International Volunteers Network, Inc ,Medical Nurse and Doctors are needed to work in a rural area in Uganda

Volunteer
Opportunity description

Volunteer Abroad
with A Purpose! International Volunteers Network programs provide an
opportunity to do something so rewarding, that we guarantee you will never ever
forget it. Have you considered a volunteer vacation? Why not spend your summer
vacation, school holiday or universities break with us? Make a lasting impact
that changes lives and provides you one of the most rewarding experiences of
your life. The key to ending poverty and creating harmony throughout the world
begins with each individ
ual person and how they choose to live their lives. One
person may not be able to change the World, but they can change a life!

• Experience the
happiness, struggles, aspirations and dreams of the people you assist – all
while discovering the beauty, history and culture of a foreign location.

• Work on social,
medical, conservation, community development projects side-by-side with members
of the community and actually see the results of your hard work.

• Expect to immerse
yourself in the community – eat local food and drink, learn common phrases,
listen to local music, really get to know the people you serve. See what really
makes a destination truly unique – the people, not just the tourist sites.

If you have an open
mind, a dedication to fostering cultural exchanges, a passion to help and a
sense of adventure, Traveling with a Purpose is perfect for you! Our programs
serve the most vulnerable community members in Kamuli District and Mpigi
Districts of Uganda. We offer community development projects including Widows
House Constructions, and repairs, home repairs, health/HIV/AIDS, youth and
child education, water and sanitation (including well construction), vocational
skills development, or other skills that can help us transform the community.

With our volunteer
program we allow you to discover the wonders of African in more in particular
Uganda while doing meaningful and rewarding community work. This is a great
opportunity to explore life in rural Africa, live and work amongst the locals and
realize one person can make a difference. International Volunteers Network –
IVN collaborates with those organization whose efforts are created and directed
to address the enormous challenges faced by millions of African children who
have either been orphaned by AIDS or live with parents who are sick or dying
from AIDS-related illnesses.

Established in 2005,
this unique organization has joined hands to share an international focus on
children in Africa by working together to increase the capacity of local
communities to provide support services to orphans and vulnerable children in
Africa and more specifically in Uganda. The goals of IVN to strengthen the
capacity of African communities to advocate, care for and support children
impacted by HIV/AIDS and prevent further spread of HIV; improve orphans and
other vulnerable children’s welfare by increasing access to education, adequate
food, psychosocial support, basic health services, and legal rights, and to
catalyze a global partnership to expand the resources available to achieve
these goals. IVN is based on three fundamental principles: it is child-focused,
community-based, and committed to ensure that their programmes are integrated.
Since HIV/AIDS-related problems cannot be adequately addressed by any single
solution or intervention, many different interventions are needed to respond to
the broad range of needs of children, their families and communities. Amongst
other projects, IVN provides technical support in community mobilization to
community-based organizations working with people affected by HIV and AIDS in
order to gather support for children made vulnerable by the disease. It also
has an advocacy policy, seeking to strengthen voices from a range of
organizations to speak out on behalf of HIV/AIDS affected children and reduce
the stigma associated with the pandemic. While creating strong alliances and
networks with other local NGOs and community-based organizations to scale up
successful programs and interventions that ensure a brighter, better future for
orphans and vulnerable children, at the global level IVN is striving to be the
lead partnership organization of international NGOs mobilizing additional
resources to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS on millions of African children and
their families. IVN has many opportunities for mission groups, families,
couples or individuals who are interested in helping AIDS orphans and widows in
the heart of Africa. There are opportunities in all aspects of IVN’s
operations. Anyone with a heart to reach out and serve orphans and widows in
Africa will find exciting projects to bring God’s love to these deserving
people.

Whether you are a
Construction worker, a painter, an administrator, a manager, an evangelist, a
pastor or an individual with no specific skill – your time and knowledge and
skill will be put to great use! Some specific areas of need are listed below
but IVN is open to whatever your interests as you desire to support the
children of Uganda.

Our goal is to
empower local communities through the volunteer’s skills and financial
donations. We believe that local communities are in the best position to
determine their needs, and we provide volunteers to help them achieve their
goals. Here is a sample of available projects: • Family Empowerment Program •
Primary Health Care • HIV/AIDS awareness projects • Education/Vocation projects
• Medical and Dental projects • Construction / Community Development projects
1. Family Empowerment Program The husband is the traditional breadwinner in
most African families of and therefore the impact of the husband’s death on the
family is devastating. The family losses financial security and sharp decline
in living standard. The economic hardship is put on both the widow and her
children in order to survive. Families are unable to absorb the expense of
caring for another child. Many times, the widow whose husband has died of AIDS
has no marketable skills. IVN assists caregivers and foster family siblings
with practical skills to enable them to support themselves and care for their
children. IVN provides startup equipment and funds to start small businesses.
These efforts indirectly impact the lives of hundreds of children. The Family
Empowerment Program therefore seeks to address the needs of the family by
getting the families involved in practical skills, such as raising and selling
of goats for profit, knitting and making of African crafts to support their
family and keep their children in school. One of the major activities in this
project is the construction of a pigpen or chicken coop to enable widows become
self reliant on income. If you wish to supplement your time in this project,
please understand that it costs $500 USD to set up the building supplies, hire
local labour, purchase feeding material and buy the animals, so if you can
fundraise ahead of time towards this end, it would greatly enhance the
opportunities for the local women who benefit from it

