KOICA Dispatches Over 500 Volunteers in Uganda

Volunteers With Nsangi Secondary School Senior 1

In their volunteer journey to create a sustainable impact in the lives of Ugandan communities, over 500 volunteers have been dispatched throughout the country.

 According to the statement, World Friends Korea (WFK) a group of volunteers working in Uganda under the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), a development agency under the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, dispatched to work in sectors like technical skills in education, health, and agriculture.

 The Country Director Jihee Ahn says in Uganda, the first Volunteer arrived in 2010 and since then, over 500 volunteers have been dispatched. The program is designed for both senior and young Korean citizens with technical skills to assist in the socio-economic advance of developing countries. 

Currently, there are 22 volunteers supporting farmers in Mpigi and Wakiso, while others are supporting government schools in Jinja, Mbale, Iganga, and Makerere University. In health, a global doctor is supporting Mulago national referral hospital. Despite the global pandemic and Ebola outbreak last year, KOICA is hopeful that there will be an increase in the number of volunteers dispatched in Uganda.

The country director said that the WFK volunteers are dispatched through the KOICA Uganda offices according to the specific needs of the host organizations, public agencies, or institutions. These include local governments, primary and secondary schools, vocational institutions, and hospitals, among others. KOICA staff conduct feasibility studies at several institutions to assess the demand for volunteers,” she explained.

Through the development of cooperation programs, KOICA plays an active and critical role in the implementation of Country Partnership Strategies (CPS). KOICA has implemented official development assistance in the form of grant aid. CPS for Uganda holds three priority cooperation areas which include: Agriculture, Education and Health. The WFK volunteers have tremendously contributed to achieving CPS goals towards Uganda’s development.

Health 

Volunteers in the health sector have contributed to improved healthcare and access to information by facilitating the skills development of local healthcare professionals. A recent case is a global doctor (Dr Chung) who has been working in Uganda for 7 years supporting the endoscopy centre in Mulago Hospital. 

Last year, the doctor set up a Minimally Invasive Surgery Simulation Center at Mulago Hospital and Level up of KOICA-Mulago Endoscopy Centre worth $50,000. The simulation machine will allow Mulago National Referral Hospital to train health workers in large numbers to carry out surgeries using cameras and computers among other equipment without necessarily doing traditionally open surgery. 

This will save patients a lot of money and quicken the time of recovery. Mulago hospital is the first simulator in the department. For the past 7 years, Dr Chung has treated over 7000 patients and performed 280 surgeries on cancer patients.

Agriculture

The country director also highlighted the contributions of volunteers in the agricultural sector since it’s one of KOICA’s main areas of interest. She said that volunteers have contributed to increasing productivity, food security and profitability by introducing the best farming practices. For example, Last year we had 6 project volunteers working in the Mityana Villages of Kitanswa, Nalyankanja and Kawolongojo. The goal of their project was to improve the livelihood of residents and regenerate soil by disseminating agricultural models that efficiently utilize resources at low cost, she added.

Volunteers invested about $48,458 into the project. Over 200 pioneer group members benefited from the poultry farms set up by volunteers in each village, one solar drier for the crops purchased in each village and members received mindset training for the time volunteers were dispatched. 

Currently, the farmers have started selling eggs to big markets and supermarkets like ‘Le gourmet’ a Belgium market (which is one of the luxurious food shops and offers good prices to the farmers) and are getting good feedback hence increasing their income streams.

Education 

KOICA volunteers work with government schools which in most cases report limited manpower and equipment to teach certain subjects like Physical education, Music, and ICT among others. Volunteers have been able to fill these gaps within schools by providing extra lessons to students and assisting teachers in training students, she added.

They have also procured materials and items required in their respective fields to enhance students’ learning such as buying sports items like balls, nets, training outfits, or even musical instruments among others. Volunteers have improved the learning environment by introducing alternative teaching techniques in various subjects. For some schools struggling with classrooms, volunteers have established alternative classroom settings.  

Above all, the programme has helped cement the relationship between Uganda and KOICA therefore we can’t help but commend our volunteers for their dedication and commitment towards supporting the Ugandan people. Volunteers believe that they have achieved personal and professional development through volunteer activities and the program's success is set to become more apparent as the number of volunteers increases.