For those of you who don't know the details, I'm off to rural Uganda for just over 3 months to volunteer at a primary school. I'll try to answer some of the questions people ask most often in this first post.
Location
The school is south of Masaka (see maps below) in a village called Kabira, so quite close to Lake Victoria and the Tanzania border.
Map of Africa with Uganda highlighted
Map of Uganda
The School
The school is called St Paul's/KAASO (Kabira School of Adult Attention and Orphans), and provides primary schooling to around 500 children. About half of these board as it is too far to go home each day. The area has been hit hard by HIV/AIDS and rising food prices (more about that later), so some children's families are too poor to pay the school fees. Money for food and teaching materials is always in short supply.
In addition to the school, there is also a women's empowerment group that are investing time and money in beekeeping, weaving, pigs and cows.
What will I be doing?
I'm not really sure yet, but probably a selection from teaching, talking and playing with the children, helping to look after the children in the sick bay, marking books, producing displays and generally helping around the place. Hopefully with a bit of time to see the area too!
Drought
The main impact of the East African Drought on Uganda is rising food prices. Apparently the summer term this year finished two weeks early because of the increases - presumably because the school couldn't afford to stay open (although I may have misinterpreted this). The area in trouble is much further north, so unless it gets a lot worse then I don't think there will be any other issues.
Who am I going with?
I'm going on my own, but found out about the school through the charity Kids Worldwide, a charity that organises placements for volunteers at schools, orphanages and community projects around the world. There is a key difference between Kids Worldwide and the traditional gap year companies, in that Kids Worldwide is run by volunteers for volunteers as a charity, not as a for profit company! This means that I will pay for my board and lodging and make a donation straight to the school when I get there, so no money is lost along the way. Sounds good to me!
