Uganda is located in eastern Central Africa. Uganda is about the size of Great Britain and is populated by dozens of ethnic groups. The English language and religion help unite these diverse peoples, the cosmopolitan capital of Kampala is a green city with dozens of small parks and public gardens and a scenic promenade along the shore of Lake Victoria, Africa's largest freshwater lake. The Swahili language unites the country with its East African neighbors Kenya and Tanzania.
Uganda gained formal independence on October 9, 1962. The boundaries, artificially and arbitrarily drawn in the late 19s, included two essentially different types of societies: the relatively centralized Bantu kingdoms in the south and the more decentralized Nilotic and Sudanese peoples more to the north.
The country's sad history of political conflict, combined with environmental problems and the devastation of a nationwide AIDS epidemic, has stunted progress and growth for years.
Uganda has been governed by a popularly elected civilian government since the early 21st century, which has since achieved political stability. The country is an example for tackling the AIDS crisis that threatened to overwhelm the country and by extension the continent, but is also one of the fastest growing economies in Africa.
Mukono is one of the districts in the central region of Uganda. The city of Mukono is home to the main commercial center and district headquarters of the district, which is where the works and projects are located. The official language is Luganda.
Mukono District is bordered by Kayunga District to the north, Buikwe District to the east, Kalangala District to the southwest, Kira Town and Wakiso District to the west, and Luweero District to the northwest. The city of Mukono is located about 21 kilometers east of the capital Kampala. The city of Mukono is one of the fastest growing urban areas of Uganda in Uganda.
Mukono was part of Buganda upon independence in 1962. After the abolition of the Kingdom in 1967, it became one of the districts to emerge from the Buganda Kingdom and was given the name East Mengo. Under the 1974 provincial administration, it was renamed Kyagwe District. In 1980 it was renamed the Mukono district.
Agriculture is the main economic activity in the Mukono district. The main food crops grown are; cassava, sweet potatoes, corn, millet, peas, soybeans, bananas, simsim and yams. The cash crops include; cotton, coffee, sugar cane and tea. For example, fruits and vegetables are also widely grown in Mukono; tomatoes, onions, ananas, vanilla, passion fruit and cabbage can be found everywhere.
The objective of the projects is to provide resources to achieve sustainable development in resource-deficient areas through effective community education and community project development.
The local team and our volunteers are tackling some of the most common problems in rural Uganda, including poor health care systems, hunger, poor education, access to clean drinking water, environmental degradation and extreme poverty.
You will stay in a volunteer house accompanied by a local family. Living with a host family in Uganda is a fantastic way to gain a deep understanding and appreciation for the people and customs of the country. The house is located in a quiet area of the town of Kalagi, away from all the noise of the big city, but close enough to get you 'quickly' back to the center where everything takes place.
Living with a host family can significantly improve your performance on your stay. First, it will have a huge impact on how quickly you become familiar with local customs.
For volunteers it is a place to relax after the intense experiences of the day, a place to chat over a beer or two, to rest, watch TV or take a walk around the neighborhood.
Our volunteers receive three meals a day. The local cook works meticulously and ensures safe food preparation. We can accommodate special dietary requirements or food intolerances with prior notice.
The breakfast is healthy and well balanced. It includes tea and coffee, bread, jam, fruit and a main course, depending on the desire to prepare that day (eg eggs, bacon, panncakes, French toast, cereal, porridge, etc.).
Lunch is typically the main meal of the day in Uganda and volunteers often eat their meals at their workplace, usually prepared by local families or community members. A typical Ugandan lunch consists of beef, chicken or fish in combination with rice (usually) but can also be potatoes or beans.
In the evening volunteers eat in the volunteer house and the meal consists of a vegetarian and non-vegetarian option.
The district of Mukono and its neighboring districts such as Jinja, Kayunga and Kampala are filled with a myriad of day trip options to explore and immerse yourself in the Ugandan way of life.
