Uganda
Volunteer Holidays currently have opportunities aimed at providing primary and secondary education to needy children, and community outreach and counselling with our partner organisation in Uganda. This provides an opportunity to experience Ugandan life first-hand while working to improve your host community.
Uganda Location
Programs are based in:
- Mukono District (30 km out of Kampala city). Volunteers are placed in Mukono Town and in surrounding villages.
- Wakiso District (5 km out of Kampala city). Volunteers are placed in Buloba and Bulenga.
- Jinja District (50 km out of Kampala city). Volunteers are placed in Jinja Town and Kainogoga.
- Masaka District (180 km out of Kampala city). Volunteers are placed in Kyazanga.
Uganda Program
Our partner in Uganda has projects based in Mukono, Jinja, Wakiso, and Masaka Districts. All projects are aimed at providing primary and secondary education to needy children and community outreach and counselling to youth and adults. Most projects have little or no resources, so foreign volunteers with different ideas and experiences are highly valued. Please note that all projects require volunteers who are self-starters and can conduct their daily activities with minimal supervision. Specific daily schedules and activities will be determined between volunteers and their coordinator upon arrival. Three meals are provided each day which will consist of local foods, such as matooke (mashed plantain), posho (corn meal), potatoes, and rice. They are generally served with beef, fish, peas, beans, or groundnut sauce. Bread, eggs and fruits are available for breakfast. Vegetarians are also accommodated.
- Village Teaching and Outreach Placement:
Our partner works with a number of small community based organisations that provide counselling, care, and education for rural people and orphaned and underprivileged children. Some of these placements focus exclusively on teaching primary or secondary school. Others include both teaching and community outreach components. Please inform us if you wish to teach, do outreach work, or a combination of both, so we can best choose your program.
Village teaching placements can include arts and crafts, structured play, music/singing, sports, health, and academics. Volunteers can teach primary or secondary students. Volunteers choose which subjects and age groups to teach upon arrival. They work independently to plan lessons using government curriculum and textbooks. Please be aware that there will be few (if any) resources available at school. Volunteers should bring any supplies, teaching materials, or instruments they wish to make use of. The main focus is to provide children with a loving, creative and interactive environment in which to flourish.
Village community outreach placements can include youth mentoring, team building, HIV prevention and AIDS care, sanitation and hygiene, and general public health. For volunteers with a medical background, placements can include working with health-based organisations. Volunteer activities may include home visiting, designing education materials, conducting seminars, and maintaining wells and other village infrastructure.
A village placement is particularly appropriate for volunteers with great ideas and enthusiasm for grassroots development. This is a real opportunity for deep cultural exchange.
For all village placements, accommodation and daily meals will be provided within the village of placement, and will range from private apartments to rooms in private homes. No more than 2 volunteers will be placed together in any village placement.
- Mukono Town Teaching Projects:
Our partner works with four private primary schools in Mukono town that cater exclusively to the education, housing and feeding of needy children and orphans. Volunteers are involved in arts and crafts, structured play, music/singing, sports, health, and academics. The main focus is to provide children with a loving, creative, interactive environment in which to flourish.
Volunteers choose which subjects and age groups to teach upon arrival. They work independently to plan lessons using government curriculum and textbooks. Please be aware that there will be few (if any) resources available at school. Volunteers should bring any supplies, teaching materials, or instruments they wish to make use of.
Volunteers may also choose to work in a local residential home for special needs children. Main activities include structured play, story time, feeding, basic colours and numbers.
All volunteers working in Mukono Town Teaching (up to 5 at one time) will be housed together in shared accommodation in a large apartment in Mukono Town, a semi-urban area.
- Organic Farming Project:
Volunteers with a green thumb, or those who just want to plunge their hands into deep, rich, African soil, will be interested in an organic farming placement. This village based placement teaches and promotes modern methods of organic farming in rural Ugandan communities.
Volunteers work along side Ugandans digging and maintaining demonstration gardens. Activities include raised bed and double-dug farming to best utilise soil and make planting, harvesting, and fertilising easier. Volunteers also teach water conservation by lining large pits with plastic bags to collect and store rain water. The organisation composts garden refuse and spreads it as fully organic fertiliser, and shows how to create pesticides by mixing ingredients such as tobacco, chilli pepper, and onion. Volunteers will be given basic training upon arrival.
A small nursery school is a recent addition to the placement, and can be a refreshingly shady place to volunteer after a morning of digging. It benefits the severely rural poor and orphaned children of the area.
Volunteers are given a private room at the organisations headquarters, with their door opening directly onto a lush, green farm.
