My experience volunteering with Help Africa

Hi, My name is Rebecca and I’m from Denmark and I'm 21 years old.

I volunteered at Help Africa for a month in July/August 2024, this is my experience.

I am not going to lie, there were definitely a few bumps in the road, but I have learned so much from the experience, and I have really enjoyed being a part of Help Africa. It all started in Denmark, where I was told my flight was 2 hours delayed. This meant, that I probably wouldn’t make my connecting flight. Anyway, I made it, but my luggage unfortunately didn’t. I ended up spending the whole month, with just my small carry-on, and a few pieces of clothes I bought at a local market and the mall. The first week was spent visiting the schools and getting to know the place, a little too slow for my liking. It has been a while since the organization has had a volunteer, so there was a bit of rearranging and organizing to be done. They were good at listening to my concerns, and I was very much a part of molding a new program, more fit to my liking. I was the only volunteer here, so I had to be good at speaking up and being open. If I wanted to do some sightseeing, I would either go with someone from the oOice, or my local friend Bonita. I also used the app “tripBFF” to connect to other travelers in the area, as I wasn’t staying at a hostel where you would normally meet people.

Week two began, and this is where I really started enjoying my stay.
I volunteered at a primary school for a week, Kawuku Parents Primary School, were i got to teach and spend time with the kids from P1 and P2. They were so sweet and welcomed me instantly.

They were very happy to have a “Musungu” teacher. On the last day, Friday, I went with the kids on a trip to a waterpark. The kids and I loved it! I got to play with the kids in the water and teach them how to swim. Unfortunately, they had exams the next week, so I went to a diOerent school for the rest of my stay.

The rest of my time I spent at ST. Rozalia Nursery School, the school is located in Katanga slum, a very poor area in Kampala. This was such an eye-opening experience. The first week in Uganda I was shown around the slum, by a local girl my age, who then later became my friend (Bonita). In the slum, often 5 or more people would live in a single shack of around 8 square meters. However when you see and talk to the people living there, you will realize everyone is very happy, and smiling,(at least from what you can see) and they are making the best of the situation they are in. The people living there, have a lot of small businesses within the slum, to try to make a small income to pay for rent and school fees. Everyone is very welcoming, and people on the streets yell “musugu musungu musungu” because they are excited to see you.

Every day I would start the day oO by dancing with the kids. I taught them how to play stop dance, and they enjoyed it, their smiles and laughter were so precious. The kids never got tired, if they got the chance, they would play and dance with you the whole day, so be prepared to get a workout in ;). After the morning assembly, I would go to my class (middle class) and then I would either help the teacher or do the teaching myself.

On the weekends I would spend my time exploring places further away, and then stay over for one night. I went to Jinja where I met a friend from the US. At Murchison Falls I went with a German friend whom I got in contact with through the tripBFF app. In the evenings after volunteering, I would spend my time exploring Kampala and other cities close by.

Taking everything into consideration, I would definitely recommend volunteering. Uganda is such a lovely country. The countryside is beautiful, and the city is full of things to do. The volunteering itself is a very giving experience and you will end up being very grateful for what you have at home. The organization is very good at helping if you have any problems, and if you want to book any tours, they will do it for you.

While being here, you end up getting a good understanding of how the organization Help Africa operates. You get to see where the kids come from, and how they live, you read and hear some of their stories. The stories will then later be put on the website, so that potential sponsors, will get touched by the story, and choose to donate. Later you will go to some of the schools where the sponsored kids go. And you will get to meet some of the kids, who were lucky enough to get sponsored.

Tips and tricks

• If you go alone, and know that there won’t be other volunteers at the same time as you. either use “tripBFF” to meet others or maybe stay at a hostel instead for example (acacia villa). This all depends on how open you are as a person. I liked staying at the office, but it was difficult at times to find people to explore with.
• Bring long pants since they don’t want you to wear shorts when volunteering. Make sure to bring clothes you don’t mind getting dirty.
• If you have something at home, you think the school might like. bring it! (football, coloring pencils, coloring books and so on) I ended up buying some things for the kids at the end.
• If you have any skills or any games you know from home, then make use of it and teach the kids. For me, that meant teaching them “stopdance”, and going swimming with them. But it can be anything.
• For takeaway food you can use the app: Glovo
• For transport use the app: Safeboda