Volunteer Uganda | Kampala
Kampala is the capital city of Uganda widely known as the city on many hills because it is spread over 10 hills. The name Kampala came out of a Kiganda saying, "Kasozi Kempala" meaning the hill for Antelopes. Kampala has got tremendous charm and remains the greenest city in the whole of Africa. It is the central administrative centre of Uganda and is a big commercial city for nearly all of the East and Central Africa.
The city centre is a modern metropolis adorned with attractive vegetation and surrounded by great parks. Kampala is located on the shores of Lake Victoria, which make it a popular location for water sport activities and fishing. It is also a gateway to most of Uganda's attractions like Safari parks, cultural sites and so forth.
Our volunteers are situated in the villages just outside Kampala, where they can enjoy the peaceful surroundings and embrace the village atmostphere and community and also have the opportunity to venture into the main city for shopping, restaurants and a other home comforts.
In Kampala our volunteers have the opportunity to work as teaching assistants, helping the children with their reading and writing skills, art work, music, sports games, and much more. Creative tasks and innovative ideas from the volunteers are always welcomed. Teachers are often overwhelmed by the numbers of classes and rarely have time to teach more peripheral subjects due to curriculum pressures. Just relating to, and playing with the children is very valuable.
We work with two schools in the area.
The Mityana School is a school for poor children and orphans. Children often not only study but also live within the school grounds. The school is run and financed by an Indian-Ugandan woman whose father built the school.
Air field School and Kajjansi are boarding schools for poor children. Both schools are funded by charity, students here are aged between 6 and 15 years old.
There is also repair and construction work often going on so anyone with building experience would be highly valued. However, even those not qualified can help with renovation work such as painting, overseeing, and assisting those involved in construction.
We require volunteers to work for at least 4 hours a day, 6 days per week. Due to schools being so large and having so many students, every extra hour is welcomed and much appreciated. However, if volunteers should wish to take a weekend trip, or one or two days off, this would not be a problem. Both schools are situated close to a smaller village where you can find a bank, shops and an internet café.
| 2 Weeks | 4 Weeks | 8 Weeks | 12 Weeks | 24 Weeks | Extra Weeks |
| €580 | €680 | €1050 | €1350 | €2250 | €75 |
Read how your fees are spent or compare our
prices with other volunteer organisations.
View our prices in other volunteer locations's or
combine your stay in Uganda with stays in other locations as part of a
combination
stay.
What you receive
- 24 hour support from T2T (Local and western) staff living in the same town.
- Accommodation with home-stay host families or in a guest house, according to your placement information.
- Airport pick up.
Apart from our fees, you must pay for:
- Your plane ticket to Kampala
- Vaccinations
- Travel and health insurance
- Visa to Thailand
- All other Food, drink and personal expenses
Our application process typically takes two or three weeks, but can
be speeded up if there is a need for that. When we receive the initial
application from you, we will send you our full application form.
(1) Complete the Initial Application Form:
The first stage of the application process is to fill out the brief initial application form. Upon
receiving this we will send you the full application form.
(2) Complete the Full Application Form:
Fill out the application form. After receiving this we will assess your
suitability and place you on one of our programs.
(3) Placement info:
We will return detailed placement information and an invoice. If you
accept the placement you should pay the invoice and send us receipt of
payment by email or fax.
(4) Program Fee:
The program fee should be paid to us at least 2 months before you are
due to start your placement. However please be aware that we have a limited
amount of placements, so placements will only be secured when we
have received your payment.
(5) Communication:
Once you have made your traveling arrangements you should mail your time
of arrival and the means of transportation and we will confirm pickup.
You can join us for any amount of time, from a week to six months. We do recommend a trip of three to six months since it offers the best value. Regardless of the length of your stay, you will be able to learn some Thai and you will have time to get to know a new culture, come to know its people, and form relationships that will outlast the duration of your stay.
Dates of arrival: All teaching will start on the Monday after the introduction.
Dates for the Year 2010:
|
September: Sat 4, Sat 18 October: Sat 2, Sat 16, Sat 30 November: Sat 13, Sat 27 December: Sat 11, Sat 25 |
| January: Sat 8, Sat 22 February: Sat 5, Sat 19 March: Sat 5, Sat 19 April: Sat 2, Sat 16, Sat 30 |
May: Sat 14, Sat 28 June: Sat 11, Sat 25 July: Sat 9, Sat 23 August: Sat 6, Sat 20 |
September: Sat 3, Sat 17 October: Sat 1, Sat 15, Sat 29 November: Sat 12, Sat 26 December: Sat 10, Sat 24 |
Volunteers who choose to work at the Mityana School stay in our hostel accommodation and volunteers who choose to work at the Airfield School in Kajansi stay with a local host family. Here volunteers share two to a room. Both our hostel and home stay are equipped with western style toilets and showers, although these are cold water showers.
