Although Uganda is endowed with an abundance of natural resources, it remains a least developed country, with the lowest indicators of socio-economic development, due to extensive political and social corruption, and extreme poverty. The most affected population is the majority of Ugandans who live in rural areas with poor infrastructure. Often roads, schools, and health centers are extremely poor, with no clean water and poor sanitation.
There’s an urgent need for volunteers to boost the basic facilities and infrastructure for the people in poverty-stricken communities. Projects vary from constructing and repairing houses, schools, care and health centers, toilets, and clean water sources for deprived local people; to learning traditional building techniques as well as initiating new appropriate and environmentally friendly building skills. The construction project offers participants with both valuable life-changing experiences and an opportunity to make a difference. This is where you come in!
What will I be doing?
Volunteers in this field work in manual labor jobs alongside skilled and unskilled local builders to help with the construction work. The buildings are made using traditional methods and locally sourced materials. The construction techniques are also simple to master and are ideal for sites with limited facilities. No electricity is required at the site– everything is done by hand! Participants’ tasks can include digging foundations, mixing cement, building walls, constructing a roof either with grass or iron sheets/tiles, plastering, painting and white-washing, landscaping, digging trenches, refurbishing sports fields, bricklaying, and constructing local huts.
Project Location
Our volunteer programs are based both in the town of Fort Portal, which is located 300 kilometers from the capital city of Kampala, and in Jinja town about 80 Kilometers east of the capital city of Kampala. The volunteer program begins on the first and third Monday of each month. Volunteers can choose to volunteer for periods ranging from 1 week to 24 weeks.
Date
Our volunteer placement programs run all year round. Though our volunteer placement program start date can be flexible, we recommend that all prospective volunteers set their start date either on the 1st or the 3rd Monday of each month. We advise you to arrive one day before your program is due to start (the day before orientation). Accommodation is provided from the Sunday night before your program starts on Monday, however, if you arrive earlier our staff will organize accommodation for you. This accommodation will cost extra but it is not expensive (expect to pay approximately US$30 per night (B & B). You will pay for this accommodation directly to the Hotel when you arrive in the country. Once you have booked your flights to Uganda ensure you email your flight details to our Volunteer Placement Advisory to ensure you are picked up at the airport.
Program Cost
At Africa Sustainable Tourism Care Foundation (ASTCF), we offer very affordable program fees with high-quality service and a level of transparency to all our volunteers and interns. We work hard to make our prices as reasonable as possible while maintaining our personalized service and standards of excellence. Our fees reflect unmatched support for the volunteer and real service to sustainable projects in the community. The program fee covers the cost of decent homestay accommodation or in the volunteer’s guest house, meals, orientation, and in-country program support during your entire volunteer stay. Our program fees are determined according to the length of stay.
Volunteers are required to pay a deposit of US$300 to secure their placement. A deposit is included as part of the program fee, it is not an additional charge. Full payment of program fees is due on arrival in Uganda.
(ASTCF reserves the right to change its policies, review costs, and inform volunteers accordingly before their arrival. All fees and arrangements on this website remain final.)
Please Note: No extra charges such as application or processing fees exist. The program fee outline below is exactly what you will pay. However, we encourage all our prospective volunteer to set up a fundraising for their project donation using the GoFundMe platform before they arrive at the project site in Uganda. To convert these prices to your local currency please click here. The program fee paid is non-refundable.
Weekly Volunteer Program Fees (Program fee is quoted in US Dollars)
Airport Pick-up
Our program coordinator will meet volunteers at Entebbe International Airport in Entebbe town upon arrival, after which you will be transferred to your project site. If the volunteer’s project placement is in Kampala, you will be transferred directly to your project site after being picked up from the airport. If a volunteer’s project is in Fort Portal, you will spend the night in Kampala at the Guest Inn and transport you to our project site the next day.
NB: Airport Pick-Up will attract a fee of 150 USD.
Ugandan food is tasty and diverse. Volunteers can expect to experience flavors and meals during their volunteer experience. You will be provided with 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Meals will consist of local foods (matooke, posho, cassava, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, yams, and rice), served with green/vegetables, beef, chicken, fish, beans, or ground nuts stew. The country’s tropical climate contributes to a healthy choice of fruits which include bananas, watermelon, papayas, mangos, jackfruit, guava, passion fruits, sugar canes, and pineapples.
Depending upon the particular location and placement, volunteers will either stay with a host family or within our Volunteer Guest House, a rented house or lodge Within our Volunteer Guest House accommodation, we offer simple but clean, safe, and comfortable living spaces where volunteers can reside in either a single or share a room with fellow volunteer of the same gender.
Homestay Model Homes have selected homes that are upgraded to a level where host families can host tourists. Our host families are chosen carefully and are esteemed community members and experienced in hosting international volunteers. They have a strong interest in our volunteers’ safety and well-being and demonstrate this with caution and care. The family is trained in visitor handling, nutrition, hygiene and sanitation, and waste disposal. It is expected that community tourism will economically empower families and provide cross-cultural exchange between hosts and visitors.
Thus, staying with a host family offers a strong and supportive system to volunteers during their program and it’s a great way to learn about local people’s culture and customs. Volunteers are recommended to bring their sleeping bags and other accessories necessary for their comfort.
A Day In The Life Of A Volunteer:
Here is an example of a typical weekday at the project. This serves as a guideline only and we ask that volunteers stay flexible as itineraries may change to best serve the community.
Well, we couldn’t be Africa Sustainable Tourism Care Foundation without extra tourism adventure could we?! As part of your experience, in the majority of our projects, we give you the chance to take part in a range of different adventure activities.
Uganda is a large and extremely diverse country in terms of both culture and nature. For three days you can undertake a safari that ushers you into the vast Bwindi Impenetrable National for Gorilla Trekking The Murchison Falls National Park for Uganda Wildlife Tour or the famous Queen Elizabeth National Park for Uganda Bird Watching, or the Kibale National Park for Uganda Chimpanzee Trekking. We also offer a range of mountain climbing trips, from Mt Ruwenzori, to Mt Elgon, to Mt Mgahinga! The adventures will provide you with a break from your project, a chance to see your host country from a different perspective, and time maybe live out a few dreams. Learn more