Volunteer Placement

Volunteering with Relief Care Uganda is a life changing experience which you will never forget. Relief Care Uganda is a small community-based development charity aiming to help the lives of vulnerable Ugandans through a number of privately financed development projects. Volunteering with Relief Care Uganda is certainly not only going to put something into a desperately poor community, but also give you and adventure of a lifetime.

Relief Care Uganda offers a safe and family-like environment in which to come to Uganda and give your time through our volunteer program. We offer pre-arrival support by answering your questions about Uganda and by organizing a project that best fits your skills and interests.

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.

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 neighbors 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.

We offer exciting short-term and long-term volunteer opportunities in our home. Our volunteers’ placements are open to people of all ages and backgrounds, regardless of nationality or qualifications. Volunteers certainly gain an amazing life experience from their participation in our placement program and we recruit new volunteers all the year round. One can also volunteer while in their home’s country by; Fundraising, finding donors, writing proposals, linking Relief Care Uganda for partnership.

The Ugandan Experience
As a volunteer, you will experience traditional Uganda life and participate in daily activities, such as cooking over open fire, collecting firewood, playing with children, teaching children, assisting in the vegetable garden as well as construction projects.

Placement work
The type of work you are involved with will be dependent on your interest, abilities, level of experience as well as your comfort levels. One of the advantages of Relief Care Uganda’s program is that you are not limited to one job role and will have the opportunity to ‘sample ‘other roles during your placement. To become involved in another project simply inform a member of staff who will happily make any necessary arrangements.

Work schedule
Working hours are normally 4-8 hours a day. Time away from work e.g for traveling to other parts of Uganda or East Africa can be arranged through informing a staff member. Upon arrival, there is an orientation session for new volunteers to become acquainted with local culture, language and project work. Further training and supervision on may be provided to new volunteers who are interested in tasks for which they lack adequate experience.

Accommodation
While working with the community schools and the surrounding communities, volunteers sleep in shared rooms with other volunteers. Although we provide sheets, blankets and mosquito nets, volunteers are encouraged to bring their own sheets or sleeping bags

Food and water
All meals are provided by Relief Care Uganda as part of the program fee. The main staples of the diet are rice, beans, posho (corn meal), potatoes, cabbage and bread (chapati), Fresh fruit and vegetables are readily available and are inexpensive to purchase. Meat/Fish is provided on weekends only. Volunteers are encouraged to cook and to introduce different meals. Vegetarians are also catered for very well since we have plenty of vegetables in our community. The water used is very clean and safe to consume. Bottled water is also available and can be purchased at the nearby shops.