Village Primary School Teaching in Uganda

The six weeks I spend teaching and helping out at the school were amazing! Before coming to Uganda, I had never been to an African country. I wanted to see another country but also to immerse into another culture whilst helping others. This is exactly what I got. I was able to stay in a very small village, to eat the local food, and to experience the local life. Not all days were easy, but it was a very beautiful and fun time. The people at the village were very welcoming and friendly, and I never felt alone for one moment! The Real Uganda gave me a very warm welcome and helped me with anything throughout my stay. I felt very safe with them (as a young white woman travelling solo). They also helped me with any tourist trips I wanted to take. It was an experience I will never forget!

I had never traveled in Africa before this. And I wanted to experience the real Africa not the tourist Africa. And it is what i got. It was very real. Living with a family in a small village, working in a local poor school is very eye opening and humbling. I got to eat local foods and experience their every day life. In school I saw and was part of their education. It was very modest but teachers were very welcomy and trying to education your minds to give them a better future with the little resources they had in use. The Real Uganda program was very well organized from applying, arriving, travelling during my volunteer stay and departure. I felt safe and well taken care of before, during and after. I was placed in Buikwe village which is very grass root small poor village middle of nowhere. I would say that only with The Real Uganda program is possible to experience something like this the authentic and real Africa. I was travelling a lot during my volunteer time so it was more than just work and I got to experience the country.

The real Uganda went above and beyond to make this the best experience of my life. I felt as though I was fairly prepared for the life of Uganda. I had been places before where I didn’t lay eyes on a single other white person in a whole day. I had used outdoor drop toilets and eaten street food with my hands. What I wasn’t prepared for was these aspects magnified like never before. I’d go an entire week without seeing a white person. I’d have every single conversation for a whole school week in broken English. I’d have everything washed in water that would give me typhoid if it wasn’t cooked or dried properly. I felt like I was literally walking a tightrope daily. One wrong move, one wet plate, one mozzie bite and I could be ass up or on the next flight home. I could never properly explain how thrilling and frustrating and all round fucking bananas this whole experience was. No one will ever understand, even if you come, you’ll have your experience not mine. But heck. If you can, if you want to; if it even tickles your travelling pickle to come to Uganda. Do it. Don’t think twice. This is a place I’ll be coming back to regularly and a place ill never stop talking about. It’s a place you feel instantly at home while simultaneously feeling like a freak in a zoo. It’s the best thing I have ever done. My only regret is not coming sooner. Keep being rad Uganda you wild and wonderful thing. Until next time.