Uganda Volunteer Journals

The Global Volunteer Network currently has opportunities aimed at providing primary and secondary education to needy children, and community outreach and counseling with our partner organization in Uganda. Our partner has projects based in Mukono Town and within nearby villages. These projects provide an opportunity to experience Ugandan life first-hand while working to improve your host community.

For more information, please visit the Uganda program page on the Global Volunteer Network website.

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Almost “Go-Time”!

May 12th, 2009 by Cristina

I can’t believe that in 48 hours, I will be boarding a flight to Amsterdam and then heading to Uganda!  I am so excited!
I feel like I still have a million things to do, when all I really need to do is laundry and finish packing… 
I finished training the person taking over my responsibilities at work, and I know she is going to do amazing.  I now have to make sure that things are ready for her when she steps in.  There is still so much to do!
I received word that I upon my arrival in Uganda, I will be staying [...]

Posted in Uganda

“Go slow – fast finish construction at work”

May 10th, 2009 by Karen Graaff

(Actual sign seen at construction site next to the road – hope they were instructing the drivers to go slow, rather than the construction workers!)
Another week down, more adventures under my belt: I celebrated Cinco de Maya with our new Peace Corps volunteer, purely for the joy of having Mexican food and beer!; taught a class on family planning to a room full of mothers (better late than never, right?); had to put mosquito nets over my windows to stop a pair of birds from flying into my room and nesting in my cupboard (who loves duct-tape? I do!); took [...]

Posted in Uganda

Making lives out of nothing

May 4th, 2009 by Karen Graaff

So it’s been a busy couple days out this end (in a nice contrast to recent weeks!)
The rundown of events: I ran a (brutal!) 10km race, went to visit some local orphanages, started coaching fitness to local kids, braved the Ugandan public transport system again to get to Mbarara, visited a UNHCR refugee camp at Nakivali, crossed the equator twice, briefly popped into Tanzania (and almost got arrested coming back into Uganda!), visited the Millennium Village project at Nakuyanda, and got abandoned by my roomie Tara, who moved to a new project in Kampala L
So for those of you who [...]

Posted in Uganda

Elections, health centres and new possibilities

April 24th, 2009 by Karen Graaff

So things have been pottering along in their merry African village way here. Over the past week and a half, I managed to vote in the SA elections (special vote at the SA High Commission last week); our electricity and water got shut off; we ran out of gas and charcoal for cooking (charcoal cooking is a whole special experience I’ll get back to later!); taught a class to the guardians of orphans from one of the schools I do lessons at; ate some awesome Indian food; one of our volunteers had her wallet stolen in a pretty slick move [...]

Posted in Uganda

Halfway

April 14th, 2009 by Karen Graaff

Hey peepsJ
So I’m about to get to the halfway stage of being here, which is crazy in all kinds of ways!
Compared to all the excitement of our hike and trip out to Kisoro, it’s been a pretty quiet week! Schools are mostly writing exams, so our teaching load is pretty light right now and we’ve mainly been trying to set up some new programmes that’ll keep us busy for now and during the next few weeks of school hols (they last until 25 May, so it’s a whack of time that we’ve gotta keep ourselves entertained!) Apologies if this is [...]

Posted in Uganda

Hiking Kisoro

April 7th, 2009 by Karen Graaff

So end of week 5 – time seems to be picking up pace here, and I’m already almost halfway through everything, which is totally crazy!
We went hiking this past weekend in the south-west of Uganda in a place called Kisoro, in the Mgahinga nature reserve (where a lot of people do gorilla tracking) – it’s on the border with both Rwanda and DRC. Because it was just so super-duper amazing, I haven’t even got as far as doing the usual summary, so if you don’t want to hear millions of superlatives and over-the-top adjectives about the hike, you may as [...]

Posted in Uganda

China

April 6th, 2009 by Sami Buisson-Daniel

I’ve just been accepted to teach English in the China Program for four months starting September and ending in December (2009).  I’m thrilled to have the position.  I’ve taught English once in Vietnam on a little island known as Cu La Cham and I loved it.  So, here I go again.  I’m going to start preparing myself by learning a little of the language of the people I’m going to be in contact with from day-to-day.  YEAH!  I’m on my way to China in September ………  Sami

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1 month! and a crazy week to boot..

