Team Uganda Returns

Following the successful pilot of our international volunteering project in 2015, the Volunteering Team in Student Development and Community Engagement have been hard at work to set up Team Uganda for 2016, working with our international charity partner SALVE International. SALVE International work with children living on the streets in Jinja, Southern Uganda to find them more permanent homes, often back with their families. The initiative is supported through Alumni funding and specifically targets students from a Widening Participation background.

This year’s cohort of students will be working on two different projects. The first is to undertake a piece of mapping of NGOs and community organisations in the Jinja area in order to support better networking and referrals. The second is to investigate a range of social enterprise ideas which could create a sustainable income stream for the charity.

The planning culminated in a selection day on 10 April where students who had applied and been shortlisted were invited to take part in a range of team and culture-based activities to test their skills and values to choose the successful fourteen students. In addition a student team leader has been recruited. These students represent all four Faculties at the University and a range of disciplines. The successful students will spend the next few months fundraising for the charity, planning their projects and undertaking a wide range of training before they fly to Uganda in late July.