My Ugandan family and me.
My German family and me.
I am…
… Thea from the south of Germany, from a small village called “Großdeinbach”, which is near to Stuttgart (click here to check it out on Google Maps). I am 19 years old and I have finished A-Level in 2018. Since 23th of October I am living in Fort Portal, Kitumba, a city in the western Uganda with a family, who is hosting me for one year and who gave me the pet name Akiiki.
My workplace in Fort Portal
I am doing a one-year-internship at the indigenous non-government organization “Joint Effort to Save the Environment” (JESE). Since its establishment in 1993, JESE, through her work in improved agriculture production and natural resources management and long-term development, has greatly contributed to improved livelihoods of target beneficiaries and provided opportunities for a better life especially for the rural poor households and communities. My role as an intern is mainly to gain experience and knowledge in different projects by being part of the teams, as well as contributing my little skills and ideas to the daily work of JESE.
JESE´s Vision: A community where people and nature flourish.
JESE´s Mission: To facilitate innovative actions for sustainable water and natural resources management and improved livelihoods.
JESE´s three departments:
- Natural Resource Management
- Water Sanitation and Hygiene Improvement
- Agriculture Production and Enterprise Development
For more information visit: http://jese.org/index.html
My motivation to do an internship in Uganda
I decided to spend my internship in Uganda because I want to leave my comfort zone, and live in a culture and climate that is different from what I know because I want to “broaden my horizons”, learn how to think “outside the box” and how to take on new perspectives. Furthermore, I intended to learn more about professional NGO work in the environmental sector. And last but not least I wanted to get rid of my stereotypes about Africa.
My volunteer organization from Berlin
The German non-profit organization, that has sent me to Uganda is called VUGA, which is a short version of “Verein für ugandischen Austausch”, that means “Association for Ugandan Exchange”. VUGA organizes the major part of all administrative tasks of the internship, e.g. booking of flights, organizing insurance, etc., but also the very important part in terms of content like teaching about Ugandan history, Ugandan culture, Ugandan politics, etc. in form of seminars before, in-between and after the internship. Besides the topics of postcolonialism, racism and critical whiteness VUGA also talks about criticism of volunteer services and of development cooperation.
As a volunteer association that advocates equal exchange between the Global South and the Global North, VUGA takes a stand against any form of ascriptive unequal treatment and oppose everyday racism. VUGA believes that shared knowledge and an awareness of mutual similarities is the best way to break down prejudices and disadvantages. VUGA is a volunteer association run by former and current German and Ugandan volunteers.
Trina, the Ugandan coordinator of VUGA, and me.
Please follow VUGA on facebook for the newest updates.
German support and financing program “weltwärts”
“weltwärts” is a volunteer service of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The learning service is aimed at people between the ages of 18 and 28. The North-South exchange and joint intercultural and global learning are at the centre. In contrast to a specialist service, weltwärts does not require specialist knowledge in the fields of application. Since 2013, the exchange has taken place on both sides, north-south and south-north.
The BMZ (German federal ministry of economic co-operation and development) finances 75% of all the costs of the volunteer service with public funds.
25% of all the costs is financed by sponsors which I have searched by myself, for example relatives, friends and institution like my German church parish.
Germanya 