March 29th, 2009 by Karen Graaff

Week 4:
 
Hi all J So here I am almost at the end of my first month. In some ways, time has absolutely flown. But on the other hand, I’ve been so aware of every day, that it seems like I’ve been here so much longer (doesn’t everyone always say that!
It also feels like it’s been a crazy busy week so this may be a long one!
 
We did our triathlon (a brief thunderstorm and downpour included) and managed to get medals; learnt how to make some local food (G-nut sauce); 2 of the people in our compound had to [...]

Posted in Uganda

Week 3

March 20th, 2009 by Karen Graaff

Week 3:
 
OK, our internet’s been down for almost a week now, so you all get a double dose of updates, since I couldn’t put last week’s posting up (lucky you!)
 
So, weekly happenings: I saw a public caning at one of the schools I teach, got asked loads of questions about homosexuality (it’s illegal here, but more on that later on), most of the country’s had no internet for the past week due to “satellite upgrades” by one of the main service providers, someone followed me home (almost 30min walk) to ask for money, I watched a local football tournament, saw [...]

Posted in Uganda

Week 2

March 20th, 2009 by Karen Graaff

Week 2:
 
Hi all again J
So it’s the end of week two – more crazy times in the Bulenga hood. Again, here’s the shortened version, for those of you in a hurry!
 
This week, I started teaching lifeskills in a couple of local schools, saw an ice-cream bodaboda (like an ice-cream truck, complete with cheesy music playing!), spotted some unknown mzungus which shocked me about as much as the locals, got involved in chicken turf wars, signed up for a triathlon, ate roasted pork (SO good!), had drinks with a government spy, got to watch the Stormers win (booyah!) and had a [...]

Posted in Uganda

1st week

March 7th, 2009 by Karen Graaff

Hi all!!
So here I am in Uganda – it’s been a pretty crazy ride already, and I doubt I’ll be able to explain or describe it very well at all! But let’s see what I can do!
For those of you in a hurry, here’s a very condensed version of what I’ve been doing the past week:
Arrived in Entebbe, went to Kampala and then out to my placement in Bulenga (about 8-10km outside of Kampala), went to a burial, crossed the equator twice (did you know I’m in the northern hemisphere in Kampala? I didn’t…), rode boda-bodas (local motorbike taxis) and [...]

Posted in Uganda

On the road again…

February 28th, 2009 by Karen Graaff

I’ve had 7 injections in the past 3 weeks, started taking doxicycline last night, and my room has finally stopped resembling the pre-(and during!)- packing bomb-blast….must be time to hit the road! I fly into Entebbe tomorrow, spend the night in a backpackers there, and head to Kampala on Monday morning to (finally) get a view of the place I’ll be for the next 3 months! In case anyone’s wondering, I spent my last day in Cape Town up the mountain, being blown about in gale-force winds! Aaah, nothing like home…
A couple of people have asked where I’m going and [...]

Posted in Uganda

Emergency Leave

November 29th, 2008 by Sami Buisson-Daniel

While in Rwanda I received an emergency phone call from one of my daughters telling me my oldest son is in the hosptial and will be undergoing an operation to have his right leg amputated.  I made my way back to Uganda, called the airlines, packed my bags and my wonderful host Jennifer and her boyfriend Dan drove me to Kapala to catch my plane.  I could not have done it so quickly without their assistance.  I took three planes and finally made it to Philadelphia (USA).  
I thank you GVN for the placement and I can only say I’m [...]

Posted in Uganda

Another day in Uganda – Village of Kyazanga

November 3rd, 2008 by Sami Buisson-Daniel

Today is Tuesday, November 4 and it’s election day in the USA.  I’ve already placed my vote for Obama before I left on absentee ballot.  Also, today is the second day I’ve come to Masaka to do Internet.  I came yesterday but there were four accidents on the way here so it took so long and once at the Internet I could not get on-line – so here I am today trying once again.  Hopefully, this will go through and more hopefully Obama will come out a winner in the US Elections today.
 
