Program Reviews

My family and I spent more than a week in Lake Bunyonyi, Entebbe, Fort Portal, and Kampala through the ASTCF, and we had an absolutely fabulous experience! The visit was focused on spending time with and learning more about the communities here. From our 9 year old up to our 55 year old, we all learned a lot, had great fun, and felt like we meaningfully engaged and connected with the wonderful, warm, and kind people of Uganda. The programs are worthwhile and important for creating educational value, cultural sustainability, and environmental sustainability as well. From learning traditional dances to planting crops to cooking together with a family to learning how tea is farmed to singing with a group of children we met on a hike by chance, it has been a life-changing and unforgettable visit! We recommend this organization most highly!

After raising money thru a GoFundMe account to fund the start of a New Village Bank in Fort Portal, Uganda I was able to share my experience as a business adviser, via the teaching of personal finance classes (curriculum was provided to me by ASTCF) to 12 women in the Village so that they could become certified to participate in the bank and micro lending opportunity.

The opportunity to live in the village and connect on a personal level during class time, with these women was very fulfilling. The opportunity to stay in touch and be updated with the results of the lending and savings program gives me great feelings to stay involved going forward and to visit Fort Portal in the future.

I highly recommend any of the various service opportunities that ASTCF offers, as James and Joyce are nothing less than professional and genuine.

I am thankful for my time in service to the Village and to my continuing contact with all in the NGO and the village.

Roy F. Glassberg

This volunteer experience was like no other. You are able to interact with the local communities and work together to support and encourage growth, development and change for the future. The staff are wonderful - you are welcomed with open arms and feel at home as soon as you touch down in the country.

Bring a water bottle, book, sunscreen, small purse for coins and always try and carry small notes.

The program can be flexible depending on what you would like to do, so if you come with an idea of how you would like to create positive change for the community then this will be productive. It is also useful to ensure you raise funds before you begin the project.

The chimpanzee tracking and mountain gorilla tracking is an incredible experience.
The local food is amazing, I miss Joyce's cooking everyday :)

Hello,
This summer I went to Uganda to volunteer for ASTCF and would like to share my wonderful experience working in the local communities and helping out the locals there. During my stay there the days were put to great use building various thing in the local villages such as a water well and pit latrines. The place we were staying at was a very secure compound with all basic amneties and some very nice folks working as supervisers. ASTCF is a great place for a long term stay such as a few months since you are get to meet all the locals and are consistently checked up on by the kind hosts and some friendly volunteers. If you're looking for a chance to make a difference for people in local communities while at the same time learning about and exploring a new country, ASTCF is the way to go.

Hello,
This summer I went to Uganda to volunteer for ASTCF and would like to share my wonderful experience working in the local communities and helping out the locals there. During my stay there the days were put to great use building various thing in the local villages such as a water well and pit latrines. The place we were staying at was a very secure compound with all basic amneties and some very nice folks working as supervisers. ASTCF is a great place for a long term stay such as a few months since you are get to meet all the locals and are consistently checked up on by the kind hosts and some friendly volunteers. If you're looking for a chance to make a difference for people in local communities while at the same time learning about and exploring a new country, ASTCF is the way to go.

As a family of five, older kids ages 25,22, and 19 years old, we went to Uganda to make a positive difference and to have an adventure. Both were accomplished. Africa Sustainable tourism (AST)is the organization on the ground in Uganda that helped us before, during and after with planning and delivering the kind of experience we were looking for. We had many questions and AST always promptly and professionally answered our questions/concerns. We worked for two weeks on the construction of a water well and then traveled for 10 days. AST were responsible for us from the moment we came out of the airport until we reentered the airport for our departure. They did an excellent job. James, Joyce, Jamilla, Catherine, Abraham, Raymond were all excellent at their jobs. We were extremely well taken of. Great food (we are two vegetarians and one gluten free) very clean guest house, any unexpected needs of ours were dealt with.
The areas that were a bit difficult for us were the following: Getting used to African time. Things get done slowly and sometimes work isn't an entire day. So you need to take initiative to entertain yourself or to make yourself useful in a different way than what you intended to do there. We were a bit disappointed that we weren't successful in completing both construction of the water well and the pit latrine. We completed the water well. The pit latrine was being started at the end of our stay by local people.
We are healthy/relatively strong people that enjoy the outdoors: hiking etc... the people in Uganda are far stronger and in better shape than we were. So our requested hikes were much more difficult and beautiful than we expected. Very steep terrain. We are more accustomed to nature walks (in their interpretation).

