Margaret’s Volunteer Trip to Uganda

 

This website will take contributions above my goal.  Any additional funds raised above my volunteering expenses will go directly to buying supplies for the orphans.  

 

I have been extremely blessed in that I have raised enough funds to pay for my program fee and vaccinations! I can not possible thank my supportors enough.  

I will post details of all the items I purchase for the orphans when I purchase them. 

 

 

Soon I will be fulfilling my dream of volunteering in Uganda, where I will be contributing to the work of The Real Uganda through  Global Volunteer Network. I am signed up and my accommodations in a Ugandan orphanage have already been arranged for one month this summer. During my placement, I will be caring for orphans, street children, and abused children at an orphanage.

In order to embark on this journey to help others, I will be using my personal life savings as well as working hard to raise funds to offset some of the expenses.  Even the smallest donation will help enable me to take on the challenge of helping others in less fortunate circumstances.

The funds are needed so soon since I am already needing to be paying for my arrangements.

 

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While I am in Uganda I hope to achieve the following goals:

• Provide the basic necessities of love, attention, support and joy.
• Gain perspective on the human experience and life. 
• Learn what kind of support is most needed for the individuals I work with and then make every effort to deliver this support in a meaningful way.

 Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the program.

 

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The process is fast, easy, and secure. I truly appreciate any support you can provide. 

 

If you are interested in making a tax deductible donation, please donate at the following site instead: www.gvnfundraising.org/fundraise?fcid=291439 

 

If you can't make a donation at this point, help me reach my goal by sharing this page with others! Thank you for your time and consideration; I am incredibly appreciative.

 

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“Even the smallest act of caring for another person is like a drop of water -it will make ripples throughout the entire pond.”
-Jessy and Bryan Matteo 

  

 

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I have included some program details and information about Uganda for your review:

 
The Real Uganda Remote Orphan Care

The Real Uganda

The Real Uganda (TRU), a non-profit organization, was founded and directed by Leslie Weighill. TRU and Leslie network with a number of small NGOs in south central Uganda to provide quality volunteer opportunities. 

About Remote Orphan Care Project and House of Hope

The Remote Orphan Care Project work’s in a very remote area with HIV affected orphans. House of Hope works primarily in Nakateete and Kyazanga villages in the Masaka District of Western Uganda. This is along the trade route where HIV/AIDS most devastated Uganda. Approximately 350 children, ranging in age from 3-17 years, are currently benefiting from the program. Seventeen of them come from child-run households where the primary caregiver is 14 years or younger. Other children live with extended families or neighbors. A few of the children (approximately 60) live at House of Hope full time. 

Goals

The organization is focused on bringing aid and education to the orphans of the area, most of whom lost their parents due to AIDS related illnesses. The main goal of House of Hope is to give these kids what they need to grow and thrive. Things like adequate nutrition, clean water, medical care, education, and the security of knowing that someone loves them.An example of the care provided is getting the children to drink an adequate amount of water each day. It has been taught in some places that drinking water will make you sick, given the prevalence of water borne diseases in non-filtered/bottled water. After years of having been taught this, it is hard to explain and break that habit, despite the fact that a clean water well has been implemented. 

Volunteer’s Experience

• Volunteers live in volunteer house, House of Hope, on site.  There is solar electricity but no running water. Meals consist of local foods, such as matooke (mashed plantain), posho (corn meal), potatoes, and rice which are generally served with beef, beans, or groundnut sauce.  

• Volunteers help with basic academics, feeding, organizing play, arts and crafts, hygiene and HIV/AIDS education appropriate to the childrens' age level.

• Volunteers may help with administrative work such as budgeting, updating paperwork, writing proposals, and maintaining personal files on the children.

• International volunteers complement local staff, and provide cultural exchange and skills to all levels of society. The volunteer’s presence and care not only builds self-worth and confidence in adults, but gives kids a chance to have fun and express creativity through sport and art programs. It’s been found it’s not always what volunteers teach, but how they teach that makes the impact. 

