Volunteering in Uganda

Uganda is one of the most beautiful bastions of the African wilderness and has everything for a global tourist or even a backpacker. From trekking opportunities in the volcanic Great Rift Valley to exploring the Gorilla hideouts deep in the mountains; from sunbathing at the isolated and magnificent beaches on the Ssese Islands that seem to be floating in Lake Victoria to being captivated by the mystic Jinja, the source point
for the great river Nile, Uganda has just about anything.

Why Volunteer In Uganda

Uganda has a wealth of natural resources but at the same time, it is also a poverty stricken country that has been through civil wars, a cannibalistic dictator and also comes under the AIDS/HIV radar. Volunteering in Uganda will not only open you mind to different cultures and a society that has existed since the early civilizations but also to the depravation that people in Africa have learnt to carry in their stride for too long.

Types Of Projects Available
As a part of volunteering in Uganda, you will get to choose the kind of project you are interested in. The different types if projects available include:

• Working with Ugandan orphanages: You will get to work with the hundreds and thousands of orphans who have either lost their parents in a war or who have been left homeless by famines. These orphaned children would probably die due to malnutrition but with a little care can grow up to be the future of the country.

• Teaching: There are different languages that you can teach in Uganda but the most prominent being English. There are projects for teaching English to elementary school children and even orphans in a small village called Niyakasiru.

• Community Development: In Uganda, there are no communities but groups of villages get together to support each other through all the strife and disasters that have struck the country in the recent past. As a part of the community development project, you can contribute a lot towards creating health awareness, take care of various problems being faced in the day-to-day life by Ugandans and work at temporary teachers in their schools, which are not even sub-standard.

• HIV/AIDS Project: Africa is believed to have the maximum number of HIV/AIDS affected people. Hence this is the first place to start. In a world where scientists are trying every method possible to develop a miracle medicine for AIDS, the only way to fight it right now is by making people aware of the consequences. As a part of the AIDS/HIV program, you will get to take care of people who are already suffering from it and also at the same time, work with community programs to offer more information on how to prevent it in the first place.

• Community Work with the tribal: There are different types of tribes in Thailand and as a volunteer in Thailand, you will get to concentrate your efforts towards helping the tribal children and women.

• Health Projects: There are several health projects that you can contribute to. The medical infrastructure in Uganda is not strong enough and you assistance in developing one can do a lot of good to the country’s future.

• Conservation Projects: There are different types of conservation projects in Uganda that vary from water conservation to Gorilla and Chimpanzee conservations. These are interesting projects and will help in keeping the African Wilderness alive

Volunteer Requirements

Age: The minimum age for volunteering in Uganda should be 16 or older.

Experience: There is no experience required for most of the programs. But if you are volunteering for specialized programs in clinical operation or in HIV/AIDS programs then you will need to have some amount of experience or certification to assist in medical treatments etc.

Application process: You will need to provide a resume to start with

All volunteer programs in Thailand are open to participants from all over the world and to individuals, families and couples.

Fee and Other details

There is a fee attached to each of the projects that you volunteer for. The fee is charged in advance and is charged for the following:

1. Housing

2. Food/meals

3. In-country training

4. Transportation within the region

5. Staff support

Conclusion
There is so much that you can contribute to in Uganda and to its people. Africa is considered to be the cradle of civilization and it’s high time everyone started looking at it as one and treating the people out there with equal respect.