A CALM Africa volunteer’s experience

Alice Brown from England is a volunteer visitor at CALM Africa in Uganda. In between class teaching on a break, she shares a few insights about herself and what brings her to visit.

This is my first time in Uganda, though I have been in Kenya before. I wanted to visit somewhere else in Africa, and when I saw the CALM Africa project and what they are doing with families and children, I decided this was the place to visit. At the moment I am at University, doing a course which is closely related to the field work of CALM Africa. This is the type of organisation I would like to work with in the future; helping different communities to develop and attain basic necessities, Alice explained her mission.

Alice further stated that, she liked it here: everyone is really friendly and welcoming. I have been here at the school, Jolly Mercy Learning Center, and am looking forward to going out to the villages and visit families. Unlike in Kenya, the English with the pupils here is much better and this has made the interactions easier and more straightforward. It is interesting to see how they do the assessments for children and families, visiting the homes to identify and verify the child’s different problems, needs and determine the kind of intervention to offer.

The problems back in England are not as severe than those I have seen here in Nangabo, Wakiso, Uganda. A lot more work needs to be done here. A bit more money needs to be put in the provision of services that affect the communities. Like in education, it would be more efficient if there were more schools well equipped to educate the children at a cheaper cost. It is not fair that the poorest of the children should get the poorest forms of education.

I have not had challenges per se but rather different experiences. Like when I visited the slum areas, it’s quite difficult to see the conditions people live in; it shows and proves why a lot of work needs to be done here.

There needs to be more support in helping communities achieve their potential. If conditions do allow, I would definitely like to be back here.