Our local team is happy to make your volunteer experience worthwhile by organizing day trips, evening trips and weekend trips, from discovering waterfalls and caves to meeting farmers and their families within the communities we serve. The team can help arrange day trips and expeditions in the district and neighboring areas. These include nature excursions, trekking, white water rafting, horse riding, sport fishing trips, mountain biking, village walks and many more activities.
Uganda has some of the bucket list worthy adventures as it is one of the few places in the world for mountain gorilla trekking.
Other points of interest include the Mabira Forest, a moist semi-deciduous forest known for its hiking and biking trails. The forest is home to over 100 species of large moths, butterfly fauna, 300 species of birds, eg blue swallow, papyrus gonolek and nahan francoline, purple-throated cuckoo etc. Picnic facilities are also available.
The Sezibwa Falls is located 2,5 kilometers off the Kampala-Jinja Highway, 19 kilometers east of the city of Mukono. The site also has a natural forest reserve with forest trails and footpaths for birdwatching and forest research. More than 100 bird species and some wildlife, including rare species of monkeys, can be found in this location.
The Sezibwa Falls is also a cultural site of the Baganda and has cultural artifacts including caves, 100-year-old trees and special rocks of deep cultural significance to the Baganda of Buganda in central Uganda. It is one of the official cultural sites of the Buganda Kingdom.
Volunteering abroad comes at a cost and it is not the intention that the community you will help have to pay for it. If there were sufficient budgets to cover these costs, we would spend it on a local employee who knows the local culture and daily customs. If you want to know more about our transparent system, take a look at the transparency page.
These costs, which you pay on site, are specific to your stay, such as your accommodation and meals. Through payable locally you are also sure that your contribution will go directly to the person who organizes it and will not be left behind at various “intermediate stations”.
Note: these costs are only for individual volunteer work. For group projects, different prices apply depending on various factors
We want to ensure that there is sufficient influx of volunteers to keep each project viable. After all, many projects require continuity from volunteers in order for the project to succeed or to create sufficient impact. Unfortunately, marketing and raising volunteers costs a lot of money. The budgets that the participating organizations collect during recruitment campaigns are used to develop projects in the south for the benefit of the local population and we therefore do not want to address these funds for marketing campaigns.
The membership fee serves to cover the costs of our volunteer platform. We ask each participant for a one-time contribution of €130. This is only the first time volunteering and only after you have been accepted. After payment of this contribution, you can do unlimited volunteer work in the future at any project (if there is room and you meet the requirements of course).
As soon as you are a member, we will inform you as soon as new projects are added to our alliance.
What is your connection fee used for?
You can read all about the possible costs on our transparency page.
We will of course not let you leave without thorough preparation and guidance. With Volunteer Abroad Allliance we have developed a system that ensures that you can sleep soundly and leave with peace of mind for your volunteer work abroad. As soon as you have been accepted and everything has been arranged, you can count on the guidance of our experts.
Once you are registered and accepted for your project, your preparation can begin. You already get a lot to read on the website, but you can also prepare for your trip in other ways. Once you have arrived, you can also count on the guidance of our local team.
Volunteering will have an impact on you and on the local population. We think it is very important to create awareness for you as a volunteer, so that you can optimally prepare for what awaits you as a volunteer. That is why you will receive the login codes for the project page after acceptance as a volunteer. Here you will find information that is important to you as a volunteer for your preparation. You can read everything about your project, accommodation, instructions for a visa application, a packing list, cultural advice for your country and much more…
Our experienced mentor will contact you and will help you with advice and answers to the questions you have. Your mentor is a member of an organization that is part of our alliance and has been working with fundraising for the project you are traveling to for years, so you can speak of a real specialist. Our mentors are members of our alliance and have years of experience in the projects. This system ensures that you receive 100% expert guidance from VAA.
Mon-Fri: 9.00 – 17.00 CET – (Dutch & English)
