Community based tours

Why I love Community Based Tourism

October 23, 2021June 14, 2022 Ssamba FoundationIsaac Ssamba BlogNo Comment

Community-based tourism is a type of tourism where local communities invite tourists into their communities, giving them insight into their…

SSAMBA FOUNDATION

4.4

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Chelsea Horsley

13:33 18 Jun 22

Isaac Ssamba started Ssamba Foundation, a community-based organization that change lives in Mukono, central Uganda in 2006. He started to empower the vulnerable rural communities of Mukono district.Today, Ssamba Foundation has grown into one of the biggest community-owned charities in Mukono, Uganda. Ssamba and his team offer free charitable support in the community, from building classrooms for village school, constructing boreholes for the community to get clean water to supporting women with skills and capital to start on the independent life.I was lucky to volunteer with Ssamba Foundation for a few months. During that period, I saw several lives being changed; vulnerable youth helped to join vocational skills training institutions, orphans and vulnerable children enrolled to school, people with HIV given a new hope for living and helpless children being given their first formal lessons and dressing.I have no doubt in my heart, Isaac Ssamba is my hero. A super hero he is!

Julie Harmstone

07:36 17 Jun 22

My name is Julie; I am an American university student who volunteered with Ssamba Foundation this past summer. Isaac asked me to leave a review by sharing my experience with his organization, I am glad to do so. Like other participants who shared their experiences here, volunteering in Uganda was an amazing life changing experience, and I would 100% do it again given the opportunity.I was nervous going to a place so different from anywhere I had ever been before, without my family or anyone I knew, for four weeks, but the support from Isaac made it seem possible. From the get-go, he answered all my questions by e-mail and WhatsApp. He sent me all the information I needed to know, so that I felt prepared for my trip to Uganda.While in Uganda, I stayed with his family at Kalaji, a small town north of Mukono. Isaac also arranged the safari trips for the volunteer team to Queen Elizabeth and Murchison falls national parks, we also visited Jinja to see the source of river Nile.I worked with a microcredit program with local women groups in the surrounding villages of Kalaji, helping them design business plans. I was able to meet and work with the local people, as well as with other volunteers from all over the world.I would recommend Ssamba Foundation for anyone looking to volunteer abroad for the first time! The best moment of the experience- its free, I paid 200$ donation to confirm my stay and that was all (we paid for safari trips separately). I covered my flights, visas, insurance and all logistics of the trip.Thank you Isaac and your team for the giving me the opportunity to serve and explore Uganda.

Isabella Hernández

22:21 11 Jan 22

I joined the Ssamba Foundation program in Uganda for four weeks and found it to be the experience of a lifetime! Isaac the Founding Director was our coordinator and he did a fabulous job with everything from arrival to hosting at his home.He was very supportive and always available for help. I really enjoyed my hospital experience because I got to rotate through all the different departments in the hospital in Mukono on different days including surgery, pharmacy, pediatric care, primary care etc.My friend and I shared a room at Ssamba’s home. Sandy the “house manager” was fantastic! She made the most amazing meals, served us tea, took care of us and was there for us all day every day and night with a smile on her face. No task ever a problem!In a nutshell, volunteer program was fantastic! Very well organized and no hidden fees. My friend and I paid USD$200 each (for our 4 weeks’ stay).Overall this is one of the best organizations available and offers amazing value for money and donations! Highly recommended! Contact Isaac directly, he will work out the best placement for you.

Waswa Hassan

14:28 18 Jun 21

Uganda East

Susan Madison

12:08 15 Jun 19

I and my daughter had a great time with Beacon of Hope Uganda. Isaac made us feel very welcome in his village and town homes, he also made sure we felt very safe while on the safari, which he arranged for us and it was super affordable, we saved a fortune using his service.Isaac is very knowledgeable and was able to share with us a great deal of history on Uganda, diverse cultures and he was highly respected in the communities we visited.We are so glad we chose his organization for our volunteering experience in Uganda. It was an amazing experience that has led to a lot of personal growth.All of the people we met were so kind and helpful, and we are incredibly grateful for the support and kindness they gave to us. We would definitely recommend this organization to those who are willing to give back and experience a new culture from a different point of view than that of a tourist.

