Volunteer in Uganda

You want to get to know Uganda and its people while giving something back? A great way to do so is to volunteer in Uganda in the very diverse field of community development. Community volunteer opportunities in Uganda range from working in culture and arts to construction and social work. Thus, your personal interests and skills will be applicable for sure!

As a volunteer, you may hold classes to teach children in drama, music and arts. You'll work closely with the locals, reaching out to the community, organizing events and learn a lot about the Ugandan culture.

If you're looking for more physical work, volunteering for a construction project might be an option for you. You can also work on a variety of environmental projects to provide access to clean water, sanitation and an improved infrastructure, whilst protecting the environment we live in!

Another area, in which volunteers in Uganda are needed, is the support of under-resourced social workers. As a social work volunteer, you will be volunteering and working with vulnerable children, women and elderly to meet their practical, physical and emotional needs. Some of the volunteer projects in Uganda give you the opportunity to make a great difference for local communities . In addition to the above mentioned, you can work to develop communal areas or help with:

• child care and buddy projects
• assisting as a human rights advocate
• maintaining and renovating houses
• local orphanages

Before you decide to volunteer at an orphanage, though, make sure to be prepared for your task. While working with orphans might sound noble at first sight, it is important to realize that more than 80% of children living in orphanages are not orphans. They were separated from their families due to poverty, suffering, disabilities and other reasons. Many of these children have experienced violence or abuse. For this reason, it is essential that volunteers MUST have appropriate skills. If not you could be putting yourself and the children at risk. Therefore, if you wish to work at an orphanage, you should meet at least one of the following requirements:

• experience in working with traumatized children
• training as a child caretaker
• training as a psychologist
• training as a social worker

Uganda is home to the endangered mountain gorilla, with half of the world's remaining population living in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. This gorilla species was discovered only 100 years ago and has since been exposed to the destruction of its habitat, hunting, and war.

Thanks to the social projects that are dedicated to conservation work, the mountain gorilla population is showing a small increase. As a volunteer in Uganda, you can support these organizations and help to protect rare mountain gorillas. This may include:

• working within the communities
• reforestation efforts
• tracking gorillas
• educating locals about the importance of gorilla conservation

Volunteer opportunities in Uganda that are concerned with health care are sufficiently distributed. If you are a medical professional you can have an impact by working at a hospital, while also learning a lot and developing new skills in a completely different environment.

Volunteering in health care can be a great opportunity for you to really make a difference. You can join many projects in areas such as:

• Health education
• AIDS prevention
• Hospital placements
• Dentistry
• Nursing
• Medical and healthcare internships

Thereby you can gather experience and contribute to the medical progress of Uganda at the same time.

Volunteering in this field provides the greatest impact on those who need it most. Social projects focusing on assisting with educational initiatives provide a better education for local children, but also for illiterate adults. This is a great chance for everyone who couldn't afford to go to school otherwise. Quality education is the key to the positive development of a community.

As a volunteer in education, you might teach local children a variety of school subjects such as:

• Maths
• English
• Spelling
• Reading and writing
• Games and sports

Especially good English skills are extremely helpful for locals to find a job. That's why your help and support as an international volunteer who teaches English in schools is highly valuable. Depending on your English skills, volunteering in education might include:

• helping with English homework
• practicing children’s conversational skills
• giving complex grammatical lessons

Most visits to Uganda are trouble-free and the country has experienced a noticeable improvement in all security categories except international terrorism and road safety. Still, you should pay attention to some issues to avoid any negative experiences. To be on the safe side, you should keep the following safety guidelines in mind at all times during your volunteer journey in Uganda:

• Roads in Uganda are poorly maintained, inadequately marked, and poorly
• Limit the amount of cash you carry and leave valuables, such as passports, jewelry, and airline tickets in a hotel safe or another secure place
• Don't leave your bags and camera on the car seat while driving
• Credit card fraud is widespread and ATM machines are often tampered with. To avoid issues make sure you carefully inspect any ATM before using it.

Uganda is so much more than Lake Victoria and the mountain gorillas. As a volunteer in Uganda, you'll have the time to really get to know the country and experience it like tourists usually can't. The local Ugandan culture is a diverse mix of different ethnic groups, languages, history and cultural habits. As a volunteer in Uganda, you will be able to immerse yourself in and become a part of the local community and culture you're living in.

While visiting Uganda, you will notice that the country is very diverse when it comes to religion. Christianity (85 %) and Islam (11 %) are the most widely practiced religions, but there are also many people belonging to one of the local traditional religions or atheism. All travelers and volunteers in Uganda should be respectful of religious particularities, especially when visiting religious sites. If you want to attend a church service in Uganda you need to have quite a long attention span. The average church service in Uganda lasts between four and six hours but it is worth the experience.

Going abroad always includes some issues and precautions that need to be taken into account, especially if you are traveling to a country with tropical temperatures and wilderness. The risks to health whilst traveling will vary between individuals and many depend on your activities, length of stay and general health.

• Eat and drink safely: Don't eat undercooked food, avoid eating street food and don't drink water from the tap
• Also, wash your hands often, especially before eating
• Plan for how you will get health care during your stay. Get a travel insurance and bring medicine with you, especially if you need special medication
• Prevent bug bites: You might want to cover exposed skin, use an insect repellent, and use a bed net
• Be aware that rabies exists in domestic and wild animals. There are many street dogs in Uganda and you should avoid direct contact with dogs, cats and other animals
• Make sure you are up-to-date on routine vaccinations before every trip. These include MMR, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, chickenpox, polio, yellow fever and your yearly flu shot. Moreover, the US-based Health protection agency CDC recommends hepatitis A and typhoid vaccinations because you can get these diseases through contaminated food or water in Uganda.

There are some general requirements you should comply upon your arrival:

• Please check the current validity of your passport. Your passport should have at least 6-month validity from the date of arrival in Uganda
• Make sure your passport has at least two blank Visa pages. Uganda requires that you have adequate unused pages in your passport, allowing for any necessary stamps upon arrival and departure
• Please check if a transit visa is required for any connections
• Make sure to be in possession of a valid return ticket

If you are planning to volunteer in Uganda for less than 3 months, you must obtain a tourist visa. You can apply for a visa in advance or get a Visa on Arrival (VoA) for USD $50. As the name suggests, this visa can be obtained at the airport where you will arrive. We recommend volunteers to obtain a tourist visa prior to arrival in the country as this will save you time and will avoid the hassle of having to fill out forms and wait in a long queue at the airport. You can obtain your tourist visa online about 10 days before you arrive in Uganda.

In order to complete the application you'll need:

• A copy of the bio-data page of your passport
• Yellow Fever Vaccination Certificate
• A recent passport sized photo

Visit the Ugandan visa website and click "Start New Application".

If you are planning to volunteer in Uganda for more than 3 months, you have to apply for a volunteer visa (Work Permit Class G1). Make sure to apply for this Visa before entering Uganda at your closest embassy or consulate of Uganda

To start your application process, you need to prepare a few things in advance. Make sure to have these things ready:

• Filled out Entry Permit form
• 2 passport size photos
• Copy of passport
• Copy of NGO certificate
• Criminal record report from home country
• Cover letter
• Appointment letter
• Qualifications

We also recommend getting in touch with the embassy or consulate to obtain further information.