Meeting volunteers and the people of Uganda
We arrived at the Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) ready to start our Yebo support project which has begun today (1st April). We are staying in Bandas next to Lake Victoria (the second largest fresh water lake in the world). UWEC is home to many animals such as lions, zebras and rhino as well as our focus – chimpanzees. The staff at UWEC are very welcoming and the views out onto the lake are stunning. We are now with all of our volunteers and are looking forward to the next 2 weeks.
Today we met some inspiring people. Peace, education coordinator, talked to us about culture. Figal, the manager of an organisation, spoke to us about an organisation who supports and homes children who have been forced to live on 
the streets, often due to to having lost their parents to HIV or war. The children (both boys and girls) are given food, a pleace to sleep, education and skills training, and continued support for finding jobs and homes when they reach this stage.
Patrick, is a director of a similar organisation. Patrick is just 19 years old, which inpsired many of us by what he has acheived at such a young age. He is the director of an organisation who supports 40 ‘street children’. Patrick tols us of his life story and experiences due to being a street child himself and how he has turned these negative experiences into positive ones.
All of these people have been very inspiring and remarkable. It will be really exciting and rewarding to help them in their projects and learn more about them in the next few days.
By Lindsey and John, April 1, 2010 @ 9:30 pm
Glad you have arrived safely! Good luck with your projects.
By Alison and Mike, April 1, 2010 @ 11:14 pm
Sounds like you are in for an exciting time. Enjoy the project and we can’t wait to hear all about the experience.