Beacon of Hope Uganda

We address some of the most pervasive problems in rural Uganda, including HIV/AIDS, malaria, hunger, education, poverty, access to clean drinking water, and orphaned children. In addition, we focus on empowering the youth of Uganda through leadership and skills training. BoHU is founded on the principles that our common humanity is more important than our individual differences. We therefore operate on a non-political, non-denominational, and non-sectarian basis, welcoming each and every Ugandan in need.

Although the focus of our programs is on providing resources for quality education in under-resourced communities, in order to uplift the youngest of our society it is often necessary to first assist adults and the communities in which they live. Past and/or ongoing projects conducted in the general community include feeding the destitute, outreach, counseling, and assistance to people living with HIV/AIDS and other medical ailments, counseling and immediate assistance to individuals who have been raped or defiled, building of village wells, assistance with women’s craft groups, and organization and ongoing assistance with an organic community garden.

 Education
o School Sponsorships
BoHU has successfully provided schooling for hundreds of orphans and disadvantaged youth in the Mukono region by providing school sponsorships to approximately 650 village children who would otherwise be unable to have access to education.
o School Outreach
BoHU conducts successful school outreach programs which offer profoundly important subjects that are not traditionally taught in our schools. Our discussions include topics such as personal hygiene, disease prevention, and a variety of life skills including social and interpersonal skills. Each presentation is tailored to the age of the group, making them fun and easy to understand. We are proud to say that following our interactive presentations, the vast majority of both primary and secondary schools have invited us to return.
 Community Outreach
o Empowerment of Women
 Outreach to hospitals and women’s and community groups, focusing on the importance of breast feeding, gender balancing, and domestic violence prevention within the home. In cases where domestic violence is reported, BoHU staff provides counseling and assistance to both parties.
 Beads of Hope Women’s Craft Project. The Beads of Hope project was set up to empower women who reside in rural villages by introducing a source of sustainable income for these women and for BoHU projects. Each bead is made of strips of paper that are rolled by hand and then painted with varnish. BoHU volunteers teach the women how to make the beads, provide supplies, and buy back the beads which are then assembled into exquisite pieces of jewelry at the BoHU headquarters. Profits are allocated to the specific cause each necklace color represents, with a small portion used to keep the Beads of Hope Project going.

 Sexual Assault Response and Immediate Assistance is available through BoHU to women and girls in the community who have been raped or defiled. BoHU has one dedicated staff member and 24-hour hotline telephone number for use by affected members of the community.
o HIV/AIDS Outreach
o Water and Sanitation
o Sustainable Agricultural Development
 Pig and Poultry Projects
 Organic vegetable gardens and animal rearing
 Orphans and Child Care
o BoHU’s original orphanage grew out of two of our earliest programs: (1) a feeding outreach program to the destitute of Mukono and (2) a crafts production project where many of the participants who had HIV/AIDS were encouraged to bring their children during the day. This allowed critically ill residents to earn a small living while still being able to spend time with their children. As several of our craft production citizens succumbed to the disease, BoHU found either guardian situations for the children or temporary housing. In 2006 Beacon of Hope Uganda was given a home in Mbalala in which to start and operate an orphanage to assist these newly orphaned children as well as those for whom we were unable find guardians. The building which housed the orphans was donated by a most generous woman who cared deeply about the plight of Uganda’s orphaned children. However, when the woman died, her family took possession of the structure and BoHU found itself unable to afford the newly requested rent.

In 2008, BoHU was forced to close the orphanage, moving 35 of its children to an orphanage in Bushenyi and another 22 to an orphanage in Gomba-Mpigi. We continue to financially support the day-to-day needs of these relocated children as well as 73 others whom are being fostered in individual homes. We are currently able to pay school fees for only a few of these children. However, we have recently designed and instituted school sponsorship donor outreach programs in both the United States and in Great Britain, and hope to expand the program to Canada, Australia, and the Netherlands.

Beacon of Hope Uganda recruits and places foreign volunteers with small community based projects and schools around Mukono, Bushenyi and Gomba- Uganda. Through our volunteer placement program, we aim to build the capacities of local projects and raise awareness around the world about the successes and challenges of life in Uganda
Many local Projects lack the money and skills to grow themselves. We hope that with our program in place, our projects will overcome some of the more serious challenges they face. These include: lack of money for operations (wages, office space, transport, training courses), lack of business skills (book keeping, marketing, strategy, grant writing), and lack of up to date knowledge (Counselling/mentoring skills, English language, HIV/AIDS and life skills information).

