Although Uganda is endowed with abundance of natural resources, it remains a least developed country, with the lowest indicators of socio-economic development, due to extensive political and social corruption, and extreme poverty. The most affected population is the majority Ugandans who live in rural areas with poor infrastructures. Often roads, schools and health centers are extremely poor, with no clean water and poor sanitation.
There’s urgent need of volunteers to boost the basic facilities and infrastructure for the people in poverty-stricken communities. Projects vary from constructing and repairing houses, schools, care and health centers, toilets, and clean water sources for deprived local people; to learning traditional building techniques as well as initiating new appropriate and environmental friendly building skills. The construction project offers participants with both valuable life-changing experience and an opportunity make a difference. This is where you come in!
What will I be doing?
Volunteers in this field work in manual labor jobs alongside skilled and unskilled local builders to help with the construction work. The buildings are made using traditional methods and locally sourced materials. The construction techniques are also simple to master and are ideal for sites with limited facilities. No electricity is required at the site– everything is done by hand! Participants’ task can include digging foundations, mixing cement, building walls, and constructing a roof either with grass or iron sheets/tiles, plastering, painting and white-washing, landscaping, digging of trenches, refurbishing sports fields, brick laying, and construction of local huts.
Project Location
Our current volunteer programs are based both in the Jinja Adventures city, which is about 80km East of the capital city of Kampala and Fort Portal Tourism City which is about 300km west of the capital city of Kampala. The volunteer program begins on the first and third Monday of each month. Volunteers can choose to volunteer for periods ranging from 2 weeks to 12 weeks
At Justice Tourism Foundation (JTF), we offer very affordable program fees with high-quality service and a level of transparency to all our volunteers and intern. We work hard to make our prices as reasonable as possible, while maintaining our personalized service and standards of excellence. Our fees reflect unmatched support for the volunteer and real service to sustainable projects in the community. The program fee covers the cost of decent home-stay accommodation or in the volunteer’s guest house, meals, orientation and in-country program support during your entire volunteer stay. Our program fees are determined according to the length of stay.
Volunteers are required to pay a deposit of US$150 to secure their placement. Deposit is included as part with the program fee, it is not an additional charge. Full payment of program fees is due on arrival in Uganda.
(Note: JTF reserves the right to change its policies, review cost and inform volunteers accordingly before their arrival. All fees and arrangements on this website remain final.)
Please Note: There are no extra charges such as application or processing fees. Program fee outline below is exactly what you will pay. However, we encourage all our prospective volunteer to setup a fundraising for their project donation using the GoFundMe platform prior to their arrival at the project site in Uganda. To convert these prices to your local currency please click here. Program fee paid is non-refundable.
Program Fee Description 2 Weeks 3 Weeks 4 Weeks 5 Weeks 6 Weeks 7 Weeks 8 Weeks
Program fees for Solo Volunteers or a group less than 10 volunteers $1,100 $1,500 $1,900 $2,300 $2,700 $3,100 $3,500
Program fees for a Group 10 Volunteer’s and above $550 $750 $950 $1150 $1350 $1550 $1750
Weekly Volunteer Program Fees (Program fee is quoted in US Dollars)
What is Included in the Program Fee? What Extra Costs Will I Have?
Airport Pick-up
Volunteers will be met by our program coordinator at Entebbe International Airport in Entebbe town upon arrival after which you will be transferred to your project site. Please email your flight details to our program placement coordinator once you have booked your flight.
Ugandan food is tasty, diverse and volunteers can expect to experience flavors and meals during their volunteer experience. You will be provided with 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner). Meals will consist of local foods (matooke, posho, cassava, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, yams and rice), served with green/vegetables, beef, chicken, fish, beans or ground-nuts stew. The country’s tropical climate contributes to a healthy choice of fruits which include bananas, watermelon, papayas, mangos, jackfruit, guava, passion-fruits, sugar canes and pineapples. (On season)
Depending upon the particular location and placement, volunteers will either stay with a host family or within our Volunteer Guest House. We offer simple but clean, safe and comfortable living spaces where volunteers can reside in either a single or share a room with fellow volunteer of the same gender.
Note: Our home stay are selected homes that are upgraded to a level where host families can host tourists. Our host families are chosen carefully and are esteemed community members and experienced in hosting international volunteers. They have strong interest in our volunteers’ safety and well-being and demonstrate this with caution and care. The family is trained in visitor handling, nutrition, hygiene and sanitation, and waste disposal. It is expected that community tourism will economically empower families and provide cross-cultural exchange between hosts and visitors.
Thus, staying with a host family offer a strong and supportive system to volunteers during their program and it’s a great way to learn about local people’s culture and customs. Volunteers are recommended to bring their own sleeping bags and other accessories necessary for their personal comfort.
A Day In The Life Of A Volunteer:
| Time | Activities |
|---|---|
| 06:00 - 07:30 | Rise and shine! Volunteers wake up early to start a great day. Take breakfast of cereals, bread, tea or coffee. Refreshed and nourished you are ready for your project work. |
| 08:00 | Travel to the project! It typically takes 15-30 minutes to reach your volunteer assign |
| 09:00 - 13:00 | Dig into the project! You do your volunteering job assignment. |
| 13:00 - 14:00 | Lunch break! You will return to your home-base or host family for a delicious lunch. If the distance is too great, you’ll enjoy the box lunch you brought with you. |
| 14:00 - 16:00 | Finish up your volunteer project work! There’s always plenty to do |
| After 16:00 | End your work day and enjoy your leisure time! You can rest, explore the local area, hang out with other volunteers, study or plan for the next day, whatever you want! This is your time to spend it how you like. |
| 19:00 | Dinner at your volunteer house! After dinner, you’re free to continue your local explorations before settling down for the night, thinking ahead for another fun, busy day |
| Saturday & Sunday | This is the time to enjoy safaris with our beautiful country, exploring Uganda and its many attractions. |
Well, we couldn’t really be Justice Tourism Foundation without extra tourism adventure could we?! As part of your experience, in the majority of our projects, we give you the chance to take part in a range of different adventure activities.
Uganda is a large and extremely diverse country in terms of both culture and nature. For three days you can undertake a safari that ushers you in the vast Bwindi Impenetrable National for Gorilla Trekking or the Murchison Falls National Park for Uganda Wildlife Tour or the famous Queen Elizabeth National Park for Uganda Bird Watching, or the Kibale National Park for Uganda Chimpanzee Trekking. We also offer a range of mountain climbing trips, from Mt Ruwenzori, to Mt Elgon, to Mt Mgahinga! The adventures will provide you with a break from your project, a chance to see your host country from a different perspective, and time maybe live out a few dreams. Read More
Trip Booking Form
With our local experts, plan your trip to meet what you want, where you want, how you want and at what budget you plan to spend. You will have a well coordinated and organized trip without devoting too much time on planning.