Volunteering in Uganda

Uganda, The Pearl of Africa, is one of the continents most beautiful and inspirational countries and Soft Power Education is lucky enough to be based in Jinja, a town that sits on the edge of The Mighty White Nile.

Our aim is to develop and improve educational facilities for children mainly in the primary sector. Having built two pre-schools in the area for 120 Aids orphans between the ages of 4 & 5 years old there is change in the air. Our current 5 year plan is to refurbish, up to Government standard, the 20 Government primary schools within the sub-county of Budondo. Read on, as it’s a project we’ve been working on for the past 2 years.

Over the last 24 months we have burst into 15 of these primary schools. We have built brand new classrooms, refurbished others, excavated pit latrines, installed 8,000 ltr water catchment tanks, provided teaching aids in each new classroom, built a special needs unit complete with books and materials, resourced a Teacher Training Centre and held an International Arts Project.

Overlanders help out	Catchment tank under construction

This is not all. We are branching out within the local community of Kyabirwa and have built a pottery run by 4 local apprentices who are helping the primary school children learn new skills whilst making wild objects out of clay. We are assisting an American Doctor in the venture of a local health clinic, as well as the construction of our flagship building, The Education Centre. This inspiring building will give every child, currently within Budondo, the chance to read books from a library, watch stage performances, use computers and learn more about their world.

Just how have we achieved so much in such a short space of time? It’s down to generous donations and serious commitment from tourists and volunteers who have passed through Jinja to have a taste of what we are doing and once home have spread the word. These individuals have dedicated a day, perhaps 4 weeks or 3 months to work alongside us and our builders doing anything from sawing wood to painting murals, to hammering in nails to laying concrete to hosting sports and art workshops.

Students and volunteers

Soft Power Education will enable you to get involved at grass roots level. All we ask for is your time, energy and donation - we don’t ask for a registration fee, but we do ask that you fundraise prior to your arrival and bring with you a donation. Soft Power Education is 100% charity, so everything you donate will go back into making a difference to the lives of Uganda's children, which is something you will be able to see with your own eyes.

To find out how you can volunteer with Soft Power Education click here.

Volunteering at Home

You could organise a fundraising event and have fun while raising money for a great cause. See our fundraising page for ideas.

If you are a teacher or a pupil you can keep in touch and use our stories and adventures in school: there will be loads of exciting tales on the site over the next few months so please contact us if you have any ideas: click here Send us messages which you think may help or indeed amuse us!