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Volunteers
 FAQ for Volunteers
FAQ for Volunteers
HAU has many activities and it depends on what you may wish to do as a volunteer and your skill; you can teach the children counsel them; you may help them to raise funds for the children or for building of the school. You can even talk to the teaches or community about HIV/AIDS.
There is really no “best time”. Our busiest time is from February –November as this is when most of the Ugandan schools and universities have their studies .Whilst the rest of the year is not as busy as those months, we have volunteers all year round and there is always something to do!
As with any where in the world, there are risks when traveling and as long as you are aware of them and respect them, you will be fine .Uganda is a friendly and welcoming country but you need to be aware of the cultural differences like dressing, people do not entertain miniskirts, so put clothes which cover your whole body.
All in all Uganda is a safe, the peace talks are ongoing in the north but you will be in Kisozi which is in the other end of the country. There is nothing much to worry about in terms of your security; local leaders / councils are everywhere in the country and guarantee the safety of both nationals and visitors.
We ask all our volunteers to hold an event or do some fundraising before they come HAU is still a small charity, 100% depends on the money raised and donated to us through our volunteers.
Every single penny you fundraise will go where its needed right here in Uganda among the children. Without fundraising we would not be able to do what we do and the money you fundraise will help us to pay for the orphans and needy families, school fees; and buy land for school building; we really need your fundraising to assist these children.
You will have your own accomodation. Trading centres are also near, should you want to go shopping or to stay in.
There are many local places to eat in and around Kisozi and Jinja, and there you can eat for as little as 3000 ush and be full for a week!
Local food is rice, matooke, posho, potatoes served with beans, fish or chicken. Then if you are feeling bored, you can make it to Jinja. With enough money, one can always have a choice of what to eat quite cheaply.
From outside Uganda, the best thing to do is to search around for the best prices. United Arab Emirates offers very competitive prices with a stop off in Dubai; British Airways flies directly and often has special offers; Brussels Airlines offers good prices via Brussels and give a huge baggage allowance; KLM, Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airways all fly here too. The international Airport in Uganda is Entebbe. You can also take the Akamba bus from Nairobi to Jinja where you can be priced easily.
From inside Uganda: If you are already in Uganda then you need to get yourself to Jinja. You can take a Rosa bus from the old taxi park in Kampala (around $3); take a special hire (around $50) to Kisozi village in Kamuli where HAU is located.
Uganda’s Entebbe Airport is approximately 3 hours drive from Jinja and approximately 4 hours to Kisozi in Kamuli district. If you are arriving late at night we would suggest you stay in Entebbe for the evening, at one of the guest houses, and we can arrange for a car to come and collect you to take you through to Jinja the following day. It's a relatively modern airport where they have an information desk, bureau and canteen. We can arrange an airport transfer from Entebbe ,but we will need the following information from you: date, time and flight number. It will cost 150,000 ush (local currency)or US $75 if booking a taxi through us .The price will be approximately double this if you just arrive at the airport and get a car there! You will need to get a tourist visa at the airport which costs US$50 for 2 months. Please ensure you have US $50 ready in cash as there is nowhere to exchange / withdraw money before getting a visa! Also ensure that they give you 2 months if you are staying for more than a month.Our volunteer coordinator will come to meet you at Kisozi in Kamuli.
Most of the time we enjoy beautiful blue skies and bright sunshine. However, we do have “rainy” and “dry” seasons. These are very hard to define and seem to change every year. All you need to remember is that it can rain, but at the same time the sun is vey hot so you cannot forget sun cream and a hat. Many people are fooled into thinking that they can sunbathe here like they do elsewhere in the world but the African sun is hotter, more intense and burns!
As a general rule the dry months are supposed to be December and January and very wet months October and November with a mixture for all the other months! Somehow, there are minor changes in the weather pattern that don’t scare.
Absolutely yes!! There are several antimalarial options and it may work out cheaper to buy in bulk once you arrive in Uganda. You can also buy a mosquito net here much cheaper than anywhere in the Western world! Make sure you see your local travel clinic at least 6 weeks in advance of your trip here. You may need to have injections too. Ask your doctor for the advice on which injections are necessary.
This really depends on what you do, your donation, how much time you will spend with us. However, the following should give you a bit of an idea. Please budget your living costs separately from your donation to HAU.
Weekends
You will need to budget for weekends: Additional costs to consider
If you are coming from the UK, then its fine to bring £ sterling. You may easily change pounds and it will save you losing money exchanging to dollars then exchanging into local Ugandan shilling when you get to Uganda. If however you are planning on travelling after volunteering then you should also bring some US $ as it may not be as easy to exchange the sterling in other countries and US $ are accepted all over. If you are coming from outside the UK then bring US $. Check www.xe.com for up-to-date exchange rates. Traveler’s cheques are more trouble than they are worth. If they are not keen on bringing heaps of cash with you then make sure to bring a VISA ATM card with your PIN number. That way you can withdraw cash straight from your account when you need it. (VISA is the only card which works in the ATMS here). To save carrying lots of cash too, you can transfer your donation to us before you leave home. You can send money to HAU through Western Union. We can even keep your money securely with the HAU account. VERY IMPORTANT: If you are bringing US dollars, make sure that they are large denominations ($50 and $100) as you will get a poor exchange rate for lower value notes. Also ensure that they are dated from the year 2000 or newer. You will have troubles changing any notes from before 2000.
Kisozi village has a local market, a post office, cafes, email facilities, hospitals, restaurants, guest houses, etc… Most of the banks now have ATM machines which accept VISA cards if you have a PIN, but these are either in Kamuli town or in Jinja. (Mastercard and AMEX doesn’t work here!)
Besides, if you want to exchange your money into the local currency, you will have to come to Jinja town which has a variety of forex bureaus, for there are no forex bureaus in Kamuli district where you are going to be staying. HAU has no office in jinja but mainly operates from Kisozi village Kamuli district. This is where most of our volunteers live.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to send them to us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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