Henrik Richter-Alten is a naval architect at Hochschule Emden-Leer and Fraunhofer IWES, specializing in low-carbon solutions for the maritime sector. As one of the members of the engineering team, he has been involved since its inception in 2016/17. Henrik conducted the first feasibility study at Lake Bunyonyi and developed the initial concept design, laying the foundation for the project. His expertise extends beyond ship design—he actively works as a consultant on climate justice and international cooperation initiatives. From early design stages to on-the-ground implementation, Henrik has played a key role in driving the Musana Ferry forward, ensuring a sustainable and innovative approach to water transport.
Christian
Christian Arriens is part of a research group at the University of Applied Sciences Kiel, specializing in the development of power modules. As a core member of the Solarboat Team at the University of Applied Sciences Emden/Leer, he traveled with Henrik to Lake Bunyonyi in 2017 to conduct an initial feasibility study, which later became the foundation for Henrik’s bachelor thesis on the Musana Ferry. With expertise in renewable energy and electrical engineering, Christian played a key role in the engineering and development of the Musana Solar Ferry. Beyond this project, he has been actively involved in international cooperation initiatives in the Marshall Islands, focusing on reducing carbon emissions in the maritime sector.
Daniel
Daniel has been a student of the university of applied sciences Emden/Leer. He joined the Musana Ferry Team in 2018 and laid the groundwork for the concept of knowledge transfer within his bachelor thesis and has been contributing to the project since. In 2013 he did a 10 month voluntary service for the Red Cross in Uganda and has subsequently been active in another organization, supporting street connected children in three Ugandan cities. Professionally he is now working as an application manager for a software developing company.
Anneke
Anneke has been a member of the Musana Ferry team since 2021. The contact came about through the solar boat team at Emden/Leer University of Applied Sciences. In 2022, Anneke completed her mechanical engineering studies with her master's thesis in collaboration with Musana Ferry. She developed a concept for knowledge transfer and designed experimental kits for students. Now she supports the engineering team and helps with manufacturing. Anneke is also professionally involved in sustainability. She works in the environmental and energy management department of an automotive manufacturer.
Public Relations
Jana
Jana joined the project in 2018. She created the website during her first internship within the DualStudy program of Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Now working as an AI Consultant at HPE, she continues to support with website maintenance, social media activities and communication initiatives.
Sophie
Sophie Reißfelder joined the team of Musana Ferry in 2022, documenting the project on film and taking care of social media content.
She works as a cinematographer, director, photographer and
media artist. In autumn 2024 she graduated with a diploma in media art with a focus on cinema from the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design. In her artistic work, she does not commit herself to one genre, so it can be fictional, documentary, essayistic or even installative.
She is one of the founding members of the media art initiative Lichtspielsauna e.V., which was founded in Karlsruhe in 2023 to support and network independent film productions, performance and media art.
Yaël
Yaël Kolb joined the Musana Ferry team in 2022. He documents the progress of the project and creates photo and video material for social media, website and fundraising events.
He began his diploma studies in media art at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design in autumn 2016, where he expanded his experience in film and photography, as well as in interior design and stage design. As part of his studies, he realised numerous projects, including 2 documentary films and a photo documentary. Since 2019, Yaël Kolb has been increasingly working independently in the art and media sector. He is also the treasurer of ‘Kino im Blauen Salon e.V.’, which brings high-quality analogue films to a local audience.