VOLSET Update & Volunteering Information

19 April

Festus emailed that Deborah began her studies at university on 1 April! He was able to gather a portion of her school fees for the first term so the school enrolled her. I'm hopeful he'll be able to find a sponsor who will commit to at least one year of fees if not all 4 years so she can stay in the program. Festus is also hoping he can find a sponsor for Gloria, to pay for her medical expenses and ensure she gets the correct nutrition and care. And then there will be school fees for her as well. I'm glad he doesn't seem to get overwhelmed by the responsibilities, I think I would.

The global economic downturn has had a real impact on the work of VOLSET and other small NGO's (non governmental organizations) who rely on volunteers. Quite simply people are not signing up to volunteer- not only does this mean the organizations lose out on human resources, they also lose out on a very important source of income. A portion of the fees volunteers pay goes directly to the program where they are placed.

I know my donation paid for the community outreach HIV/AIDs testing and counseling session we did in early March. With more volunteers VOLSET could do more of these outreach sessions, pay school fees for other students, fund a program to provide egg laying chickens to poor families, embark on more home visits to the sick and infirm, begin to set up the sewing and woodworking vocational classes and the list goes on.

For those interested in learning more about the work of VOLSET please contact Festus
volset2008@gmail.com
VOLSET also has a website but Festus will be able to give you more information about their current programs than the website. volsetuganda.tripod.com/
And they are on Facebook! www.facebook.com/people/Volset_Uganda/1171667344

If you are interested in the world wide volunteer opportunities through the Global Volunteer Network their website is www.volunteer.org.nz/