Your time and talent will make a real difference in people’s lives.
Serve Uganda Initiative
Serve Uganda Initiative (SUI) is a movement of young educated volunteers working in rural communities to unleash community capacity and promote citizen engagement. In so doing, they address opportunities, solve problems and strengthen community responses.
By bringing youth together through volunteering, they are able to develop a sense of responsibility, share knowledge, skills, aspirations, creativity and learning. They will also be empowered as key actors in building a prosperous and peaceful Uganda, free from chronic poverty.
Our Vision
We envision a Uganda where youth are prepared to take the lead in building equitable, healthy and flourishing communities.
Our Mission
Building a movement of creative and resourceful youth volunteers to catalyse and facilitate empowerment processes for community-led sustainable development of rural communities.
OUR GOALS
- Develop a culture of volunteerism in Ugandan youth and implant the concept of initiative and responsibility, which in turn will generate self-sufficiency in the tackling of current issues facing Uganda today.
- Train more than 1000 youth per year in skills that will enable them to volunteer effectively and contribute to positive changes within their local communities.
- Impart creative thinking into the youth to open their minds up to the opportunities around themselves
- Improve employability among the youth to combat unemployment by giving them skills that they can use in volunteering roles that may lead to employment. The skills taught could also lead to entrepreneurship.
ACHIEVING OUR GOALS
1- YOUTH ENGANGEMENT
We will embark on facilitating meaningful youth engagement and participation through volunteering activities, and provide young people with the support and training they need to succeed. By encouraging information sharing and peer-helping programs, we will enable them to engage with public bodies and issues.
2 – PROGRAMS
We will link various training programs on advocacy, health & hygiene, education, and rural economic opportunities to strategic goals, and provide mentors to support the youth. These programs will arm the youth with the tools to be effective volunteers and be economically independent.
3 – PARTNERSHIPS
We will seek partnerships with private sector, government institutions & NGOs in order to complement and enhance each other’s strengths and resources for achieving the familiar goals. Partners will support our efforts to implement innovative youth programs & providing solutions for implementation challenges.
CAN YOU HELP MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO RURAL UGANDA?
OUR MODEL
Volunteer recruitment
We aim to recruit highly motivated, open-minded and committed university/college graduates and professionals from varying disciplines but with interest in the service of society development. Prospective volunteers undergo a screening process to identify suitable candidates for volunteer assignments in the four READ MORE….
Ongoing Training & Support
Ongoing Training & Support
Volunteers will be assigned a mentor according to their needs, who will provide technical support throughout the whole life cycle of their volunteering experience, in order to help them grow into transformational community leaders.READ MORE….
Orientation and Training
Orientation and Training
Selected volunteers start their volunteering journey with a 4-week intensive residential orientation and training in:
Leadership and governance | community entry skills for community development | Soft skills related to communication, critical thinking, creativity and collaboration | Business and entrepreneurship.READ MORE….
Volunteer placements
Volunteer placements
The youth volunteers serve in rural communities to unleash community capacity and promote citizen engagement to address opportunities, solve problems and strengthen community responses. Depending on qualifications and passion, the trained youth volunteers are placed under four programs—Health and READ MORE….
SUI volunteer network
SIU volunteer network
Volunteers who are trained and placed every year, join a movement of youth volunteers who are changing lives and communities in Uganda. This will be a network of transformational leaders, who can continue to mobilize constituencies, READ MORE….
Your time and talent will make a real difference in people’s lives.
OUR PROGRAMS
Youth-adult Partnership Program
Youth-adult Partnership Program
The youth-adult partnership program actively brings together younger and older persons (including professionals and retirees) in mentoring activities, where youth are supported and provided opportunities to gain the skills and knowledge needed to participate positively and constructively in economic and social life
Education and Training Program
Education and Training Program
The youth volunteers placed under education & training program focus on improving the quality of teaching to children in rural communities in Uganda, where there is lack of qualified teachers and over 70% dropout rates. The volunteers can choose from placements
Rural Economic Empowerment Volunteer Program
Rural Economic Empowerment Volunteer Program
These volunteers work with community members to identify employment and income generating opportunities at the community level, train people in income generating activities and business management skills in partnership with local public and private training providers; and provide the necessary post-training support,
Advocacy Volunteer Program
Advocacy Volunteer Program
The volunteers work with community members as advocates of social justice and inclusion through public awareness programs that raise the public’s level of understanding about human rights, government policies, accountability issues and development issues.
Health and Hygiene Volunteer Program
Health and Hygiene Volunteer Program
The volunteers work towards better health and hygiene by helping people in their communities to change their everyday habits that matter to health. Evidence suggests that healthier communities are more productive, which is essential factor to lifting people out of poverty.