The schools are situated in the countryside that surrounds Kampala. A day trip to this beautiful city, rich in its cultural life, is easy to make and if you wish to stay the night it will not be difficult to find a cheap hostel. If you wish our local coordinator can help you out with various activities such as yoga, massage, boxing and salsa dancing.
An hour and half away from Kampala is Jinja, the source of the river Nile, with a lot of fun adventures such as river rafting, bungee jumping and trekking. If you wish to make a longer trip we can recommend one of the various safaris in the great reserves or a trip to see the mountain gorillas.
Food from Uganda is a sensation. You can sample the luwombo, which is meat or groundnut sauce steamed in banana leaves. It has a tantalising aroma, and is always served with "food", which in Ugandan parlance indicates any carbohydrate. The staple "food" varies from region to region, with the plantain matooke in the south, millet in the north, and potatoes in the west. Cassava, posho (made from ground maize), sweet potatoes and rice are other common "foods". The whole fried fish is succulent, though mostly available at the beach, and usually served with chips/French fries. Other common options around Kampala include the traditional matooke, binyebwa (groundnut sauce), chapati, and meat stew. For the less adventurous, toasted sandwiches or omelets can be found in many places.
If this does not appeal, it is best (and far more interesting) to stop at roadside stands or markets to purchase fresh produce -- fruits and vegetables abound and are very affordable, to say nothing of the roasted chicken or goat on a stick. There are also a number of fast-food places, such as Nando’s, Steers, Domino’s Pizza, and Hungry Lion, all in the city centre.
A basic local dish starts at around 1,000 USh, and goes up to 5,000 at a local buffet, or even 10,000 at a posh hotel. A slice of pineapple from a street vendor can cost as little as 300 shillings.
Kampala features a tropical wet and dry climate, however due to city’s higher altitudes, average temperatures are noticeably cooler than what is typically seen in other cities with this type of climate. Kampala seldom gets very hot during the course of the year, it’s warmest month being January.
Another facet of Kampala’s weather is that it features two distinct wet seasons. There is a lengthy rainy season from August through December and another shorter rainy season that begins in February and lasts through June. However, the shorter rainy season sees substantially heavier rainfall per month, with the month of April typically seeing the heaviest amount of precipitation at an average of around 175 mm of rain.
Kampala Weather Chart
All of our programs are situated just on the outskirts of Uganda’s capital city, Kampala.
Kampala is situated in the south of Uganda on the beautiful Lake Victoria. Volunteers will be met at Entebbe-Kampala International Airport by either our "in country" coordinator, or another member of the T2T team. Many airlines fly direct to Entebbe-Kampala for instance British Airways, Egyptair, Emirates Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines and Sn Brussels Airlines.
You will need a visa to enter Uganda. A passport valid for three months beyond the date of entry, visa and evidence of yellow fever vaccination are required. Visas are available at Entebbe Airport upon arrival or may be obtained from the Embassy of the Republic of Uganda. The current fee for a three month tourist visa obtained upon arrival at Entebbe Airport is US$50.00 in the States, £25 when obtained in the UK and €30 in Europe.
Volunteers should be aware that a visa does not determine how long a person may remain in Uganda. The Ugandan immigration officer at the port of entry will determine the length of authorized stay, which is generally from one to three months as a tourist. Extensions of duration of stay may be requested at Ugandan immigration headquarters on Jinja Road in Kampala. Airline companies may also require travelers to have a visa before boarding. Volunteers are advised to seek advice from their airlines before traveling.
Please seek advice from your GP Doctor on what vaccinations you need. You can also visit the WHO's (World Health Organization) travelers health information site health information regarding the risk of Malaria or other illnesses in Uganda.
One of the conditions of entry onto our programs is that volunteers have travel insurance. Most importantly the insurance needs to include medical treatment and repatriation in case of unforeseen accidents or illnesses. Volunteers should purchase insurance independently and bring a copy of their insurance certificate with them for their local co-ordinator to check before starting their program. Read our terms and conditions.
Read our Terms & Conditions
Download our Teach Terms and Conditions as a PDF File
