Service Projects 2015 – Now Booking

Outreach Uganda | Nurture a Nursery School

International Mother Earth Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is excited to announce that we are working with Outreach Uganda, another nonprofit organization, dedicated to helping empower Ugandans rise out of poverty. We will be visiting a small village in Agwata, in Northern Uganda to help build a school that will serve as a nursery and a center for empowerment programs for school children and women.

This community is still in the process of being resettled after the 20-year old war with the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), which ended in late 2008. One tragic legacy of the war is that all the original homes, schools, clinics and churches that existed before the war, were destroyed by conflict or decades of neglect when locals were forced to flee. The region's fertile land remained unfarmed for the duration of the conflict.

Our focus in partnering with Outreach Uganda is to help communities like those in and around Agwata rebuild and restore the best of their Acholi culture. The project of rebuilding lives, infrastructure and a culture fractured by war requires sensitivity and the need to respect the varying paths each local community chooses to pursue.

Agwata is a small village of 1,000 people in central Uganda, some 100 miles east of the Nile River, where it explodes through a narrow gorge and cascades down to become a placid river whose banks are thronged with hippos and crocodiles. Nearby Murchison Falls National Park is home to lions, leopards, elephants, giraffes, oribis, chimpanzees and many bird species.

International Mother Earth Foundation also plans to help local children with their studies as part of our educational project 'The Stars in Africa.' Most of these children were born in refugee camps during the war and many may have never had their own toy or doll due to the extreme deprivation of the war and life as refugees. Volunteers will help teach children English, poetry and writing, along with other forms of empowerment work and movement work. We are seeking volunteers as well as donators of dolls and other toys to bring with us as gifts for the village children.

We also plan to work to support the local women's community based organization, Konye ki Cingi, which means "Help Yourself by Your Hand." Its 90 members are keen to develop new skills to supplement the making and selling of their beaded jewelry. The group has also begun beekeeping and growing cash crops to supplement the livelihood of village families. One of their biggest initiatives was to work with the entire community to start a primary school, which now has more than 230 students. The chief goal of International Mother Earth Foundation's Uganda Project is to build a second block of classrooms for nursery school students.

Service Project Itinerary

May 12, 2015 – Departs LA for Entebbe, Uganda
May 17 – May 22 – Construction of nursery school
May 23 – May 24 – Optional: Two Safaris in Murchison Falls National Park, with a boat trip and stay at a luxury hotel
May 25 – Return to Los Angeles

*Dates may change due to seasonal weather conditions.

Participation Fees

Lodging, meals, local transportation and construction materials: $2,100
Optional: Murchison Falls National Park Safaris: $800 (2 nights/1 full day at an upscale lodge, two morning safaris + afternoon boat ride on the Nile)
Total 10-day cost: $2,900 + airfare

Application Deadline: April 17, 2015 | $500 deposit to secure your spot

We are looking for people who want to volunteer their time and/or donate money to support our sponsorship. We also seek people who wish to sponsor volunteers. Families are also welcome. Space is limited. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization; all contributions can be deducted for tax benefits.

For further information, please contact Project Organizer, Linda Slade: 310 500-0850.