Volunteering/interning with VFSD in Uganda

What is volunteering?

Volunteering can be work that comforts the heart of the distressed and one of the ways of giving back to the community through sharing your time, skills, knowledge, experiences and resources towards the betterment of welfare, social and economic development of the entire world community. We volunteer because we receive training and become qualified to do new work.

Through volunteering you take part in reaching millions of disadvantaged un reached territories of the world including war affected regions and post war remote, cultural, adventure, and educational areas.

Interning with VFSD
Vision For Sustainable Development offers several internship opportunities to undergraduate and graduate level college students to support our office team members during the fall, spring and summer semesters. Interns are responsible for assisting with the weekly and monthly needs of our organization. Interns are ambassadors, event-planners, fundraisers, grant-writers, outreach representatives, researchers, translators and much more. Our internship opportunities are located both in Kampala and Kumi to support our headquarters’ staff.

Volunteers/ interns needed

VFSD is recruiting volunteers from a wide range of professional backgrounds and would like to hear from anyone from any corner of the globe willing to promote HIV/AID’s, counseling, sensitization, sanitation, hygiene, nutrition, health, development and prevent illnesses in the community.

VFSD wishes to receive volunteers with the following expertise

·         Teachers, Peer trainers, Peer counselors, Counselors, Dentists, Doctors, Trainers in Music dance and drama (MDD), Organizational administratives, Proposal writers/ resource mobilization, Computer training, Website designing, Carpentry skills, Builders/ constructors, Technical/vocational trainers, Games/sports (soccer/ net ball) etc

Note: We do not recognize expertise to a greater extent, but merely visionaries and people with a big heart of charity, all  volunteers/ interns are given priority.

Expected volunteers/ interns  

Every individual qualifies to participate in VFSD activities although some projects like www.visionworkcamps.cfsites.org require participants of 18years and above

·         Volunteers with a desire to help people living with HIV/AID’s, orphans, vulnerable children, youth, girls, elderly men and women, families etc

·         Open minded, positive attitudes, and warm hearts ready to interact with other people of different cultural backgrounds.

·         Willing to take up various tasks and willing to share his /her experiences cultures among other participants.

·         Flexible and with the ability to accept/adapt to living in simple conditions, taste local foods

·         Ready to do light or heavy manual work on different activities and projects

Time of work

VFSD welcomes both short and long time volunteers ready to work 6 hours a day from Monday to Friday.

What type of work do our volunteers/interns do?

·         HIV/AID’s counseling, guidance and sensitization

·         Working with youth and people affected and infected by HIV/AIDS

·         Visiting Schools,

·         Visiting health centers and hospitals

·         Home visits and counseling

·         Teaching children

·         Education and awareness campaigns in HIV/AID’s, Sanitation, Hygiene, Nutrition and preventing child violence against (Children’s rights campaigns).

·         Entrepreneurship trainings and business management

·         Training Music Dance Drama (MDD)

·         Training soccer skills

·         Assisting local medical clinics

·         Community outreach and health education

·         Vocation training and life skills

·        Safety campaigns

·        Women empowerment

·        Work camps  

Beneficiaries

·         People and families living with HIV/AID’s (PHA’s)

·         Orphans and vulnerable children (OVC’s)

·         Young women and girl children

·         Youth

·         Families of elderly and grand parents

·         Disabled

·         Patients and causalities

Expectations

·         Serving as effective snario examples and witnesses when we return to our home countries for others in need to do the similar activity

·         An opportunity to try strange light and heavy activities/ tasks

·         Bring changes and make differences to people with the highest class of vulnerability

·         Have fun and sharing

·         Meet new people from different cultures and backgrounds

·        Taste local foods

·        Experiencing new adventure, cultural backgrounds and tourist attractions

Outcomes

·         Volunteers learn their personal/self weaknesses and strengths as you share with millions of people from new cultures.

·        Gaining an extensive portfolio of skills and experiences such as communication, management, problem solving, leadership and team work, and also enhance your employability which can be genuine and crucial after graduation from high school, college, vocational, university or any other education institution at whatever stage in life you may be in. 

But most of all, the HIV/AID’s infected persons, orphans and vulnerable children, youth groups among others with whom we work will benefit tremendously from your efforts and generosity. 

Other volunteer activities and projects

Work Camps

We organize work camps www.visionworkcamps.cfsites.org in different communities with  

Adventure/cultural/ touring/ educational visits

During short and long term volunteer service programmes and work camps participants always visit traditional and cultural heritage sites, game parks, forests, mountains, lakes and water falls in Uganda. but at the cost of interested volunteers.

Cultural nights are organized and participants always display items, songs and dances from there home countries and traditions. They carry along with things that represent/ introduce their cultures and make their days of volunteering enjoyable.

Donations

Our volunteers have also made commitments, promises, pledges, sponsorships and donations to children, families, schools, health centers, village committees, youth and women groups plus people living with HIV/AID’s.