This project needs a
lot of initiative and development with IVN on activities. This takes someone
who is independent and feels that they have skills and resources to implement
programs, previously researched, and depending on what the program is, it could
be a full – time position. Rural communities comprise of a large percentage of
Ugandan Communities. Most rural communities are faced with challenges including
poor sanitation, limited access to health care and educational resources and
lack of economic opportunities. The lack of economic power of the local
community, especially among the women, is a major obstacle to long term
development. By providing the villagers with alternative income sources, the
income generation programs form a crucial part of promoting a sustainable
development in the area. Through the programs, the villagers learn crafts and
agricultural methods, as well as gain a basic knowledge of practical and
marketable skills. The aim is for the local people to learn some new skills or
recapture traditional Ugandan ones using only local materials.

2. PRIMARY HEALTH
CARE PROJECT

Volunteers with
medical experience are needed to work in a community health clinic outside of
Kampala. Most clinics are very busy, understaffed; with limited medical
supplies and equipment. There is a wide variety of cases but disease such as
malaria, HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and syphilis, as well as childbirth/maternity
needs are most common. Medical volunteers; doctors, nurses, EMT, physical
therapist participate in direct patient care such as diagnosing, injections, IV
starts and lab work. Nursing and medical students are welcome and assist with
tasks like dressing wounds, record and immunization chart keeping, helping
dispense medications, helping to screen and organize patients and assisting
with administrative needs or seminars. Although it is not expected; if you are
able to bring some medical supplies with you as a donation it would be greatly
appreciated. IVN aims to increase access to basic healthcare for the rural
people, decrease the prevalence of the endemic disease and improve the overall
village health by providing public health projects and promoting health
education in the villages.

3. HIV/AIDS
PREVENTION & COUNSELING PROJECT HIV testing generally runs on Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays. This project focuses on providing culturally sensitive
methods of awareness raising and education with the goal of preventing
transmission of the disease within the target populations. There is a great
lack of HIV/AIDS awareness among the rural indigenous community and especially
among the youth in primary and secondary schools. You will visit local
communities to educate them about prevention, transmission and the reality of
HIV/AIDS

Outreach visits to
those who are already suffering from AIDS are conducted several days per week.
We expect you to come prepared with research on counseling tactics and
resources. You will report to IVN project coordinator on your activities with
this project and please ask first before initiating any new ideas. IVN
collaborates and works with trained TASO Counselors and other CBOs in Uganda
who have developed and adapted HIV/AIDS educational materials to the local
village population. With these tools you will visit local communities to help
AIDS victims not only with their emotional well- being through counseling and
companionship, but also with daily tasks. You should be willing to help wash
dishes and clothing, tidy up, etc. This is definitely one of the more difficult
projects to participate in, due to the extremely emotional demands. You are up
close and personal with the suffering that AIDS causes. There is a translator
from IVN who accompanies you on the outreach visits, however, there will be
times when you will not know what to say. This is why it is helpful to prepare
beforehand, for your counseling visits. 4. Child education / Vocational
Training Volunteers needed for nursery and primary school levels (ages
4yrs-13yrs) to teach English and other subjects. Teaching experience is not
required. You can begin working with some children, teaching English and basic
math. These are rural schools for the children of the community. The objective
of this program is to contribute to the academic development of the school in
order to provide the best opportunity for the orphans to receive quality
education. Volunteers support the local teachers; encourage students to learn
and play and instill pride in their schooling. School terms vary from year to
year but are approximately as follows: February 1 to April 30, and May 20 to
August 30, September 15 to November 15. Volunteers can assist with the physical
upkeep of the school; painting, decorating, mending desks etc. Most important
volunteers should try to develop activities/programs that can be sustained in
the future. Prior teaching experience is not required; volunteer simply need an
open mind, caring spirit and a compassionate nature. Community Development /
Building Program Volunteers are needed for the on-going construction and water
building projects in the community. Volunteers needed for manual labor jobs
working along side skilled and unskilled local workers. Some tasks include
farming, pig rearing, construction of the volunteer center, expansion, water
well building and renovation work. Volunteers do not need prior experience, but
skilled workers are very welcome. This is a very hand on, hands dirty sort of
program. Enthusiasm, a good sense of humor and helping spirit are required.
Volunteer can also spend time in the children’s school teaching classes. Each
Program Includes: For all IVN volunteer placements, Accommodation is provided either
at a homestay where you will stay at a host family or at the Volunteer House 10
miles outside of Kampala. All volunteers accommodation has electricity, running
water, indoor plumbing and access to internet. All IVN programs, except the for
the HIV/AIDS program and the Primary Health Care Programs, are within walking
distance to the accommodation facilities. You will be living with several other
volunteers and the accommodation is regarded as more than adequate considering
the normal standards of Uganda. Three local meals per day are provided.
Breakfast food choices generally include tea, coffee, hot chocolate, bread with
jam, margarine, or peanut butter and some type of egg (boiled or scrambled).
For lunch and dinner, there is a revolving menu of dishes which include beans,
rice, sautéed cabbage, avocado, potatoes, noodles, cooked spinach, sautéed
eggplant, tomato sauce, etc. Chicken and beef dishes are served several times a
week. Starchy foods (i.e. white bread, potatoes, white rice, pasta, matoke (boiled
bananas) manioc, and cassava) are dietary staples so you’ll have no shortage of
carbs. Also, the country’s tropical climate contributes to a healthy choice of
fruits which include bananas, watermelon, papayas, mangos, jackfruit, and
pineapples.