 

Global Volunteer Network

Global Volunteer Network’s Vision

Global Volunteer Network’s (GVN) vision is to support the work of local community organizations in developing countries through the placement of international volunteers. GVN believes that local communities are in the best position to determine their needs, and GVN provide volunteers to help them achieve their goals.  The GVN Charitable Trust is a registered non-profit, Non-Government Organization (NGO) based in Wellington, New Zealand (registration number CC46460). 

Global Volunteer Network’s Beginnings

Colin Salisbury, its Founder and Executive Director, launched GVN in 2000, after spending time volunteering in Ghana, Africa. While there he saw the tremendous difference volunteers made in helping local organizations achieve their goals. By researching volunteer organizations he was amazed to find how expensive and limiting many programs were in terms of volunteer opportunities. 

What Global Volunteer Network Does

GVN has volunteer positions in Cambodia, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Kenya, Nepal, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, Rwanda, South Africa, Thailand, Uganda, USA, and Vietnam.  Volunteers work in orphanages, schools, animal shelters, and nature reserves in the following areas: teaching, medical, HIV/AIDS awareness, community development, women’s empowerment, caring for children, wildlife and environmental conservation, building and infrastructure construction. 

Program Fees

GVN keeps fees to a minimum in order to make opportunities accessible. The program fees volunteers pay go toward providing basic necessities volunteers will need in their host country such as transportation, food, and accommodation; project development and capacity building for partner organizations; and administration, marketing, insurance, and 24-hour communication. 

Why does it cost money to volunteer?

Paying to volunteer can seem a strange concept but, in fact,the volunteer work is not what is being paid for.GVN is a non-profit organization and exist simply to fulfill their mission of connecting volunteers with communities in need with a special focus on vulnerable women and children.GVN's volunteer programs are based in developing countries within poverty-stricken communities. GVN partners with local grass-roots organizations that are working to make a difference in their community/environment where the majority of people do not have the funds to adequately feed their families, afford health care, or send their children to school. The communities themselves are in need of infrastructure and support and do not have the ability to cover the costs for the much needed assistance a volunteer provides. GVN’s long term aim is for the communities/projects to become sustainable and self-sufficient.There are a range of costs involved in establishing and maintaining successful volunteer programs. GVN believes a volunteer program should bring genuine benefits to both the communities and the volunteers.  GVN is a NGO and does not receive any government funding so we are dependent on the fees paid by volunteers to pay for the services and resources provided.

 

Uganda 

History and Economy

Uganda is among the poorest countries in the world with a per capita GDP of around USD$280 (1999). The small domestic market and low purchasing power of most of the population will limit growth for some time to come. Current regional conflicts also prevent the development of export markets.Uganda became independent in 1962. By 1980, after almost a decade of chronic mismanagement by General Amin and the damaging war to remove him, the economy lay in ruins.  The economy recovered well after the National Resistance Movement (NRM) took power in 1986. The consistency and continuity of the reform process led to strong growth. The new Government adopted policies to encourage investment and growth.There are signs that Uganda's impressive economic record may be stalling. High interest rates remain a problem, and hamper efforts to activate a reasonable level of borrowing to stimulate economic growth. The government reported a $87 million shortfall in revenue last financial year and has promised tougher action on smuggling to help push up tax revenues.

Culture and Social Customs

Uganda has been created by the union of many peoples. Ancient people with their own traditional lands, their own customs and a way of life inherited from their ancestors. They now live together as one people. Today they are all proud to be Ugandans, and the local people cherish the memory of their history and keep alive the tradition of their ancestors.

Effects of HIV/AIDS in Africa

Throughout Africa, the AIDS crisis is placing serious strains on societies in a number of ways. It is draining the already limited health services as greater numbers of HIV patients become in need of care.HIV/AIDS is affecting the young adult group in society who are the prime income earners for their household. When young children lose their parents, they are often forced to leave school in order to work. Households with one or more HIV patients have to spend a greater amount of their meager income on care and funeral costs and cut back on basic necessities. This causes many families to fall into further poverty.The economy is also being affected as there are less healthy people to offer labor, which makes the existing labor more expensive whilst self-subsisting agricultural work is being neglected. In countries that were already struggling to expand their economy and industry in order to attract foreign interest prior to the AIDS epidemic, this adds to the challenge.   

 

Background and Detail information above drawn from materials provided by GVN and The Real Uganda’s Leslie Weighill.