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Host rating
80 %
Last replied
22 Nov 2023
Feedback
11
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Details
Description
We are an eco-friendly homestay located directly on the shores of beautiful Lake Bunyonyi. As a social not-for-profit family enterprise with a sustainable and ecological approach, we try to positively impact the region.
Our homestay includes five cottages - all built by local craftsmen using organic material from the local area - and a small campsite. However, the „heart“ is our main building, where we all eat together. We love to cook and most of the products we use come from our own garden. We are: Wilfried & Irene with our little boy Kyan as well as Irene's sisters and brothers.
We follow the approach of Eco-Tourism, which is defined by the International Eco-Tourism society as follows:
"Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people and involves interpretation and education. Education is meant to be inclusive of both staff and guests (TIES, 2015).“ We see eco-tourism as a potential alternative source of employment and income for young people. Therefore, it is our goal to develop responsible tourism and familiarize youngsters with these principles.
Against this background we started three projects:
- Ecological agriculture & horticulture: teach and demonstrate to the local community how farming - even subsistence farming - can be done sustainably.
- Vocational training: young people can follow a work-based learning program. This is not formal training but a practical way to work, live, and contribute to our community. In practice, this means taking up work where we need it - whether that it is with farming, rearing livestock, maintaining our property, cleaning, painting, or working in the kitchen. We believe that this focus on learning practical skills is necessary for improving living conditions for the local population.
We rely for our operations on donations from our supporters, income gained from eco-tourism, and help from volunteers.
Come and help us at our Homestay! We are looking for smart, mature, and skilled out-of-the-box-thinkers who know how to take initiative, adapt well to changes, and have enthusiasm for contributing to our vision of Eco-Tourism. Specifically, we need support in two areas:
1. Hospitality/ tourism - administrative work, accounting, general maintenance of the property, building new things, marketing, social media, cooking meals, etc.
2. Perma-culture/ gardening/ organic farming: help us design & build a permaculture garden
As the area is very remote, quiet and rural — it takes about an hour to reach Kabale, the nearest town — the project fits best for volunteers with some life experience and prefers applications from couples with a minimum age of 25. We also believe that long-term volunteering works best for both sides, so if you are able to stay with us for one month or more it would be perfect.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Hospitality/Tourism
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
In your free time, you can enjoy Lake Bunyonyi. The water is safe to swim in and there are no mosquitoes here. You can also go canoeing, boat riding, or take walks and learn from the local community about their culture. The area is also a gateway for gorilla tracking and visits to national parks.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
At the moment we would be very happy to hear from people with a background either in tourism/ hospitality or agriculture/ farming. Specifically, we need support in our daily work with the homestay: management, administration, finance, accounting - our priority is at some point to train and assist a local person to run the daily administrative tasks of the project. Furthermore, the work at the homestay includes the maintenance of the property, repairing and building new things (show your creativity), marketing, social media as well as preparing meals for the guests.
People with agriculture, permaculture, and horticulture skills are also very welcome because we are interested in designing and building a permaculture garden.
It would be best if you outline your specific skills in your application. Then we can see if it would be a good fit.
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Luganda, Ganda: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
French: Intermediate
Accommodation
You’ll get a bed in the building for volunteers. The lake is 20 meters away. Meals are served three times a day. There is a computer with internet access but since we have to pay per data used, we don’t allow any downloads or streaming.
What else ...
We would like to emphasize that the project is located in a remote area one hour away from the nearest town, so it’s important to really be able to live in plain nature. There is no supermarket around and the next trading center is 8km away. Since the meals are included we take a fee of $5 to cover the costs.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
This host can provide space for campervans.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week
Feedback (7)
Feedback
They are very interested in new experiences and hard working. They helped us updating our website and started a very good Facebook page.
We can highly recommend them as volunteers.
Ina and Chris, thanks… read more
Take… read more
Urko thanks for everything and comer back any time