Our 10 day tour was wonderful. We hiked a lot, white water rafted, saw a local pigmy community, canoed, visited the Jewish community of Abayudaya and saw many monkeys.

It was an unforgettable experience. We feel changed people from being touched by the lovely, hospitable, appreciative, needy people of Kahangi Parish. Doing the daily living tasks is a very worthwhile experience. It helps you understand and appreciate the hard work and strength the local people have. We loved our unplanned encounters with the school children and teachers across the road. We got to teach them songs, dances and how to do the limbo. We will visit Uganda again.

I spent 7 weeks in Kahangi Village working on the microfinance program. I taught personal finance classes to three separate village groups and we worked together on establishing a village bank account. The experience was incredible! You have the opportunity to make real, tangible social impact. More importantly, the skills and tools allow the community to become self-sustainable.

I had a great time getting to know the village members, and working with the staff at ASTCF. The food was fantastic, the company was great, and the location was gorgeous. You also experience real Ugandan culture from the food, the environment, the transportation, the night life, etc. In my time off I was able to visit Kampala and do hikes around the Fort Portal area. There is lots to see and do.

ASTCF is well-structured and organized. The staff is with you every step of the way and they are happy to support you in every way they can. This was a fantastic experience and I highly recommend this as an option to conventional tourism.

The volunteer experience my partner Jenny and I had with ASTCF was everything we hoped it would be. If you are looking for a genuine, meaningful volunteer experience in Uganda, you should consider ASTCF.

From our initial application through to the time we had to say our goodbyes, our hosts, James, Joyce, and Jamilah, were nothing short of amazing, and we will always be grateful for their hospitality and friendship.

ASTCF was very thorough during the application process, ensuring an appropriate fit with their programs. Communication during this process was excellent. Dr. Isa, the program director, and all-around incredible person, was careful to answer all our questions and always responded in a timely manner. They went over-and-above by helping us organize weekend safaris and trekking adventures, and made sure we had the African experience of our dreams.

Now I should mention that I was a novice traveler before arriving in Uganda and had never been to a developing country, so I can tell you how relieved I was to see our hosts' smiling faces upon landing in Uganda! James and Joyce went out of their way to make sure my partner and I felt welcome, and took great care to ensure we were safe. They made our transition into the country much easier. We are so grateful they were with us every step of the way.

Uganda is a beautiful country, with beautiful people and amazing natural beauty. During my time with ASTCF (about 3 weeks), I had the pleasure of staying at the volunteer house in Kahangi Parish, which borders the protected area of Kibale National Park, about thirty minutes from Fort Portal. Instantly I saw why Uganda is referred to as the “Pearl of Africa”, as we were surounded by lush green hills, tropical forest, with frequent visits by several species of birds and monkeys! I would highly recommend spending the extra money on a weekend safari to Murchison Falls National Park – this was an experience I will never forget.

It's true that the volunteer house has no running water, but this doesn't mean you won't have everything you need. Jamilah, the hospitality manager, made sure my partner and I had plenty of hot water for showers and laundry. Fresh, filtered water from the ASTCF community well is not only refreshing, but perfectly safe to drink. Despite this, I would still recommend bringing plenty of bottled drinking water.

ASTCF offers a real 'African experience'. This means, hand washing laundry and dishes, bathing with a basin, preparing meals over the fire (we also used propane stoves), fresh garden vegetables, frequent power outages, using a latrine, and most importantly, meaningful human interactions. Some of this can take some getting used to if you've never been to a developing country, but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.

ASTCF Volunteer Programs are flexible enough to allow you to apply your strengths and skills to whatever projects are happening during your stay. Projects are based on the immediate needs of the community, but emphasize sustainable economic development and empowerment. ASTCF is making a real difference in the community, and I saw this work first hand during my time at Kahangi. Their Youth and Women's empowerment projects are particularly inspiring, and offer plenty of opportunity for volunteers of all experience levels. I felt privileged to contribute to the Environmental Conservation program, and was grateful to James for matching my skills to their community needs.

Overall, the volunteer program at ASTCF offers exceptional value. The meals alone are worth the price. Joyce and Jamila are fantastic cooks, and always made sure we had plenty of delicious food to eat. I especially recommend the chapati!

