Intern or Volunteer with a Grassroots Community Development Organization in Uganda

  Uganda

Jinja

Term: Academic Year, Fall, Spring, Summer, Throughout the year, Trimester, Winter 
Durations of Program: 1-2 weeks, 2-4 weeks, 5-8 weeks, 9-12 weeks, 3-6 months and 7-12 months
Typical Duration of Program: 9-12 weeks
Dates: See FSD Website

Description: Examples of how you can support Community Development in Uganda:

* Offer community development training to rural villages outside of Mbale in adult literacy, computer skills, HIV/AIDS control and awareness, immunization, orphan support, community volunteering, malaria control, and/or other pressing areas.

* Work at a vocational training center for community members. Support workshops in carpentry, construction, brick-making, business management skills, organic farming methods, conservation, or design your own.

* Improve an organization's ability to reach adolescent populations through outreach activities that incorporate subsidized HIV/AIDS testing and focus group discussions.

* Assist in community outreach with the goal of addressing social stigmas related to sexually transmitted diseases, voluntary testing, and counseling. Drama, music, and dance are common means used to educate and mobilize community members.

*Work at a community health center where home caregivers, relatives, and friends can gather to share experiences, offer each other emotional support, listen to music, learn incomegenerating skills, make arts and crafts, and watch educational skits. The center grew out of the need to support people with HIV/AIDS and the devastation it places on their families and the community at large.

For more opportunities in community development in Uganda, visit our website or contact us directly.

About FSD

The Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1995 to support underserved, international communities in a collaborative and sustainable manner. Our model incorporates three overlapping programs:

1. Sustainable Development Training Programs for Interns and Volunteers
FSD provides comprehensive training and immersion programs for interns and volunteers seeking hands-on experience in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Program participants come from countless professions and more than 300 universities worldwide to collaborate with our partner organizations on community-driven projects that reflect sustainable practices.

2. Grantmaking to Projects and Initiatives Led By Our Partner Organizations
Donations and grants given to FSD are used to support projects and initiatives implemented by our partner organizations, site teams, interns, and volunteers.

3. Sustainable Development of Community-Based Organizations
Our professional field staff, consultants, and program participants provide on-site technical training and capacity building to more than 200 community-based organizations.

Highlights: Development Issues Addressed by FSD in Uganda
Small-scale agriculture is by far the most important sector of the Ugandan economy, particularly in rural areas. However, members of the rural economy still rely almost entirely on their own labor - they collect water by hand, gather firewood by hand, dig by hand, and harvest by hand. Only five percent of the Ugandan population has regular access to electricity and about ninety percent of Uganda's total energy requirements are met using firewood and charcoal. Improved infrastructure and basic amenities could go a long way toward increasing overall community assets.

Keeping the communities physically healthy, encouraging resource sharing, and building micro-economic opportunities is critical to removing rural poverty traps. With HIV robbing Ugandan society of many of its productive members, rural communities are suffering without solution. The virus has built superstition and fear into rural cultures - a problem that can only be solved by resources and education.

FSD works with development organizations that not only educate communities about the realities of HIV/AIDS and STDs, but also provide counseling to those in need. By offering many types of vocational training and gathering places for members to share ideas, FSD puts interns and volunteers at the heart of communities to listen, learn, and deliver sustainable solutions.

Minimum Education: High School

Cost in US$: Depends on Program Selected; See FSD Website

Experience Required: no

Typical Volunteer: FSD supports participants who boldly wish to initiate the change they believe is necessary in the developing world. Interns are passionate about sharing their practical knowledge, heart-felt enthusiasm, and economic resources with communities abroad that suffer unnecessary hardship. They wish to gain hands-on, grassroots development experience because they believe change is most powerfully cultivated on a community level. The aim is to experientially learn how their work can empower the community toward applying sustainable development solutions, rather than increasing reliance on foreign aid. Participants choose FSD because the program structure enables them to design and implement their own sustainable projects in collaboration with their host organization and the FSD Site Team. They are able to test their ideas and theories in the most direct way possible, giving them the experience and knowledge they seek. The flexibility of the host organizations allows for participants at all stages and levels of experience in international development to participate, thus opening the programs to a diverse group of capable applicants.

Age Range: 18-75

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants. This Program is also open to Couples and Individuals

Participants Travel to Uganda Independently

Typically Participants Work Independently or in Groups of 3-10

Application Process Involves:

• Letters of Reference
• Phone Interview
• Resume
• Written Application

Post-Program Services Include:

• Alumni Network

Foundation for Sustainable Development's Mission Statement: FSD supports the efforts of grassroots organizations in the developing world that are working to better their communities, environments, and the economic opportunities around them. We believe community development is only sustainable if it empowers the people to effectively use and cultivate their own resources in a conscious manner. Through our programs, we aim to raise international awareness of the economic challenges in developing countries and to support cross-cultural communities in finding more effective solutions to development issues.

Year Founded: 1995