If you can spare a month or 2, The Real Uganda will find you volunteer work with projects based in Mukono Town and within nearby villages. The organizations we work with provide primary and secondary education to needy children, youth mentoring, community outreach and counseling. Please read ahead about the various types of the programs you can join.
All
of our partner organizations need volunteers who can bring new ideas, work with
minimal supervision, and have a positive, self-starting attitude. The
organizations we work with do not need just young volunteers, but older people
with business skills and experience. They need those who can sort out bookwork
and apply for grants. Just as these organizations try to help all members of
society, they need all ages of volunteers to help them function.
Basically, you need to decide if you want to live in a town with a bunch of other volunteers or if you want to be more fully immersed and spend your time living and working in the village!
MUKONO
TOWN PROJECTS:
There
are many private schools in Uganda that educate, house and feed needy children
and orphans. You can teach primary classes, including academic subjects and life
skills, and organize sport and art activities for the children. Let us know what
you’re interested in teaching and we’ll get you into the best school for
you. School terms vary annually but are likely to be: Feb 1 to April 15, May 20
to August 20, Sept 20 to November 30. We also work with village-based boarding
schools. So, don’t feel limited to Mukono town!
Teaching needy and orphaned kids has serious challenges and needs volunteers who are open to local teaching methods but still able to bring creativity and fun into the classroom. You are the outside world to these kids. Schools have a basic curriculum, but you’ll be planning your own lessons daily. Know that traditional education in Uganda is based on memorization and passing exams. While there is a language barrier, by volunteering you can introduce creative writing, drawing, debate, and life skills into the classroom.
However, if you’re into something a little less structured that includes camping out and mentoring youth around the campfire, perhaps you’d like to work with a Mukono based youth group. We work with an organization that promotes the voluntary spirit in Uganda. You would work alongside Ugandan volunteers (youth aged 17 – 27) in programs directly benefiting local communities all over the District. Expect to take part in an ever changing schedule made up of public speaking and mentoring youth and youth leaders respecting HIV/AIDS, public health/hygiene, family planning, condom use/distribution, and creativity workshops promoting small business generation, the importance of basic education, and women’s rights and empowerment. Bring camping gear to get the most of this program.
All volunteers based in Mukono Town (up to 5 at one time) will live together in a large flat. Esther is there to take care of you. Moses is there to keep you clean. The building is within a locked compound, with an indoor (bucket) shower and an outdoor latrine. There is no running water, but Moses takes care of that. There is a gas cooker and Esther will cook for you, but you can always help out and cook for her. You will be given 3 meals of local Ugandan food per day. This consists of matooke (mashed plantain), potatoes and rice. Since we have so many vegetarians in our midst, we generally serve these with beans or peas. You’ll be happy to get chicken or meat once a week. Bread, eggs and fruits are served at breakfast.
VILLAGE
PROJECTS:
The
Real Uganda also places volunteers with a number of small community based
organizations that provide counseling, care, and education for rural people and
orphaned and underprivileged children. Each of these placements is located in a
village setting within Mukono District.
Each village placement provides a totally different experience, but main activities involve working with local children and youth. You can decide if you want to teach nursery, primary, secondary, and vocational education or if you want to be involved in a more free form work arrangement placed with an organization that provides community outreach services.
Since teaching placements have been described above we won’t dwell on them here. But you should know that you’ll living at your school. You’ll have the opportunity to really get to know your kids as many of them also live at your school.
As far as community outreach activities are concerned you’ll have to decide just what you’re into. We work with organizations that provide health care, HIV/AIDS prevention and AIDS care, counseling, youth mentoring, women’s rights education, and small business development. Let us know and we’ll figure out a good placement for your skills and interests.
A village placement is appropriate for you if you have great ideas and a seriously flexible nature. Expect your schedule to change daily with no notice. Expect big cockroaches in the latrines. Expect to have time to relax. Expect to become a part of the village forever.
Each village based organization will house you and feed you. They will fetch your water and wash your clothes. They will love you and take you places. Your village home will be secure enough for your stuff, but won’t have running water or very much electricity. Your toilet and (bucket) shower will be outside (but fully enclosed). Your food will be local Uganda food, but will be served at weird times. You are welcome to come and stay in the Mukono town flat with the other volunteers on the weekends. You will need to defrag with those like you.
ABOUT
MUKONO TOWN
Whether
you volunteer in Mukono town or in a village, you’ll likely use Mukono town as
your base for services and meeting other volunteers. It’s located on the
Kampala-Jinja highway about 20km from Kampala. With a population of about
35,000, Mukono has 3 internet cafes, a major university, a bunch of restaurants
and drinking spots, supermarkets, and a luxury hotel with a swimming pool and
gardens. It’s easily accessible from all village placements by public
transport.
By public transport it takes about 40 minutes to get to either Kampala or Jinja, which are good places to get specialized services or have some western fun.
HOW
TO APPLY
Please
email us your resume, a list of your skills/interests, and tell us why you want
to come live and volunteer in Uganda. Our program is pretty popular, so try to
apply well in advance of when you’re traveling.
You must arrive around the 1st or 15th of the month. We have a 1 month minimum and a 4 month maximum. If you want to stay longer, we’ll work it out if the space is available.
You need to be at least 18 years old, speak English, and be in relatively good health to volunteer with The Real Uganda.
THE
COST
The
cost to volunteer through The Real Uganda for one month is $650USD. Your second
and third months are $600USD. Your fourth month is $500USD. You pay your fee
upon arrival in cash to The Real Uganda.
The fee covers support while you prepare for Uganda, airport pickup, first night hotel, transport to your placement, food and accommodation while volunteering, supervision, and a donation to the organization with which you are working.
The fee does not cover airline tickets, visas, vaccinations, drinking water, leisure activities, or medical services. You’ll likely need $20-$40 a week to support a basic life which includes drinking water, internet, transport, and a few western treats such as coffee and chocolate. Safaris and white water rafting are a bit more expensive. Check out a Lonely Planet or Bradt guide on Uganda for details about that.
To find out more about us, please click here.
To find out more about Uganda, please click here.
CONTACT US
Mailing
address
The
Real Uganda
P.O.
Box 637, Mukono, Uganda
East
Africa
Telephone: 256-782-513-140
Email: therealuganda@hotmail.com
