The Real Uganda

I cannot say enough good things about Uganda, The Real Uganda, and Leslie as a program director! I arrived in Uganda feeling completely prepared. I was provided with an email for any questions which were answered promptly and thoroughly, I had a checklist of things I needed (from bug spray to health insurance) and just enough information about the culture that I knew what to expect. Leslie encourages all of her volunteers to be extremely open-minded and honest with themselves about what they can expect out of your volunteer experience. Leslie does a wonderful job about being aware of many of the concerns I had as a volunteer such as (Is this a sustainable program? Where does the money go? Am I going to be a drain on anyone's expenses or resources?) She was more than willing to sit down with me whenever I needed to talk about these issues. She provided me with stories and experiences she has had with the Ugandan people that have allowed her to approach things in a sustainable way that provides lasting benefits to the communities volunteers work with. Personally I worked through The Real Uganda with two other grassroots organizations in the area as a Health Educator. The first two months of my experience I worked in several different remote communities "Educating Educators" on how to provide health education, limit the transmission of disease and promote overall health. The last month I worked throughout the same 4 community groups on rotation. Through these experiences I learned about being an effective educator in a culturally diverse population, worked with hard-working grassroots organizations, and gained a thorough understanding of the culture, people, food, travel, and problems of Uganda. I consider this experience the most rewarding learning experience of my life and would 10/10 participate in any program as wonderful as The Real Uganda.

The Real Uganda (TRU) is a small ugandan NGO with a very passionful impulse to change people's lives sustainable. Based in the small town of Mukono in Central Uganda Lesley & her partners support local projects with strong efforts, respect & humbleness. For me personal this is a perfect example for a meaningful and profound development cooperation. I hope and I am convinced that this will be the case today, tomorrow and in future. Those guys are diamonds in the sky for every single child, woman & man in this part of the world. Go on doing this!

I am belgian and found the organisation online, I had little English knowledge when I arrived in Uganda, I had booked to volunteer in a remote setting for 6 months and this was in 2006. I was picked up by the director at the airport and her vibes, love for uganda an the projects and the way she talked about it just made me sooo excited. Then I was picked up by the program director of the project i was going to be living in Lugazi with Valence and Doreen, and what an experience, I helped building a school fro mthe first stone, we did the first registrations for the kids, made the uniforms, and you should see it now. they are building extra classes, the have bording school, primary and even secondary classes now, the kids get great grades and this is a fantastic school with amazing teachers. THE REAL UGANDA gives you this real experience, your money is spend on the project and it helps building lives, education and so much more. I reccommend it to everyone! I keep going back to uganda and I keep visiting my ugandan family. I love them very much and they are forever in my heart.