This is the blog for Rhona and Bobby Hogg's VSO experience in Uganda. In August 2008 we applied to do VSO and, following an assessment day in London last October, we were accepted as volunteers . Because of the strong Scottish links, we had set our sights originally on Malawi where we spent a week in June 2008 but joint placements are difficult to find and in February we agreed with VSO to open up the search. At the end of March we were delighted to be offered placements in Kampala, Uganda. We are to work for a HIV and AIDS initiative called Reach Out Mbuya (http://www.reachoutmbuya.org/) where, we hope, Rhona's community nursing experience and Bobby's IT experience will prove useful.

We are due in Kampala on 18th September and have committed to spend a year there. We are very excited about the prospect of living in a very different part of the world and working with Ugandans who, from many reports, are fun to be with. We expect there to be many challenges but our stay in Uganda should be immensely enjoyable.

We are indebted to VSO for giving us this opportunity. Our preparation, including 2 training courses in Birmingham, has been excellent and we are confident about the in-country support that we will get from VSO in Uganda. I understand that it costs VSO around £15,000 to support each volunteer. If you would like to make a donation to support our placements in Uganda please visit the Just Giving site through the link opposite.

Friday, 11 December 2009

An international week.

Saturday 5th December.
This week was very busy for us; Tuesday was World Aids Day and it is also  International Volunteering Week so for us who are volunteering in a HIV/AIDS Initiative it’s been pretty hectic. On Tuesday Reach Out had an amazing day for staff, clients and a whole lot of others who came.


After  registering, we were given The Tee Shirt. 















We then marched off to mass to the swinging rhythms of the Reach Out youth brass band. The day continued with a parade through all the areas Reach Out serves and lunch for a very large number of people. Things seemed very unorganised and left to the last minute, but it all worked out very well. Africans just seem to have the knack of doing things without fuss and they certainly like to party.
 
There were activities on all week to celebrate volunteering in and outwith Kampala. The theme was climate change and conservation. We could have gone to Soroto for parades and tree planting but we really don’t have time to do much as we are both very busy at work. 



However, we went to a barbecue in the very nice gardens at VSO headquarters and met up with VSO people, some of whom had travelled from up-country and we had not met before. As always, it was interesting comparing experiences which are very mixed. Some people have difficult living conditions, with houses no electricity. One couple rely on a hotel generator which is only on when there are guests staying at the hotel. They do not have a house as such but a collection of rooms round a courtyard and so have to go outside to go between the rooms. Others are two hours drive form reasonable shops where they can buy fresh food, apart from vegetables, such as milk and meat. Some have difficult placements - with no funding; colleagues who have not been paid for  months; working in very isolated conditions with no real plan or support. So once again we think we are incredibly lucky to have great and busy placements, a great work ethos in the organisation and nice house. The lack of hot water, the power cuts and occasional water cuts all seem somewhat trivial now and part of the fun (well, experience!). 


The highlight of the barbecue was an African dance performance by some of our fellow VSOers who have been attending dance classes. We went to the first class which was organised during (but not part of) our recent VSO in-country training. A few of the  Kampala based volunteers continued with a two more sessions to prepare a polished performance. They did a great job  providing a fantastic display and encouraging everyone to join in.
 




Last night we were at a cocktail party at a big international hotel where volunteer awards of the year were presented. Cocktail parties and VSO seemed a bit incongruous, but it was a great night – the Ugandans made sure of that. Prior to the cocktail part there was a meeting about climate change and its devastating impact on Africa. Some areas are experiencing drought and flooding for the first time, with loss of crops and subsequent food shortages.


A volunteer, Michael, from Reach Out received one of the awards and there were quite a group of us there.  Michael was obviously really thrilled at being recognised and we have nice photos, with Ben a VSO volunteer from Kenya who also lives next door to us, Lydia the HR manager and Faith, another volunteer.
Posted by at