Now, here is what I wrote on my [...]

Posted in Uganda

Exorcism in the Village

October 28th, 2008 by Taylor Jackson

Cell phone service is really better outside the house, so on Monday evening I headed outside and I really couldn’t believe what was going on.
There was a group of girls that live in the same compound as myself, all huddled around a tree, heads down. I thought at first they were Muslim as many people are here and since I don’t know much about the religion I thought they were praying because I do know most Muslims pray many times a day. I asked one of the girls who wasn’t involved what was going on and she said “Satan [...]

Posted in Uganda

The worst day, The best day, and the last day.

October 28th, 2008 by Rachael Patton

Well a lot has happened in the past couple of weeks and now im on my way home. Just had a giant feast with the family and all packed and ready to go. Had a great last day at school, the kids put on a big assembly for me. Our head teacher asked them ‘who wants aunt Rachael to stay?’ and they all put up their hands….then she asked ‘who want to go with aunt Rachael?’ and they got even more excited. One kid said they wanted to come on the bus back home with me later today.
 
Just before I [...]

Posted in Uganda

Safari and Village Life

October 23rd, 2008 by Taylor Jackson

I’m sorry I haven’t updated in so long, I never had a chance after the Safari on Sunday and when I headed back out to Ntenjeru on Monday morning.
Safari was amazing! I really enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would, the guide let us get out and walk with a heard of 50 giraffes, I counted. We also got out near the river and saw hippos bathing and got really close to elephants, the Ugandan crane which is such a pretty bird and antelope and warthogs and the pictures are just great.
This week in the [...]

Posted in Uganda

Finally here on Uganda soil

October 21st, 2008 by Sami Buisson-Daniel

I arrived on Tuesday night and was picked up (as promised) by a driver and taken to a youth hostel which was very nice.  Lee picked me up this morning and now I’m getting familiar with the scene around the guest house.  On Saturday I’ll be driven to my assignment.  I haven’t learned the names of everything yet so I’ll not try and write them but will clue you in with my next email which hopefully will be tomorrow.  I need to take advantage of this while I’m where they have emails cause where I’m going they’re ain’t no such [...]

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VOLSET and Ntenjeru

October 16th, 2008 by Taylor Jackson

The village is just gorgeous! Its quiet no trucks going by all night and the project I have switched into is just amazing! I live at “The White House” and it is really cute it was built completely by donated money and volunteers. In the same complex there are about 15 sponsored orphans, who are all in high school so they are all really interesting to talk to and a peace core volunteer named Zach He is really cool and it’s nice to have someone from the west to live with way out in the village. There are also some [...]

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Last Days with Youth League

October 13th, 2008 by Taylor Jackson

These last two days have been nice and a good way to finish working with the Youth League. Yesterday I headed out to Seeta (Say-Tah) where Maria lives, I have paid for all the materials in which to finish her latrine and kitchen and as I left the latrine was finished and the roof was all that needed to be put into place. I also brought out some clothes, my sleeping bag and shoes for the family which they were so grateful for. I will be back to visit her I think one more time before I leave. She told [...]

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October 10-12

October 12th, 2008 by Taylor Jackson

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This weekend was so fun. On Friday, Ara, Sarah and I headed into Kampala for a volleyball match, Mukono vs. Kampala. We really thought it would just be a fun, non-competitive day but we were wrong. It rained really hard right before the game so we were playing in half a [...]

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Independence Day

October 8th, 2008 by Taylor Jackson

This week has been definitely the busiest since I got here. Today is Independence Day in Uganda though so I have a bit of a chance to relax even though I still have tons to do today and update the journal and what not.
On Monday Ben, Kiierya, and I headed out to an HIV clinic in Nagalama. It was mostly just a meeting we didn’t get to do too much on site. But the Youth League has set up a partnership with the clinic in which they will occupy an extra room at the clinic (which we take control over [...]

