Volunteer Program in Uganda

As part of the program I lived with 5 other volunteers from the US and Australia, each of which payed a fee to be provided with a house (with a helper), an orientation to the country, support in finding a volunteer placement for 6months or 1 year and continued support while in the country. When I arrived the organizations found me a placement almost immediately that was perfect for me; I was able to spend half my time working in an orphanage and the other half doing development and long-term planning work. Some of my roommates were not so lucky however. One roommate in particular struggled to find a placement for the first few days, and after checking out two places that did not fit what she was looking for (wanted either media or kids and both were health related). When they finally found her a spot at a third organization they informed her that if she did not take it they would not support her any further, which might involve her leaving the house. As a result she took the third placement which at first appeared to be in a reasonable location helping at an orphanage. Within two weeks however she learned that the orphanage was little more than a money hole, the heads would essentially kidnap children from rural villages (promise parents the world and not deliver anything) and then take the money to furnish their large houses. When my roommate complained to our local support she was told that they would not help her in anyway and it was her responsibility to stay there no matter what, after all she had agreed to work there and Visions felt it would reflect poorly on them if a volunteer just uped and left.

While my experience was positive (the house was great, the placement was amazing, the people were a lot of fun) this is just one story that I have heard from people involving a lack of support in anyway.