GUILLERMO LOPEZ- VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE WITH LOVE UGANDA FOUNDATION

My name is Guillermo Lopez Montero and I come from Spain. I was so curious to write about my volunteer experience in Uganda with the Love Uganda Foundation that I did for a period of 28 days (From 5th. August. 2022 – 1st. September. 2022).

One day, while I was studying, my brother came into my room and told me that Zuza was talking about volunteering in Uganda with the Love Uganda Foundation. After entering the website of the Foundation, I really wanted to be able to volunteer in Uganda with them and thus be able to get out of my comfort zone. The day of the interview arrived and I was very nervous, but I felt very comfortable talking to them and I was able to offer my best self.

After several months of hard effort studying for the University and preparing for some activities, the day came to take the flight to Uganda. We woke up very early to be able to catch the train that took us to Malaga from where our plane left to Istanbul and from Istanbul to Entebbe. Arriving in Entebbe, I was very nervous and excited about this new experience. Upon arriving, we met Namutebi and Robert, I realized that they were very good people and had great hearts. When we arrived at their house, they were very welcoming and from the first minute, we felt at home and had bread and butter for breakfast and a super delicious mango juice.

My brother and I arrived several days before Zuza, so we were exploring the town, which I can say that I liked a lot for its beautiful landscapes and its vegetation, and we were able to enjoy exquisite delicacies such as beans, bread, chapatti, posho and of course to be able to enjoy the fruit and the juices since in Spain it is not so good.

Finally, the day came to meet the boys and we were very excited to meet them. Upon arrival, we just got out of the car, they started to hug us and took us to the games room. After each of them introduced themselves and told us a little about their future, we had to introduce ourselves and I was very nervous because I was in front of very large people who, due to life circumstances, had had family problems but thanks to Love Uganda Foundation they could enjoy a full life. After this, we began to have a lot of fun dancing together and they even taught us typical Ugandan dances and advised us to dance with them. The other days were dedicated to getting to know each other a little better and we were able to connect a lot with the boys.

Every day we had to go to collect water from a pond that was near the orphanage, for this, we used some Jerricans that were very heavy but the boys and girls were very strong so they had no problems carrying them, something that surprised me a lot. Every day they taught us more new games that were very original and we were teaching Spanish to a group of guys too. One morning we woke up early to help cook lunch and dinner for them, it was chapatti and beans. Thanks to their invitation, we were able to learn the recipe and we had a great time cooking and we learned a lot from them.

Volunteering in Uganda

The most impressive thing about that day was how grateful they were to us and how well they treated us. In the afternoon, we went to plant banana trees (Matooke) in their garden as part of the Volunteer activity and it was a very hard but very rewarding job since they were very happy, that day was really hard.

Banana Planting in Uganda

Honestly, Luganda is so difficult to learn, but thanks to all the little guys that we were meeting while we walked in the street, I have learned the word Muzungus. This word is used to refer that a white person in Africa and I think that it is unique.

Although I still have a lot to discover and do for Uganda, I say goodbye and invite everyone who requests to do this volunteering to consider Love Uganda Foundation Volunteer Programs because it will enrich you a lot as a person.