Volunteering on Women Empowerment Programme

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.