Non-profit | The Real Uganda
Chronic underdevelopment in Uganda is a problem not easily solved. Remote rural living, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, a subsistence economy, loss of hope, and lack of services helps to keep many families dependent upon hand-outs, malnourished, and uneducated. Currently, there are few real ways to generate funds at the village level to support anything other than subsistence living. Therefore, The Real Uganda has developed relationships with local communities to help provide start-up funds, knowledge, and motivation all necessary to solve their respective problems in a sustainable way.
About the Program
Can you communicate important information in creative ways? Do you want to learn the reality on the ground regarding public health in Uganda? Do you like camping? In this program, volunteers work alongside local counselors and health care professionals, in a variety of remote locations, designed to help Ugandans stay healthy and make informed decisions about their health care.
Volunteers talk to people in schools and communities about issues directly affecting them. You’ll design and conduct seminars based on subjects such as community sanitation, household and personal hygiene, nutrition, malaria prevention, sex education, HIV prevention and AIDS care, etc. Basic training and educational materials are on site, but volunteers are encouraged to bring new materials as well.
International volunteers are needed to work in public health improvement in rural communities in Uganda. In this program, volunteers work alongside local counselors and health care professionals, in a variety of locations, designed to help Ugandans stay healthy and make good decisions about their health care.
Volunteers can also work in clinics and maternity hospitals talking directly to women and girls about safe sex, family planning, maternal and child health, and nutrition. Volunteers are involved in the lab and pharmacy, as well.
This program may involve walking long distances in the sun. Volunteers should bring a hat and walking shoes. As you’ll be working off the beaten track, expect to ride to work on the back of a motorcycle.
Volunteers are given a private room at the host organization as their home base. All have electricity, some have running water. When work is done in surrounding villages, you’ll commute by motorcycle. If outreaches are longer than one day, volunteers camp with fellow staff in the village.
This program is perfect for volunteers who love talking to people and really want to see the reality on the ground regarding public health in Uganda.
Typical day
The schedule is flexible and includes some or all activities offered by the program.
Details on Arrival
Volunteers must arrive around the 1st or 15th of the month they start volunteering.
Free-time activities
Uganda is a beautiful, peaceful, fun and very welcoming country. Volunteers can easily meet up on weekends to travel. Popular tourist activities in Uganda include wildlife safari, white water rafting and bungee jumping on the River Nile, chimpanzee and gorilla tracking, nature walks and forest hikes. Volunteers are encouraged to see as much of the country as possible. Volunteers are provided with assistance in setting up tourist activities either before or after arrival.
The Real Uganda also encourages volunteers to visit each other at their respective program placements. We find volunteers learn more about grassroots development, locally led initiatives and themselves, the more they see and do while in Uganda. All volunteers are provided with contact information for each other before and after arrival.
Program Requirements
Included Services
Before your journey
On-site services
Our program fees cover:
- online support from us, while you prepare for Uganda
- pickup at Entebbe International Airport
- first night hotel stay
- in-country orientation
- transportation to your placement
- three meals of Ugandan food each day
- secure accommodation
- weekend volunteer guesthouse use
- 24 hour supervision, and
- a donation to the organization with which you are placed.
The fees do not cover airline tickets, travel insurance, tourist visa,
vaccinations, drinking water, leisure activities, or medical services.
But I'm happy to help you make those arrangements.
Besides covering your basic expenses listed above, the program fees help
to ensure our partner programs are able to do the work they wish to do
in their communities. They also allow The Real Uganda to monitor partner
progress, guide and advise current volunteers, and continuously seek
new (appropriate) international volunteers for work in Uganda.
As a result, The Real Uganda is able to partner with effective social
and economic development programs. Our volunteers are also well
supported to maximize their impact.
Volunteers must arrive around the 1st or 15th of the month they start volunteering. They should fly into Entebbe International Airport. We have procedures for all arrival times and flights. Our driver collects our volunteers and brings them to our Mukono Town headquarters for orientation and placement. 1 week before volunteers leave home, they are given an email detailing their arrival and first few days in Uganda.
Volunteers are given a private, lockable room (often shared with another international volunteer) in the home of your host organization's director. Most homes have electricity, western toilets, and running water, although frequent outages do occur. Once a volunteer commits to join us, and a particular host program is selected, full details about location and accommodation are then provided. Bed linens and mosquito nets are provided, but bring a pillow as they're not commonly used in Uganda.
Volunteers receive 3 meals of local Ugandan food each day. Meals consist of matooke (mashed steamed banana), posho (corn meal), potatoes, and rice. They are generally served with peas, beans, groundnut sauce and (occasionally) beef or fish. Tea and bread is the usual for breakfast. Vegetarians and vegans are welcome! Dairy products are rare. Volunteers can supplement their diets with locally bought fresh fruits and veg if they wish.
Program Fees
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