It is May 2004 when the chairman and the secretary of CCP Netherlands, together with laptop with Powerpoint, enter the living room of the Luyt family in Terbregge. Present were Anneke and her parents and siblings and some board members of the newly Hans van Bokkem foundation. Through the church that Anneke attended, one of our board members was brought in contact with her and Anneke had shown much interest in CCP’s plans for a technical school in Uganda.

The match came soon and it became clear that Anneke and her foundation wanted to build this school. The condition was that the school would 100% be funded by them and would carry the name of her beloved late husband Hans van Bokkem.

The school was built in 2004 and symbolically opened by Anneke by the planting of a tree. Several times Anneke travelled with us and time and again we were surprised by her detailed involvement in the goings-on of the school. She didn’t like being in the spotlight, so when you were looking for Anneke during a graduation ceremony with 1000 guests, she sat quietly in an office assembling the tool packages for the graduates. Over the years, the school was expanded, but not before Anneke had discussed all the details of the blueprint with the architect.

Her attention to details was something our Ugandan partners sometimes had to get used to. When Anneke came to visit, everyone was working hard to remove stains from the doors, whiten walls and sometimes even provide the roof slabs with a fresh coat of paint. Something that hadn’t been seen before.

Through Anneke’s feeling for detail and beauty, the Hans van Bokkem School in Mbale after 16 years still is an example for many other schools in Uganda. Anneke’s friendly and professional view is and shall also badly be missed in Uganda. The staff has promised to ensure that in future this school shall continue to bear the name of Hans van Bokkem with honour. Besides Anneke’s work, commitment and love, we will miss her warm friendship and dedication!

Fred Meijer,
Chair CCP Netherlands