VOLUNTEER WITH US
Change starts with you.
Saving the life of one community member uplifts the entire community. Volunteering is an amazing opportunity to help others while immersing yourself in another culture. There are so many ways that your presence could help the Buwagogo Community.
Volunteer Opportunities
Teaching children
Volunteers can offer their time to support and care for orphans and vulnerable children in Buwagogo. Teaching subjects including English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies helps the school to ensure success for their students. Students having exposure to international volunteers is also crucial to expanding their worldview. Interacting with native English speakers in particular is extremely beneficial to improving students’ fluency, comprehension, and confidence in speaking English.
HIV/AIDS initiatives
Educating youths about HIV/AIDS and prevention methods is crucial to ensuring a healthy and happy future generation. Addressing risky behaviors by providing information, including sexual education, counseling, and other forms of psycho-sexual support is crucial to de-stigmatizing HIV/AIDS and ensuring that sufferers receive proper medical care. Sensitization on prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV is also crucial to ensuring children do not contract this disease. Meetings are held at the Buwagogo Hills of Hope Junior School with members of the village to educate them on the dangers of HIV/AIDS and prevention methods, as well as ending the stigma around community members with HIV/AIDS.
Family Planning Program
Family Planning is crucial in impoverished communities. Providing and spreading medically accurate information to aid village members understand their sexual and reproductive health is key to ensuring the maximization of opportunity in Buwagogo. Educating about contraception, including prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, pre-conception counseling and management, and fertility management. Family planning, as defined by the United Nations and the World Health Organization, encompasses all services leading up to conception.
Teaching income generating activities
Teaching income generating activities to community members, especially women through the Yetanah Buwagogo Women’s Group, is crucial to ensuring that community members will be able to find employment and a means to support themselves and their families. Some of the income-generating activities that have been taught in the past include tailoring, hairdressing, teaching handicrafts, and teaching shopkeeper skills, including accounting and use of calculators. These kinds of skills are extremely useful in this community and aid community members to become self-sufficient.
Volunteer Logistics
Ugandan Visa
In order to visit Uganda, there are two Visa options suited for volunteers: the Ugandan Visa ($50 USD) and the East African Tourist Visa ($100 USD). Both the Ugandan Visa and the East African tourist Visa grant visitors access for up to three months. The Ugandan Visa permits unlimited travel within Uganda, whereas the East African Tourist Visa permits unlimited travel between Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda for the duration of the Visa.
You can apply for either online at https://visas.immigration.go.ug/
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Vaccinations and Medication:
It is mandatory if you’re visiting Uganda to be vaccinated against Yellow Fever. There are centers in each country to access a Yellow Fever vaccination which can be easily found on Google. A vaccination against Typhoid is also recommended if visiting any country in Central Africa, but not mandatory to obtain a visa. In terms of medications required, it is imperative to obtain anti-malarial tablets, which are taken daily throughout the duration of your stay in Uganda as to avoid this illness.
Volunteer Accommodation
Gerald, the project coordinator will welcome you to Uganda with open arms, retrieving you from Entebbe International Airport, which is a 1-hour drive from Uganda's capital city, Kampala, and a 5-hour drive from the village. Upon arrival in the village, volunteers will be welcomed at the volunteer accommodation space, which is a house based in the Buwagogo village. At this house, there is somebody who cooks three meals a day, cleans, and will do your laundry, as well as electricity. There is accessible public transportation, and Mbale city is 16km away, where there are restaurants, supermarkets, and anything you may need that you cannot find in the village. Most parties involved in this project speak English, however if any questions arise, Gerald will assist in translation. The host charges $3 USD per day for accommodation.
Benefits of Volunteering
Volunteering your time and energy is an amazing way to aid this impoverished community and to see the Pearl of Africa, Uganda. Through donating their time and knowledge, as well as spreading awareness, volunteers are able to make a real difference. Experiencing a different culture for any amount of time is an invaluable experience, and the people of Uganda will welcome you with open arms! During weekends, volunteers are welcome to travel to Jinja to take a boat to the source of the Nile, visit Lake Victoria, hike Mount Elgon, or visit national parks and see all of the natural beauties that Uganda has to offer.
Volunteer Testimonials
30th August, 2022, Iola:
At Buwagogo Community Project, there are so many welcoming people and what little they have, they try to share. The conditions at the school are extremely tough, and it became evident to me throughout my month-long stay in Buwagogo that this community is severely lacking resources, especially for the proper development and education of their children.
It is an invaluable experience to stay with a community that differs so much from your own, and my experience in Buwagogo was no exception to this. The people were friendly, the mountainous environment was beautiful, and the children were particularly moving to me. Their drive and motivation to learn despite lacking resources (including sharing one textbook amongst 10-20 students and sharing every writing utensil and other resource) was inspirational to say the least. Buwagogo, in my assessment, is a community that wants to better itself and create a brighter future, but is lacking the foundation to start. Thank you to Annet, Gerald, and Winnie for making my experience as meaningful as possible.
I would recommend volunteering here if you are looking experience a totally different way of life that you will carry with you. If you love nature, are independent, driven, and adaptable, then this is the perfect opportunity for you.
29th May, 2019, Tim:
I stayed with Gerald and his family here in Manafwa, Uganda in March 2019. It was overall a good experience, meeting some wonderful people and all the lovely teachers and school children at the Hills of Hope Primary School. It was good fun setting up a hair dressing group with Gerald, Annette (the Head Teacher), and Robinha, who agreed to be the instructor for the people of the village.
I hope the hairdressing group and other such sustainable income projects can present opportunities to the people of this place. There is certainly a great need for support. In particular to support parents who cannot afford the school fees and the knock-on effect that meets the school’s expenses, mainly teachers’ wages and building work.
I wish Gerald, Annette, and everyone at the Hills of Hope Project all the best!
20th November, 2018, Ivo:
Thank you for receiving us and for your guidance during your study. Staying in the midst of your community, in rural areas in Uganda, in between the daily lives of warm-hearted people, teaching and getting taught by the many joyful and spirited children, who are cared after by the elderly people who raise and educate them at their best with faith and the wisdom of life, all that and more, was simply of indescribable value! I am convinced that giving a helping hand, by all means, and by interchanging ways of living, is valuable for all human beings’ joy of life. It is a responsibility we all have. I encourage everybody who is interested, to join one of your projects, and to contribute in any possible way to empower the youth in your pure and multi-faceted community.
25th September, 2017, Marcel:
I stayed here for a short time only, 1.5 weeks, but still it was great time. I enjoyed the mountain environment and the friendly people, and I had the opportunity to learn about the project. I stayed with Gerald’s family, where they also take care of one or two orphans. So I helped out there, as well as a few hours in the school. The kids are more than happy if you play with them, they love it so much.
If you are self-dependent and committed, this is the right project for you. I would definitely stay there again.
24th January, 2017, Anja and Tine:
I spent over a fortnight here. The project is in its early stages and so help is much needed. We (62,65) helped with the women of the community in a program for empowerment and family planning. Much of this we prepared ourselves. We were very kindly received and taken care of by Gerald and Alex. For us, we had to leave behind much of what seemed normal to us, but the people in this project did for us what was in their power. So if you are into a real challenge and you would like to be very useful, there is a lot more to be done.
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23rd November, 2016, Tim:
I joined the project for 2.5 weeks and I would definitely do it again. Very friendly people who take a lot of care of you at any time and a lovely landscape. I really enjoyed my stay in a total different world compared to my home country, Germany.