We offer a safe and family-like environment in which to come to Uganda and give your time. We offer pre-arrival support by answering your questions about Uganda (Mukono, Bushenyi and Gomba) and by finding a project that best fits your skills and interests. We can also connect you to former and current volunteers working with us. We offer in-country assistance by collecting you from the airport, getting you to your placement, and unravelling some of the more complicated cultural issues you face when entering Uganda for the first time. It is not easy to come to a completely foreign culture on your own. We want to be there to give you encouragement, advice, and support in order for you to be most effective while you are here.

While working with Beacon of Hope Uganda, volunteers learn about the real situation at the grassroots level in Uganda. Life in Uganda is tough for everyone, not just HIV/AIDS patients, orphans and refugees. Wages are low, corruption is rampant, and education is not universal. In spite of this, Ugandans are some of the most welcoming, friendly, and open people in Africa. Volunteers become part of the family, learning about the local culture: how to cook, how to speak the language, how to sit peacefully with their neighbours and talk about life in general. We hope that volunteers take that knowledge home with them, spreading the word about Ugandan development issues and culture around the world.

If you can spare a month, 2 or more, Beacon of Hope Uganda will find you volunteer work with projects based in Mukono Town and within nearby villages. The organization (Beacon of Hope Uganda) we work with provides primary and secondary education to needy children, youth mentoring, community outreach and counseling. Please read ahead about the various types of the programs you can join.

All of our projects need volunteers who can bring new ideas, work with minimal supervision, and have a positive, self-starting attitude. The organization does not need just young volunteers, but older people with business skills and experience. They need those who can sort out bookwork and apply for grants. Just as these projects try to help all members of society, they need all ages of volunteers to help them function.
Basically, you need to decide if you want to live in a town with a bunch of other volunteers or if you want to be more fully immersed and spend your time living and working in the village (Bushenyi at the Orphanage or Gomba with youth)!
Mukono Town Projects

There are many private schools in Uganda that educate, house and feed needy children and orphans. You can teach primary classes, including academic subjects and life skills, and organize sport and art activities for the children. Let us know what you’re interested in teaching and we’ll get you into the best school for you. School terms vary annually but are likely to be: Feb 1 to April 15, May 20 to August 20, Sept 20 to November 30. We also work with village-based boarding schools. So, don’t feel limited to Mukono town!

Teaching needy and orphaned kids has serious challenges and needs volunteers who are open to local teaching methods but still able to bring creativity and fun into the classroom. You are the outside world to these kids. Schools have a basic curriculum, but you’ll be planning your own lessons daily. Know that traditional education in Uganda is based on memorization and passing exams. While there is a language barrier, by volunteering you can introduce creative writing, drawing, debate, and life skills into the classroom.

However, if you’re into something a little less structured that includes camping out and mentoring youth around the campfire, perhaps you’d like to work with a Gomba based youth group. We have a project (Gomba Youth Development Association) that promotes the voluntary spirit in Uganda. You would work alongside Ugandan volunteers (youth aged 17 – 27) in programs directly benefiting local communities all over the District. Expect to take part in an ever changing schedule made up of public speaking and mentoring youth and youth leaders fighting against HIV/AIDS, public health/hygiene, family planning, condom use/distribution, and creativity workshops promoting small business generation, the importance of basic education, and women’s rights and empowerment. Bring camping gear to get the most of this program.

All volunteers based in Mukono Town (up to 6 at one time) will live together in a large Guest House (Light Guest House) run by Beacon of Hope Uganda; Scovia is there to take care of you. The building is within an open compound, with an outdoor showers and Toilets (Without running water). 3 meals are provided each day, which consists of local foods, such as matooke (mashed plantain), posho (cornmeal), potatoes and rice or noodles. They are generally served with beef, fish, peas, beans or groundnut sauce. Bread, eggs and fruits are available for breakfast, vegetarians are also accommodated.

VILLAGE PROJECTS:
Beacon of Hope Uganda also places volunteers with a number of small community based projects that provide counseling, care, and education for rural people and orphaned and underprivileged children. Each of these placements is located in a village setting within Mukono District, Bushenyi and Gomba District.