Vegetarians can eat
well here, but the variety of dishes will be limited and you may get bored of
the “same old, same old”. Your main sources of protein would be the
beans at lunch or dinner and the eggs at breakfast. If this will not be
sufficient for you, you may want to bring along some protein supplements.
Airport pick up and drop off at Entebbe airport. Our IVN Project Coordinator
will provide orientation tour on arrival, project briefing, an introduction to
work placement and local host family.

A US$150 application
fee (fully transferable) will secure your place on the program, with your
program fee due for payment eight weeks before you begin your placement. You
only pay your application fee once and then you can access any of IVN’s
volunteer programs over the next 5 years.

Your application fee
includes the following benefits:

Personal
Staff Support
Your
Uganda Program Guide
Your
Fundraising Guide and Software
Access
to Your Own Online Journal

Once your
application fee is paid the remainder of the cost for your time in the Uganda
program is as follow and is due within 45 days prior to your departure.

Cost
for 1 week – USD $150
Cost
for 2 weeks – USD $300
Cost
for 1 month – USD $600

To see the cost in
your local currency, we recommend you look herelook here.

Our program fees
include the following services:

Prompt
customer service answering your call and emails.
Pre-departure
Orientation Guide. Includes detailed travel, safety & cultural
information and many tips that will make your trip planning easier.
Detailed
Fundraising Guide that will help you raise the funds needed to travel, as
well as provide donations to the project. Ask us about a Widget
Accommodations:
Home stay, shared volunteer residence, guesthouses. Safe, clean,
comfortable local housing, inspected by our local project coordinator.
Meals:
Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Special meals at request.
Airport
meet and greet by our IVN project coordinator (At any time, any day!)
Guidance
and support of a local project coordinator, 24/7 in case of emergency
Orientation/city
briefing on arrival by our IVN project coordinator.
Placement
in a quality project, allowing you to maximize your time and efforts in a
good cause.
Transportation
to project site with our IVN project coordinator. Includes introduction to
local staff and community members with whom you will be working with.
Departure
transfer by our IVN project coordinator.
A
Feedback page on our IVN website with pictures of your trip.
The
Presidents Volunteer Service Award lapel pin (Bronze, Silver or Gold)
Personalized
Presidents Volunteer Service Award certificate of achievement.
Letter
of completion from International Volunteers Network

Not included:
Airfare and travel expenses; passports, entry/customs requirements, all
applicable visa fees, airport departure taxes, travel medical insurance, meals
outside the program, sightseeing and free-time expenses, items of personal
nature (such as laundry, medicine, emails/phone calls).

For more information
visit our website at http://www.ivnuganda.net

How
to apply

Application Process

All applicants will
be notified by email as to whether their application has been successful.

1. Complete the
Application Form: Fill out the online application form at http:www.ivnuganda.net Try to fill out as much
details about yourself and interest to allow for a successful placement since
we do not know you .Upon receipt of the form we will assess your suitability
for the program within two working days. 2. Contact You: If you are successful
we will then email you a letter of acceptance. 3. Confirmation: Once the
program fee is paid, we will contact you to ensure everything is organized. We
will also send you the link to our program guide which covers topics such as
country information, travel links, visa application process, fundraising ideas
and much more! 4. Communication & Support: Throughout the application
process, we are committed to working with you to answer any of your questions
or concerns. During your placement we are also available as a form of support
to you as a volunteer and will email you while in country to discuss how the
program is going.