Volunteers in Uganda arrive 2011!
Yebo are back in Africa for their Ugandan 2011 trip. After several days of the Yebo staff members being in Uganda, the volunteers of this year have now arrived ready for the next 4 weeks ahead of them, where they will be part of an ongoing project to support disadvantaged children and primate conservation and build this into a long-term, sustainable program.
Over the past few days, Lorna Wilkie, Kajsa Berg, Claire O’Donaghue and Kay Raja have been working hard to prepare for the volunteers of 2011 arrival today. Plans have been put in place ready for the volunteers to begin their work and meetings with the sanctuary staff and the orphanage have taken place. This is an important part of beginning the volunteers trip, it is essential that Yebo approach the work with the sanctuaries and orphanage with an open mind as to what we would be needed for and asking questions about how we can develop our aims successfully. We are very aware that we don’t turn up at an organisation/sanctuary and ‘tell them what we think they need’. As well established sanctuaries, The Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) and Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary are already actively conserving and educating, and we wish to support this work further with our aims.
Our staff members include :
Kajsa Berg: Kajsa attended as a volunteer in July 2010 on the Ugandan and South African trips and has now been recruited as a co-project coordinator this July 2011 . She is a valued member of the team and a great organiser who is also very creative and talented in many areas.
Kay Raja; Kay attended as a volunteer in July 2010 on the Ugandan trip and has now been recruitted as a co-project and activities coordinator. Kay is another valued member of the team and has some great skills.
Lorna Wilkie: Lorna has worked in South Africa with primates and has now been recruited by Yebo as a conservation and education co-ordinator. Lorna is a valued member of the team and we are excited about this area of the work this year.
Claire O’Donaghue; Claire is a trained Art Therapist in the UK and has come out to Uganda to support our project with her creativity and her working background as an art therapist. Claire also spoke at our training days this year in May and we are very lucky to have her on the team.
The volunteers this year have flown over from the UK and are now settled into their bandas at UWEC where they wil be staying for the next 4 weeks thoughout their work.
Helena, Melissa, Rachel, Rachael, Janet, Trish, Ailsa, Alice, Laura and Elle are a great bunch of volunteers and we are very happy that they have decided to join us. They are now getting ready for the first day of work as they settle into their bandas for the night, listening to the Lions at UWEC roaring and the Chimpanzees pant hooting, and of course…looking up at the beautiful African stars.
We look forward to providing you with regular blogs on the work we are doing over the next few weeks.
By Gordon Shoosmith, July 2, 2011 @ 7:27 pm
Thanks for this blog we in the North are
following your Scottish volunteer