This support/assistance has been  inform of child sponsorship, scholastic materials like books, pens, pencils, text books, sets, brooms, toilet papers, geometry sets, rulers, reams of papper, uniforms, bags, shoes, computers, printers, filing cabinets, photo copiers, furniture etc  and providing child care for infants and assisting teachers on arranging and implementation of the scheduled programmes in schools.

Sports KITS like:- Jazzies (uniforms), soccer boots, bags, nets, sponsonsorships, promotion etc

Development measures in villages: - building materials and manual labour in building schools, cleaning and constructing water sources (wells), religious places and health centers (clinics).

home-visits for family counseling, assisting patients and donating basic needs i.e clothes, shoes, scholastic materials etc plus basins, cups, plates, jerricanes, mattresses, bed sheets and blankets, soap, sugar, salt, medical and nutritional needs among others.

Volunteer Arrangements

It’s tantamount for All Volunteers to pay an Application fee of $200 Us dollars each due with this application. For administration, preparation of the volunteer service program, application approval and program information preparation, communication and transport to and from Entebbe international airport which is a few miles from Kampala and takes more than one hour away. You are advised to request for these forms at volunteeringwithvfsd@gmail.com or vision4developmental@gmail.com  

A $350 nonrefundable deposit, which is applied towards the cost of the Service Program, The balance of the fee is due after the scheduled date of arrival.  If VFSD volunteers delay the application within 30 days of the scheduled date of arrival, you must pay a late application fee of $50 to cover special handling.  

Note: The service program fee does not include insurance, passports, touring, donations, child sponsorships, visas or airfare.

Below is the program fee break-down which you will need to pay depending on the period of your stay with VFSD.

Cost of the service programme per head in both regions:

               Kampala District                   Kumi District and All programmes out of Kampala

                1 month $ 500                       1 month $ 650

                2 weeks $ 300                       2 weeks $ 450 

                1 week   $ 200                       1 week   $ 300     

This covers costs of accommodation, food, drinks and modest contribution to our utility bills. Meals are cooked right in a home and feature a diverse variety of local dishes, tropical fruits and vegetables, matooke, rice, super gate, posho, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes,  fish, meat, chicken, breads and fruit beverages.

Volunteers stay with one another in shared rooms, with one or two bunk beds in a room.  Men and woman are separate unless a couple or family comes and wishes to stay together during the service programme. These rooms are in a small distance from the VFSD offices.

International volunteers are given local volunteers to interact, share or stay with if he/she is single who takes responsibility of picking him/her in the morning and escorts him/her from the places of work back to the hostels in the evening after work. After reaching home and sharing house work then local volunteer is able to stay or return to his/her place of residence to sleep.

Message to the world

Vision For Sustainable Development wishes to hear from and welcomes every one interested in endeavoring time for the significance of the disadvantaged communities in Uganda mainly in the fields of HIV/AID’s, orphanage and vulnerable groups (OVC), As counseling, sensitization, education, development, health care, sports, shelter and feeding are of spectacular importance.

Holidays are special occasions that take on extra meaning when shared with your foreign friends and if you do not volunteer, you will never expose your abilities to other peoples and cultures.

Families, groups, students, business men/women, church heads, teachers, doctors, soccer coaches, music dance and drama trainers, counselors, builders, artists, artizans, nurses, techinicians etc are welcome too!  For those intending to stay for any period let it be, special arrangements can be made for their stay at VFSD.

VFSD would like to invite partners from the entire world to join us. We are dedicated to help HIV/AID’s infected and affected persons, orphans and vulnerable children-groups. The organization’s intention of formulating this partnership is building a strong network with other organizations, groups, projects and individuals from all parts of the world. 

As organization partners, we can also exchange knowledge, ideas, information, challenges, skills and experience to support the needs of target groups we work with.

VFSD cannot ignore the plight of these vulnerable groups any more. It is time to accept our concern and responsibility as a caring world-community and work tireless and tremendously to bring a positive change in their lives.

Indeed every HIV/AID’s infected and affected person, orphans and vulnerable children-groups in Uganda have the right to shelter, food, education, health-sanitation, hygiene, medical and parental care, equality, security, safety and cocalicular activities for a joyful and better standards of living. 

Respond to this alarm by joining efforts with VFSD in ensuring this as a reality in the lives of the majority infected and affected, orphaned by HIV/AID’s, and the rest of the vulnerable children-groups in Central Uganda and Eastern Uganda and in a spot it will be Northern Uganda.

After volunteering/ interning

All volunteers/interns are asked to work as VFSD ambassadors, event-planners, fundraisers, grant-writers, technical support providers, outreach representatives and researchers in their home countries.

Let us volunteer, “Let us make the world a better place for us and other”

With great thanks for your support,

Lubega Joseph

Executive Director