Maria Prean, Vision for Africa Founder Who Supported Vulnerable Children, Dies at 87

What the report says

Dr. Maria Luise Prean, the Austrian missionary and founder of Vision for Africa International, has died at the age of 87, according to Nile Post. The article says she spent decades supporting orphans and vulnerable children in Uganda through an organisation that grew into a major provider of education and community assistance.

Vision for Africa International was founded in Germany in 2001 and later expanded into Uganda, where it established an administrative base in Kampala in 2002. Nile Post reports that its work developed to include schools, childcare facilities and other community programmes aimed at helping children and families who struggle with the cost of education and basic services.

Among the organisation’s institutions are Vision for Africa International Christian College in Mukono, opened in 2012, and Vision for Africa High School in Nakifuma, founded in 2019. The report says its programmes have supported thousands of children over the years, and that Prean’s efforts focused on improving access to schooling and better life prospects for disadvantaged young people.

Nile Post also notes that Uganda’s First Lady Janet Museveni praised Prean’s work in July 2024, and that a Vision for Africa official described her death as a major loss. Burial arrangements had not been announced at the time of publication, though she is expected to be laid to rest in Uganda.