Posted in Uganda

Rwanda

October 8th, 2008 by Rachael Patton

Hey all, everything is well here in Uganda….same old same old and then some crazy on top!
Went to Rwanda last week for a couple of days which was alot of fun. It is known as the land of a thousand hills….and u just cant argue with that. for some strange weekend we walked ALOT….and also got lost quite a bit but sure it was all part of the adventure.

After our 10hr bus journey there we stayed in the capital, Kigali, for two nights. On the way in we obviously crossed the border and I was nay impressed to have to [...]

Posted in Uganda

Elizabeth House

October 3rd, 2008 by Taylor Jackson

Today I headed out with Julia one of the other volunteers that lives in the guesthouse to the outskirts of Mukono Town to the project she is working at. The Elizabeth House is just the most amazing project. It is a home and school for mentally and physically disabled kids; it was started by David and Val who both came to visit the school today. They I think are from Australia and raised the money to build the run the school through their church.
Each kid has quite the story and I took tons of pictures that I can’t wait to [...]

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Your a Good Student

October 1st, 2008 by Taylor Jackson

Yesterday I was home from work early and no one else was home. I really didn’t want to hang out alone so I went down the street a bit from where I live and introduced myself to the ladies who make mats by the road and sell them.
Prossie who is about 25 and been making mats since she was in primary school took a bit of a liking to me and now she is my self-appointed mat-making teacher. I learned the basics and gave them some shillings to buy some materials to make my own mat!
Prossie’s English is surprisingly good [...]

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Rafting The Nile!

September 29th, 2008 by Taylor Jackson

This past weekend was absolutely amazing! Friday I went to school as usual taught some english and science. Kids were good I taught them the difference between were and was and we did some journal writting. Creative thinking is not really taught in the schools and kids really just copy what the teacher puts on the board. It is really an effort to get them to ask questions when they don’t understand but its getting better.
After school a bunch of volunteers (9 of us actually) headed down to Kampala for a goodbye dinner for Amy. We stayed at a backpackers [...]

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Murchison Falls

September 28th, 2008 by Rachael Patton

Another week is all wrapped up…hard to believe I am two weeks in. Most of you probably know that the original plan was to volunteer for 4weeks and then travel after but I am excited to report I asked my director Betty would she let me extend my volunteering period until I fly home and she said yes, and seems very happy that I am staying. It also means by the time I head home I will have spent almost a full school term with the kids, which is exciting. This doesn’t mean that I’m not traveling at all, Betty [...]

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Outreach Day 1

September 25th, 2008 by Taylor Jackson

Yesterday’s outreach was quite something. It was only a five minute taxi ride, but then we were on boda bodas (basically dirt bikes) for almost half and hour to get out to the Nyansi village.
            I had thought we were going to actually build the mud-hut kitchen, but we actually had gone to evaluate how much it would cost to build a new latrine (bathroom, but really a hole in the ground) and a basic outdoor kitchen for Maria. Maria is 75 and albino, everyone in the neighbourhood calls her a mzungu (white person) because she is so white. [...]

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Life’s hard, get creative

September 24th, 2008 by Taylor Jackson

Yesterday was beautiful. Kierya, the director of my program asked me to update the Youth League’s website which is www.youthleagueorganisation.blogspot.com there are a few pictures and information if you’re interested in exactly what I am doing here. That was a bit of a drag though because the internet was slow and I was originally planning on teaching.
 
            The rest of the day was much better. I went one a walk with Calandra, another volunteer who is working with MACRO (Mukono Aids Control and Recovery Organization, I think) anyways we were planning on walking up this mountain in Mukono that [...]

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Sipi Falls

September 23rd, 2008 by Rachael Patton

Hi all, hope everyone is well at home!
Have had a fantastic first week and am getting stuck into week two. So first people may find it entertaining that I made my first Ugandan child cry last week. Walking to school one day we stopped at one of our students house, just to make sure he was going to come to class that day. Usually on our way to school all the kids scream Hi Mzungu to us and this day was no different….until I approched 2of the kids while The other teacher checked their brother would come to school that [...]

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