Is international volunteering right for you? This document will give you a brief outline about
volunteering with East African Playgrounds next year. Please read this information carefully
and also read the Application process on the website. If you have any other questions email
us at volunteering@leedsbeckett.ac.uk. The application deadline is 31st January 2016
midnight.
Project summary
Fifteen volunteers are needed to work with local
volunteers on a playground construction project in
Eastern Uganda.
The project is run by a UK registered charity, East
African Playgrounds (EAP). They have a simple
but effective structure. They develop relationships
with East African charities and schools, visit
potential sites and assess the suitability and
feasibility of building a playground.
The playgrounds are built from metal sourced in
Uganda and their Ugandan playground welders
will make the playground from scratch whilst the
volunteers are led by the site manger to clear the land, dig foundations holes, cement the
structure in place and paint the finished playground.
EAP and the volunteering team at Leeds Beckett will provide all of the relevant training,
preparation and fundraising assistance for all volunteers prior to the project. Teams then
travel out to East Africa to work and live onsite for 3 weeks, until the playground is
completed.
About the organisation
East African Playgrounds (EAP) was founded in 2009, and since then has strived to
develop relationships with schools, charities and orphanages within East Africa to provide
local communities with their own playgrounds.
So far successful playground builds have been completed in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda,
in which a multitude of children have benefitted (and continue to benefit) from a place to
play, have fun and develop.
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Children in east Africa can often have very little time to be children. Many
work in their homes, or shambas, once they are old enough to perform
basic chores. EAP recognise that there are many excellent charities and
organisations in Africa that assist with people’s basic needs. There are,
however, little resources dedicated to providing space for children as part
of their right to childhood. As a charity, EAP follows article 31 of the
United Nations ‘Convention on the Rights of the Child’, which states that
children have the right “to rest and leisure, to engage in play and
recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child”.
Building playgrounds will not change the world, but it does complement the work of existing
charities and gives children something that many others take for granted. We and EAP think
that’s very important.
If you are considering applying you need to bear
some important points in mind. Firstly, dress
codes are really important in East Africa.
Volunteers are expected to wear appropriate
clothes at all times when volunteering. Women
need to be especially careful about not revealing
too much! We will brief the teams fully about this
in due course. Secondly, as with most
volunteering projects there are often last minute
changes to the programme, either before
departure or perhaps on a day-to-day basis with
the host organisation. Volunteers need to be
patient, flexible and understanding about the fact
that arrangements can sometimes change last
minute and it is sometimes things do not run
exactly to plan.
Pre-departure activities and commitments
There’s quite a lot for volunteers to do before departure. If you are interested in applying
you must make sure that you will have enough time to prepare for the project in between
your studies and your work. After the team has been recruited, there will be a compulsory
team briefing and you will need to do fundraising some of which will be as a group and
some you will probably do on your own. There will be other compulsory meetings to help
you get prepared for the experience and talks about essential health information and
environmental issues. Although it’s not spread evenly, we’d recommend allowing an
average of 2 hours a week from when you find out you get a place to departure.
Don’t forget that the preparation for the trip will add to your personal development!
Below is a list of key dates. Dates for the sessions that are not listed below will be sent out
to the team or agreed in the first team meeting.
Before departure
Feb, March, April
23rd & 24th April
All projects fees and fundraised money to be paid in
Team meetings
Great Big Volunteering Abseil
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12th August
13th August
10th September
Tbc
Autumn 2016
Group departs (exact date of flight to be confirmed)
Project starts
Project ends
Group returns (exact date of flight to be confirmed – it might be
possible to have some free time before flying home)
Team reunion and evaluation meeting
About the trip
Project Dates: 13th August – 10th September 2016
You will travel to Uganda a day or two before the project starts, exact dates to be
confirmed.
Three weeks will be spent volunteering; EAP will plan two weekends away. Weekend
activities will include:
 Safari in Murchison Falls national park
 White Water rafting
There is the option of a later return date to allow for independent travel after the volunteer
work is completed.
Travel - the team will meet up at the University and travel together by minibus to the airport.
The flights haven’t yet been finalised but volunteers will travel together and be collected by
an EAP representative and taken to meet their hosts and community members.
Support for volunteers – Michelle Mellis your team leader from Leeds Beckett will be
travelling as part of the group and will be there to support the volunteers. In addition EAP
have some very experienced volunteers and staff who will make you feel welcomed,
supported and well equipped to do your work. The staff in the volunteering office at Leeds
Beckett will also be on hand and there will be someone on call 24/7 for the duration of your
trip.
Accommodation – Warning this will be very basic! Volunteers will be housed as a group in
very basic accommodation. In the past this has been on camp beds in a school hall. We’re
not sure what the accommodation will be for 2016. Don’t expect mod cons or even hot
water but the accommodation will be safe and an EAP rep will always be on site
Food – meals will be provided and plentiful. Ugandan cuisine is basic but caters for most
needs. Most main courses are based on potatoes, rice and beans with meat or fish but you
can also expect some fantastic fruit.
Average volunteering day – breakfast at 7am, work from 8am – 1pm, lunch 1pm-3pm,
work 3pm – 5pm, dinner 6pm and free time in the evenings. Three afternoons a week
volunteer will help to run play workshops on various subjects, these will definitely include
games and play work activities with the school children, as well as activities including arts
and reading.
The costs
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The overall cost for each volunteer is approximately £1400. However all students are
eligible for some subsidy from Leeds Beckett, for your first time volunteering experience the
University gives you £200 towards your project costs.
The project fees of £1,400 include the following activities:
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Return flight to Uganda
Travel Insurance
3 weeks of volunteering with East Africa Playgrounds
Accommodation and food at the school
Hoodies and t-shirts from both Leeds Beckett and EAP
3 day safari including food, drinks and transport
2 day white water rafting including transport and accommodation
What isn’t included?
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Spending money – we recommend £10 per day.
The cost of some free time activities and the cost of any independent travel
Vaccinations
Fundraising
Fundraising for your host organisations is a
requirement to being accepted on the project. You
need to raise a minimum of £800 per volunteer
to buy the materials needed to build the
playground. We also think it’ll be a great way for
you to get to know your team. Lots of our previous
volunteers have had great success fundraising
and some have continued raising money after
they got back (after being so inspired by the work
of the organisation). We’ll help you with your
fundraising and encourage you to work as a
group. Previous examples include cake sales, abseils, sponsored walks and even
approaching companies for donations. Don’t forget, volunteering and fundraising look
wonderful on your CV! Minimum fundraising target: £800 minimum
More information
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If you have any questions please feel free to email Cara McCosh on
c.mccosh@leedsbeckett.ac.uk and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
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