I will never forget my time in Kahangi, nor will I forget the amazing people I met there. The world would be a much better place if everyone were like James, Joyce, Jamilah, and Dr. Isa. I thank them all from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity to be part of such an amazing team. If you are looking for a meaningful volunteer experience, I would highly recommend ASTCF.

I had a wonderful stay in Kahangi Village working with ASTCF, and would absolutely recommend the experience to anyone looking for a meaningful, positive, community focused volunteering trip. The women I worked with were so friendly and welcoming, and I really enjoyed teaching English classes with them, which they were very keen for; they were extremely receptive and encouraging to me. James, Joyce and Isa were brilliant hosts, and such lovely people - they definitely have made, and continue to make, a lot of difference to the village community, and I was honoured to be able to work with them as well as the women of Kahangi. Overall, my time in Uganda was an amazing experience and I have such lovely memories. However, the trip wouldn't be suited to someone looking to be part of a big team of volunteers, or someone who is not confident to be independent and self-sufficient in their work - while ASTCF offer many options and opportunities for volunteers to get involved with their community and environmental projects, there is no set programme or itinerary. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as it allows volunteers to tailor their activities to their own skills and interests, which hopefully then has a bigger, more positive impact on the community - I certainly found this with the English lessons, and was so glad I could make my contribution in this way, it just requires you to have a bit more self-sufficiency than other organisations may do. You would have the option to live in the town, about 30km away, if you wanted to be based in a more social environment, however, I felt that living in the volunteer house in the village worked much better for what I was doing, as I was in Kahangi and could spend more time with the community in this way. The project was very affordable, accommodation was good (no running water but this was really not an issue!) and I thought the food was lovely. Try and go for a decent amount of time too, as I spent a month with ASTCF and it wasn't long enough! Kahangi is a beautiful place and I would love to go back one day.

I can only join company with the former reviewers and absolutely recommend this program! Your experience will be unique for the following reasons:

1.) You will make an impact: you will work in whatever field you chose (in my case Micro-Finance) at a small village close to Fort Portal. You will immediately realize that you can structure your project in the way you want and that you are granted huge responsibility in working with the locals. This is great as it is YOU who people will listen to! At the same time, you can always talk to ASTCF representatives if there are any questions (they have a lot of very helpful experience)
2.) People actually want to learn from you: This should not be taken for granted. Especially at the beginning, people were very sceptical of anyone coming into the village. By promoting the living conditions of people, ASTCF has made sure that people will welcome you with open arms, listen to you and try to learn as much as possible. They will ask critical questions, but that only shows that they really listen to you!
3.) Extremely structured program and great people: ASTCF representatives are extremely well structured, on time and always happy to help you with whatever issue there may be. Apart from that, you can have great conversations about any topic (culture, religion, beliefs, etc.) with them! You will laugh a lot with them!!! In general, it is extremely pleasant to stay with them (they give you time to relax, but talk to you any time you want) and they are incredibly hospitable. I believe that this is a huge advantage of this program as you really don't have to worry about anything at any time!
4.) You can use the weekends to explore Uganda and its sights: There is a lot of nature to see! You can take the time to visit any place - this may not be very cheap, but definitely worth it.

By now, it should be obvious that I really enjoyed my time in Uganda. I strongly believe that I really got to know the country and made an impact at Kahangi Village - thanks to ASTCF!

Of course, it is still important to keep some things in the back of your mind.
1.) Accommodation is (for European standards) obviously simple, but you will have water and electricity MOST of the time! The rooms are extremely clean and you will not have to worry about insects, dangerous animals or whatsoever.
2.) People in the village may seem to disrespect you initially since they are not on time, very slow and may seem not to focus at times. This is something, which was - at the beginning - very frustrating to me! After three weeks, however, I could ask them questions and realized they have understood and listened to me most of the time! Not all of them, but the vast majority! People are really thankful for your time and will eventually do whatever you recommend (if only you convince them)!
3.) Finally, be open to this experience! What I think is great is that you have the whole day to experience Uganda and help a rural community! At night, you can backtrack, process your experiences, just have some time for yourself, go out or do whatever you want!

I can only thank everyone at ASTCF for giving me the opportunity to make an impact and being so hospitable at all times! If you have any questions or if there are any uncertainties regarding this program, you can also contact me any time. I was obviously also concerned about some things before coming to Uganda, but it turned out that I did not have to worry about anything!