- Remote Orphan Care Project:
For volunteers wishing to work in a very remote area with HIV affected orphans, our partner works with a project in western Uganda, about 5 hours away from its other host organisations. This is the area where HIV/AIDS has most devastated Uganda. The organisation is focused on bringing aid, education, and love to the orphans of the area, many of whom have lost their parents due to AIDS related illnesses.
Volunteers help with basic academics, feeding, organising play, arts and crafts, hygiene and HIV/AIDS education appropriate to the childrens' age level (3 to 12 years). Volunteers may be asked to help with administrative work such as budgeting, updating paperwork, writing proposals, and maintaining personal files on the children. This is a challenging but amazing program for volunteers with experience organising children, such as camp counsellors, day care workers, and people who love children. Bring your games, songs, and enthusiasm to the village!
Volunteers are given a private room in the home of the host organisation’s director, 3km from the project. Volunteers are expected to walk to the project each day.
- Public Health Improvement Project:
This is a project promoting general public health improvement in Uganda. Volunteers travel with and work alongside Ugandan counsellors in a variety of programs, directly benefiting 10 rural communities and 7 secondary schools. Volunteers will be engaged in a combination of the following activities:
Village outreach: Public speaking and mentoring in various rural communities respecting HIV/AIDS, malaria, hygiene, family planning, reproductive health, nutrition, early childhood feeding, sanitation, women's rights and domestic violence. This is the most important and most common activity undertaken by volunteers. Volunteers travel to a variety of villages on a weekly basis. They design their own seminars based on that week’s subject matter. Basic training and educational materials are on site, but volunteers are encouraged to bring new materials as well.
Secondary School outreach: Public speaking and mentoring of youth about teen issues. These may include drug abuse, pregnancy, STDs, sexual education, and decision-making. Volunteers may visit 1 or 2 schools per day speaking directly to students about issues affecting them. Again, volunteers will design their own speeches, but will be given basic training and access to educational materials in order to prepare themselves.
Volunteers will take part in a flexible schedule, which includes some or all activities offered by the program. The exchange of ideas, experiences, and culture is encouraged. This project requires walking long distances in the sun. Volunteers are encouraged to bring a sleeping bag, and protective clothing and shoes.
Volunteers will be given a private room at the headquarters of the host organisation as their home base. When work is done in surrounding villages, volunteers will be billeted short-term on site.
Program Requirements
Volunteers for the Uganda program must:
- be 18 years or older
- have no major health problems
- be able to walk distances up to 5km daily
- obtain a police check from your home country prior to volunteering
- sign a general waiver of liability
- have a positive and outgoing personality
Program Cost
Application Fee $97
Your application fee is fully transferable and will secure your place on the Uganda program, (or any other program of your choice), at a placement date that is suitable to you.*
To see the cost in your currency, we recommend you look here.
Program Fee from US $46 a day *
4 weeks - US $1997
6 weeks - US $2297
8 weeks - US $2597
Placements longer than 8 weeks are available, please contact us or apply online for details.
* Based on an 8 week placement
What’s included:
Accommodation: Home stay, volunteer apartment or onsite at your project.
Meals: 3 meals daily.
Project Donation: Included.
Airport pickup: On arrival date.
Training: In-country orientation.
Supervision: In-country staff supervision.
Support: Pre-departure personal support from your volunteer coordinator, 24/7 in-country support from partner, and 24hr emergency line.
What’s not included:
Flights, insurance, visas, vaccinations, departure from the program.
We recommend you allow a weekly budget of US $30 for your other expenses such as bottled water, personal items, beverages, and entertainment.
Program Schedule
Programs are based in:
• Mukono District (30 km out of Kampala city). Volunteers are placed in
• Mukono Town and in surrounding villages.
• Wakiso District (5 km out of Kampala city). Volunteers are placed in
Buloba and Bulenga.
• Jinja District (50 km out of Kampala city). Volunteers are placed in
Jinja Town and Kainogoga.
• Masaka District (180 km out of Kampala city). Volunteers are placed in
Kyazanga.
Start Date: 1st or 15th of each month
Length: 1 month to 3 months
Please note: Your stay can be extended beyond 3 months on a case-by-case basis (depending upon our partners requirements and your ability to obtain an extended visa).
School terms vary from year to year but are approximately as follows: Feb 1 to April 20, May 20 to August 20, Sept 15 to November 30. Volunteers are not placed in teaching projects outside of these times. Please also note that exams take place at the end of each term and normal class schedules will end prior to that. Short term volunteers are advised to start earlier in the term.
As a general rule we can not place short-term volunteers beginning January 1st as all projects take a few weeks to get going in the New Year. We advise you to plan your arrival for January 15th, or February 1st in the case of teaching placements.
Contact Us
If you would like more information on any of these projects, or if you have any questions, please email Lee-Anne or phone 03 6224 7444.
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