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VOLUNTEER IN UGANDA.ORG

 

The Ruhanga Community Development Network is a very new group and thus is in need of much guidance from outside volunteers, both short and longer term.

We have adequate accommodation at UGANDA LODGE Guest House for volunteers and tourists alike and our fee is 30,000 UgSh per day (approx £75 per week) for your food and room. There are no up-front administration fees and your accommodation will be payable weekly.

Locally, Denis Aheirwe - the chairman of the Ruhanga Community Development Network CBO and MD of Uganda Lodge Guest House will be your main contacts during your stay in Ruhanga

Depending upon your existing skills, interests or qualifications, an outline of the most suitable projects for you to work upon will be discussed with Ann McCarthy in the UK before your stay. She will also be in regular contact with you throughout your period of volunteering.

Ways that Volunteers could help

  1. Look at Uganda Lodge facilities & suggest improvements that could be made
  2. Look at ways of making extra income at Lodge so profits can be re-invested into other community projects
  3. Check out trading centres and markets where raw materials can be purchased and crafts items and produce can be sold
  4. Make visits to nearby schools, clinics & church to assess their needs
  5. Visit families in all three villages to gain knowledge about their circumstances and needs e.g. housing, sanitation, health, diet, schooling and goals
  6. Meet the community leaders and decide what projects best to start on as funds become available
  7. Find teachers needed to utilise existing toolkits & equipment.
  8. Discuss salaries & minimal charges needed for classes to become self-funding
  9. Help arrange timetables then assist with publicity for training classes
  10. Initiate children’s sessions for sports, music, singing, crafts, reading etc
  11. Using the Thare Machi DVD’s facilitate group seminars with portable player
  12. Advise local staff where improvements could be made in the kitchen (cooking, food handling, menus, etc)
  13. Explore possibility of opening weekly clinic/immunisation centre at the lodge
  14. Assess total cost of proposed new buildings at Uganda Lodge
  15. Assess costs to set-up small animal projects - rabbits, goats, chickens, bees, etc
  16. Organise building of kiosks for road-side selling of produce & crafts
  17. Encourage regular discussions and early implementation of projects
  18. Visit mountain villages to see if occasional help can be extended there
  19. Any other ideas or things an individual may wish to explore are welcomed

SUMMARY

 

You can see from the preceding pages that there are many ideas for ways to improve the health, education and living standards of the members of the RCDN and all those who live around Uganda Lodge Guest House.

Ann McCarthy lives in England but on a visit to Uganda she saw the potential that opening a Social Enterprise Guest House on a main tourist route could offer to families living in the area. Once guests begin staying overnight, and the project begins to generate profits, many small businesses could be setup with the help of the visitors, some of which are listed above.

The lodge is now in a position to attract tourists and they can also offer reasonable accommodation for Volunteers to stay in the Bandas and Lodge Rooms. It is hoped that these volunteers will be able to share some of the business skills that are needed to start income-producing projects and then help organise vocational training classes to utilise the books, tools and equipment that is already waiting.

Ann has helped with much of the funding so far and has given many ideas on her various visits to Uganda. She regularly keeps in touch by telephone and email. She is now back in the UK raising more money to complete the craft centre and workshop, and hopes to be able to also have some roadside kiosks up in the next few months. She gives illustrated talks on Uganda and the work being done out there, and has also organised sponsored events to help collect even more money.

If you feel you would like to help this worthwhile grass roots project, please feel free to Contact Ann in UK, Rose in Australia or Denis in Uganda

They are always available to talk

Thankyou

 

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