Jim Emilian

17:06 19 Nov 17

I set out for Uganda on 15th June, this was my third and shortest visit and I met with another volunteer Terry from Canada. Terry arrived after 2 days of my arrival. This was Terry’s first visit so perhaps he was even more excited than me. I arrived around 7pm and as always immigration was easy and even the officials smiled I just wish it were as easy in the rest of AfricaAs on the last time, I received a great welcome from Isaac who was waiting for me at the airport.The new BoHU House was really good and very comfortable, I shared a room with Terry when he came, and there is a nice lounge as well for eating food and recreation when you are not out on some kind of mission or adventure.As I said I have been to Uganda already and worked with Isaac and BoHU some five or six months in all and have seen the organization grow and now blossom. Volunteering with BoHU is no everyday experience you get the real Africa, the real Uganda warts and all, and working with Isaac is a revelation the guy is an extraordinary person, truly a man and a half at least!!! You can actually see that you are helping to make a difference so any time I am there I get very excited.First day I take it easy Beatrice, the wonderful and very pretty housekeeper greets us with the most wonderful breakfast includes French toast with avocado and pineapples and really these are the best in the world Yum!!!The next day we visit the school traveling first by Matatu and then a long Boda Boda ride on dirt roads through the countryside this is really wonderful and great fun as well.The school is a project that Isaac started last year. I was absolutely amazed at the quality of education at the school, The teachers are incredible , and as well as education the kids all receive a meal each day for some this is the only meal they will have, these kids just melt the hardest of hearts.I was particularly impressed with both the corn project and the upland rice project. The upland rice has only been going for a couple of months. That evening we returned to Mukono for some more of Beatrice’s good cooking Rice, Matooke, beans and cassava and rested up the next day and getting ready for the next big trip.This was to be a first for me, Isaac has started up a series of programs going deep into the other villages where no other organization penetrates for this one we were to go deep into the forest to the down village of Mengo, here there are no Boda-Boda so we are to go by car.The next couple days we spent in this village we set up our clinic there and the village telegraph soon spread the word. Once more we must have treated over 500 people.By the time we had returned to Mukono and said goodbye to all our friends old and new it was time to return home.This is just a typical 2-3 weeks volunteering with BoHU you get to work with one of the greatest people I have ever met Isaac Ssamba, who is the founder and current Chairman, Board of directors of the of the organization and you can work on many projects such as the deep village clinics and actually see the difference you make .BoHU has since opened a school and this serves a very wide area at present we have 5 full time paid teachers and several local volunteers working there, we desperately need foreign volunteers for this as well as other work.Please if you want to volunteer I promise you that this is the most unique and genuine experience you can have, you will make a difference and you will also have funTerry was so impressed by what he witnessed that he has since he returned already raised over $5000 for BoHU and its work and continues to raise more money so that he can return in 2018 and help with bigger and better programs and help set up more agricultural projects. Terry made a difference and continues to do so, Why don’t you?Jim

Jeremiah Fiayd

17:32 27 Dec 15

Uganda is a beautiful country in all aspects - the people, the landscape, and the rich culture all made our month there the most amazing experience. Although technically a very small organization, there are many diverse volunteer projects with Beacon of Hope Uganda scattered across the country.My volunteering experience in Mukono at the construction site was exceptional! The opportunity to get to know and work with the others on the team was a pleasure. We did a lot, in just a short period of time, Isaac is an inspiring young man in just mid-twenties but very creative and hard-working. He is very smart and committed to total development of his country and I was more than satisfied with all aspects of my time there.I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and that goal was definitely met!

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