Dear Readers, my name is Joanna Raeside. I am a 28 year old female from Scotland, U.K. For reasons of which I am not sure, from a very young age I have felt the unrelenting pull of Africa and the pull of charity work. Early this year I resigned from my job as a Clinical Research Associate in the U.S. and in June my pipedream became a reality as I boarded the first flight of my journey to East Africa. The aim of my trip was to spend 9 months working on a voluntary basis in Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi (3 months in each). I wanted an unrivalled life experience, of which only total immersion on the African continent could provide.

I am writing this from the small town of Kyotera, in the Rakai District of Uganda. I have been here for 6 weeks now, working with the Rakai Children’s Trust, a local Non-Governmental Organization whose mission is to improve the welfare of the children, especially the disadvantaged ones, through the promotion of the observance of children’s rights, provision of life sustaining skills and creation of structures that offer a conducive environment for children.

Whilst here, I have been involved in many of the different activities that are carried out by RACT. This has included making home visits to identify vulnerable families and assess needs, working on a crops project that is now beginning to help several families and communities sustain themselves and decorating several day care centers that have been established by RACT, to make them more welcoming for the vulnerable children who have been identified to attend.

Although my-self and fellow volunteer Naomi Higham have been helping out in all areas of RACT’s work, we have been concentrating our time on one particular project. The first time we visited Josephine Nampijja and saw the appalling conditions in which she and her 6 orphaned grandchildren were living, we found ourselves struggling to hide our sadness. This elderly lady’s husband deserted her and she was forced to build a new ‘home’ by herself. The picture of her sitting in this house says it all. We were moved to help in any way possible. We weren’t sure exactly how much we could help but thanks to the incredible generosity of friends and family, we were able to raise the funds to build an entire new house. A few days ago, the house was ready for Josephine’s family to move in. We arrived there to be greeted not just by the family but by the village chairman and most of the community.

There was much singing and dancing and we were treated as honored guests, as we so often seem to be here in Uganda.

Whilst in Uganda, I have witnessed some of the devastating results of the AIDs epidemic but I have also witnessed people’s strong spirit to survive. I have seen some of the work that is being done to make everyone more aware of AIDs and hopefully improve the lives of the next generation. This includes signs outside schools, speeches and the results of work being done by charities such as RACT. Everyone seems full of hope and determination and unified to make their lives better. Here, people seem to put people before everything else.

For more information on the Rakai Children’s Trust and how you can help please contact their head office at P.O. Box 54, Kyotera, Uganda.

This trip was organized through Real Gap Experience – www.realgap.co.uk