Volunteering at BUVAD
Why Volunteer at BUVAD?
BUVAD is aware of the many volunteer opportunities that exist in Africa and wants to make your decision to come to Uganda as straightforward and painless as possible. Many non-profits running on volunteer time and effort leave many questions unanswered, and the process of making that decision is harder than it should be. BUVAD intends to make as much information possible on the front end in an attempt to make this a more transparent process.
There is a lot of room for independence and decision-making when you volunteer for BUVAD. While BUVAD has set up specific subjects in its programmes for implementation, BUVAD answers to its community and is able to change as the communities need change. This enables you, as a volunteer working in the field, to be the eyes and ears of BUVAD. As you design your programme, you have the freedom to react as you see fit.
BUVAD assumes you will have extensive knowledge on the subjects you wish to create workshops on or projects you wish to participate in. This is something that we will confirm as we go through the application process with each other. What we need over and above your valuable knowledge is that you as an individual are able to act with a high degree of responsibility, independence and that you are by nature a proactive person. We already know by the first-hand experience that most people willing to volunteer possess these traits. You can also correspond with past volunteers by just asking for contacts.
Volunteer Residence
The washroom and the toilets are located in the backyard. There is a porch overlooking the front of the guest rooms where you can sit to read a novel in your free time, make gymnastics early in the morning, and or watching the moon and the stars at night. A bigger group of volunteers can be hosted in village families that provide a typical African setting.
It takes about 15 – 20 minutes to walk from the bus stop to the Centre, or you can catch one of the boda-boda’s(a hired motorcycle). The residence is next to Bukolooto trading center that is characterized by small stores for basics and more specific staples like beer or produces. Even volunteers traveling to stay in families away from the center/residence will be making their reorganization from the center.
If you are looking for a place to get away from it all, you will love it here. The residence is very quiet and you will rarely see cars zooming past. Take a stroll down to the main road and make your way to the villages for a nice hike, or grab a chair and some fruit or a beer and sit out on the porch with a book.
People are very curious and friendly and if you are in front of the house, you will have many visitors and plenty of opportunities for conversation. Please understand that power is regularly off rather not stable and during such circumstances the Centre uses hurricane lanterns for lighting, creating a very romantic setting for your African adventure. For those that will be staying with families in the villages, most villages have no power and the commonly used source of lighting is the hurricane lanterns.
Things to do
Our volunteer residence and focal area are located near several locations you will want to make part of your schedule. Many can be done in a day and some you can make overnight trips out of;
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- Kayunga Town where you can find music and dancing at the recreation center, cinema halls, trading and restaurants (7km)
- Kangulumira, includes fishing and the Kalagala Waterfalls, among other sites (20km)
- Busaana, along the Nile and includes fishing and a ferry crossing into Jinja (20km)
- Bujagali Waterfalls, for rafting. Good tourism facilities (40km)
- Lake Kyoga, located in Bbaale (60km)
- Have fun along The Nile River banks at Kalagala water Falls site in Kayunga District.
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