Uganda Volunteer Partners

Work Options

We hope that volunteers will express an interest in a particular area of work at one of the centres. Once we have this information we will work on an outline plan for you in terms of arranging the placement, agreeing the people you will work with and organising a timetable. If you choose an educational role, we will endeavour to send you information on the topic areas which are being taught while you are here (However, volunteers may well wish to settle in before making decisions - this is fine).

Assistants in Nursery and Primary School:

There are nursery and primary schools in Jinja and Buswale which would welcome volunteer help.

Assistants in Secondary Schools:

There are a number of Secondary Schools in and around Jinja and one in Buswale (right next to the volunteer house) which are keen to host volunteers.

Who’s on my team?

English

The original aim of the project was to help in the language education of Ugandan students. This remains a central objective. Uganda has around 40 different local languages - a large number for a population of about 36 million people. Because of this diversity, the government decided at independence to use English as the official national language, and all education after the first years of primary school - written material and examinations - is conducted in English. This poses problems for most students, though it is most acute in rural primary schools. Students who acquire good oral and written skills in English find it beneficial across the whole curriculum. Volunteers who choose to work in development of language skills are likely to be native speakers of English, or have a good command of the English language.

Classes are big! … 70 – 100 students. 

Sport and Other Subjects

Assistance in language was the initial aim, but volunteers for many other subject areas have been mentioned by schools, such as sport, maths, science, art and music. Opportunities exist across the whole curriculum for volunteers to assist students, while fulfilling their own wish to experience a very different culture and share the lives of young people in a developing country.

Building and Maintenance Work

Good maintenance of the fabric of buildings is rare in many Ugandan schools. Usually things have to break down or drop off before money is spent. It can be a shock for volunteers to witness this, but the truth is that school budgets are limited and many communities are poor. Inevitably, the bulk of the money for painting and maintenance work will need to come from volunteers or the project.

However, we are aiming for partnership, so patience is vital when organising a maintenance task. Though it might seem more efficient for volunteers to undertake the work alone, community involvement is important. There is no ‘volunteering’ culture in Uganda and local people will expect to be paid. The idea of ‘payment’ should be played down – the school is Ugandan, the students are Ugandan and they come from a Ugandan community. Therefore, Ugandans must play their full part in improving their school. We may need to feed local workers and provide some small transport expenses …..  perhaps workers should be given a certificate in appreciation of the work done and the skills learned. But essentially the local workers should be volunteers, the same as the foreign volunteers.

Community Project Assistants

Around Jinja there are quite a number of activities taking place in two groups we are connected with, but as Buswale is a new area for us we still have to build these links. The following types of work are undertaken around Jinja.

Solar Cooker demonstration in Jinja

 

Community projects give encouragement and support in developing income-generating businesses which, in addition to those listed above,  include:       Raising pigs, Keeping poultry, Selling fruit and vegetables, Tailoring, Making Mats, Selling clothes, Growing Mushrooms, Mobile Hairdressing, Selling 2nd hand Shoes and Grinding peanuts.

Volunteers who wish to work in this area need to show great patience - our role is support and encouragement. The small businesses belong to the individual community members and it has to be their effort and initiative which develop the enterprise. Many individuals display great skill in the work they do - the challenge is to incorporate these skills into a viable business. Too frequently, small business people believe that the only thing they lack is capital - give me the capital and all my problems will be solved! Though capital is undoubtedly one of the issues, there are may more. Beware of offering instant solutions - they rarely work. Struggle is often the best way to learn. We can make suggestions and even provide some small funding for research, trials and publicity, but the task of making a success of the business belongs to the owner.

 

Can YOU come? ..... Could you spare a few weeks to help?

Contact Information

Volunteer Uganda Partnership Project