Each village placement provides a totally different experience, but main activities involve working with local children and youth. You can decide if you want to teach nursery, primary, secondary, and vocational education or if you want to be involved in a more free form work arrangement placed with an organization that provides community outreach services.

Since teaching placements have been described above we won’t dwell on them here. But you should know that you’ll be living at your school or at the Light Guest House. You’ll have the opportunity to really get to know your kids as many of them also live at your school.

As far as community outreach activities are concerned you’ll have to decide just what you’re into. We have projects that provide health care, HIV/AIDS prevention and AIDS care, counseling, youth mentoring, women’s rights education, and small business development. Let us know and we’ll figure out a good placement for your skills and interests.

A village placement is appropriate for you if you have great ideas and a seriously flexible nature. Expect your schedule to change daily with no notice. Expect to have time to relax. Expect to become a part of the village forever.
Each village based project will house you and feed you. They will fetch your water and wash your clothes. They will love you and take you places. Your village home will be secure enough for your stuff, but won’t have running water or very much electricity. Your toilet and (bucket) shower will be outside (but fully enclosed). Your food will be local Uganda food, but will be served at weird times. You are welcome to come and stay in the Mukono town with the other volunteers on the weekends. You will need to defrag with those like you.

ABOUT MUKONO TOWN
Whether you volunteer in Mukono town or in a village, you’ll likely use Mukono town as your base for services and meeting other volunteers. It’s located on the Kampala-Jinja highway about 20km from Kampala. With a population of about 35,000, Mukono has 7 internet cafes, a major university, a bunch of restaurants and drinking spots, supermarkets, several banks, and luxury hotels with a swimming pool and gardens. It’s easily accessible from all village placements by public transport.
By public transport it takes about 40 minutes to get to either Kampala or Jinja, which are good places to get specialized services or have some western fun.
Mukono District Profile (May 2007) A selection of interesting facts.


Location
Mukono District lies just north of the Equator in the Central Region of Uganda, between the capital, Kampala, and the second largest city, Jinja. It has Luwero and Kayunga Districts to the North, Kampala and Wakiso to the West, Jinja to the East, and Lake Victoria to the South.
Area and Land Use

The total area of Mukono District is 12,655.7 sq km, but only 3110 sq km when open water and permanent wetlands are excluded. Land use includes 1,496.9 sq km of subsistence agriculture, 151.4 sq km of large scale farming, 650 sq km of forest, 14.4 sq km of built up area.

Languages
The main languages spoken in Mukono District are Luganda and English. Luganda, one of the Bantu groups of languages, is largely spoken at home. Like other Bantu languages the nouns are made up of a stem and prefixes, thus from the stem Ganda, Buganda is the historical country. Muganda is a native of Buganda, Baganda is the plural of Muganda, and Luganda is the language spoken by the Baganda. Uganda (the name given to the modern country as a whole) is the Swahili version of Buganda.
Uganda does not have a natural national language (unlike Kenya and Tanzania with Swahili) and there are over 30 tribal languages. So English has been made the official language of government and business. English is taught in Primary School and is the language of instruction in Secondary School.

HOW TO APPLY

Please email us your resume, a list of your skills/interests, and tell us why you want to come live and volunteer in Uganda. Our program is pretty popular, so try to apply well in advance of when you’re traveling.

You must arrive around the 1st or 15th of the month. We have a one month minimum and a 6 month maximum. If you want to stay longer, we’ll work it out if the space is available.

You need to be at least 18 years old, speak English, and be in relatively good health to volunteer with Beacon of Hope Uganda.

THE COST
The cost to volunteer with Beacon of Hope Uganda for one month is $ 700 USD. You can pay your fee through wiring it to our account for proper preparations of your placement. The fee covers support while you prepare for Uganda, airport pickup, Accommodation, food while volunteering, supervision, a donation to the organization, Second Month $ 600 and $ 550 for any addition month. 3 Months paid at once is $ 550 and its covers all costs and $ 500 for 4-6 months paid at once. It also covers your in country fee, 24hr Emergency, Membership to host organization, All safe travel alert service and a Letter of Recognition after your service.

The fee does not cover airline tickets, visas, vaccinations, drinking water, leisure activities, or medical services. You’ll likely need $20-$40 a week to support a basic life which includes drinking water, internet, transport, and a few western treats such as coffee and chocolate. Safaris and white water rafting are a bit more expensive.