Remote Orphan Care

My name is Jennifer Harris. I am twenty eight years old and currently working as a Flight Attendant.

Recently I was offered the opportunity to take part in a Uganda volunteer program through Global Volunteer Network. GVN is a non-Government organisation which places people in a range of opportunities such as teaching or environmental work in a number of countries.

I will be working with a local non-profit organization in Uganda, called The Real Uganda, for six Weeks.

The goal of volunteering in Uganda is to offer underprivileged children a future. We hope to provide children with the basic necessities of life - love, food, clothing and shelter - and also provide them with an education, so they can advance towards the same opportunities as their peers around the world.

During my placement I will be caring for orphans most of whom lost their parents due to AIDS related illnesses, street children and abused children at an orphanage. I will take on the role of sibling to the children, a relationship that is often taken for granted, but these children are without.

This opportunity is particularly relevant for me, as my father, Roger Harris, worked in Uganda for several years before he married my mother, and despite the difficulties in Uganda at that time, he loved the country and its people. Unfortunately he caught HIV while there, before the world really know what this condition was, and later passed it on to my mother (though not to myself and my siblings), so for many years I have personally known how difficult life is for those who have been afected. My father died in 1996, but my mother has so far survived, thanks to the medical treatment she has been able to receive in this country. Had she been in Uganda, she would not have been so fortunate and I would myself have been an orphan for many years.

In order to complete this assignment I will be using my personal savings, I have been working hard to raise the funds needed to take up this opportunity to help others. If you are able to help support me financially in some way it would be greatly appreciated.

Programme and Application Fees to volunteer in the Uganda Program for the six weeks are USD2,647 and additionally to this I need to pay for my airfares, entry Visa, vaccinations and insurance. As you can see volunteering does come at a cost. I would appreciate any donations you can give to enable me to take on the challenge of helping others in less fortunate circumstances than ourselves.

I would like to thank you for considering helping me in this worthy cause. Your financial aid will enable me to participate in an experience which helps communities in need.