ATA Internship Program

Agro-Tourism Association’s Volunteer Agriculture & Tourism Development Program presents an educational opportunity for university and post-graduate students specializing in agriculture, tourism, and international development.

In addition to hands-on experience working directly with Uganda’s leading agriculture and tourism development organization, ATA, which has experience skilling over 125,000 farmers across the country, students will be able to pioneer and implement projects of their own. The ideal opportunity for ambitious, self-starters, this program gives you the chance to have a real impact in one of the most exciting agricultural economies in East Africa.

Trip Highlights

• Volunteer for the Agro-Tourism Association in Uganda and help local farmers strengthen their businesses
• Work in tandem with farmers and tourism providers to gain first-hand experience in developing agribusiness projects
• Work entails agribusiness research, business development, agricultural market, and tourism development
• Create practical solutions in real-world circumstances that have long-term impacts
• Cultural exchange with Ugandan students and farmers

Volunteers must be 18 years or older at the time of joining the project.

Participants should have an open mind and flexible attitude for working in a new and different environment.

Volunteers need to be flexible, open-minded, and passionate about working within the community. You should also be proactive and have the ability to take initiative.

All volunteers must provide a clean criminal background check report before joining the program.

Each ATA volunteer internship is designed to be experiential and project-based. Interns will gain valuable experience interacting with all of the stakeholders along the related value chains (agriculture, tourism). Students may either propose and develop additional projects of their own or contribute to fellow Ugandan interns in developing additional agribusiness projects.

Volunteers joining the Agro-Tourism Association volunteer program will be expected to work on the following general tasks:

•     Working with farmers to gather data and information on crops

•     Collaborating with local tourism partners – guides, companies, tourism board – to create and market new agro-tourism products

•     Gathering information on opportunities to present to local farmers best practices in other environments

•     Teaming up with local Ugandan students and interns to develop agribusiness projects, create strategies, and implement

The schedule for the volunteers will be similar to the following:

Sunday – Arrival in Uganda and stay overnight in Kampala
Monday – An orientation session will be conducted by the local coordinator, covering topic areas; such as safety, culture, language, places to visit, behaviour, food, and other suggestions over things to do in Uganda.
Tuesday to Fri – Volunteer work could follow the below schedule:
Weekends – Free to explore, take day trips to national parks, etc.

Sample Volunteer Day
07:30-8:30 am – Breakfast
09:00 am – Leave for the project
10:00 am to 5:00 pm – Work hours at the placement

1:00 pm – Lunch
7:00 pm – Dinner
Evenings free

The same volunteer work schedule continues from the second week onwards, with work starting on Monday.

Note: Please note that the schedule may vary depending on the particular project the volunteer is participating in. An example might be travelling to another region over the weekend, in which case you would have corresponding free days if you so choose.

Airport Transfer

Upon your arrival at Entebbe International Airport near Kampala, our coordinator will pick you up and transfer you to your accommodation. Depending on your schedule and the ultimate location of your activity, we may also coordinate a brief stay in Kampala.

In case you are coming by road or are already in Kampala, please inform us beforehand and the pickup will be arranged accordingly.

Accommodation

Living options for various projects in Uganda range from host family accommodations to guest houses. All necessary facilities are provided in the accommodation for a comfortable stay of volunteers.

Program volunteers are provided accommodation at a guesthouse which will be conveniently located at the project site. The guest house will have self-contained rooms, a dining area, on-site water facilities and well-managed facilities checked by our local team in Uganda.

Some of the facilities available for the volunteers include western toilets and showers, laundry services at additional cost, bikes for hire, and security guards.

Orientation

Our program coordinator will give you an orientation about the placement, local transport, facilities around the accommodation and necessities like ATMs, banks, restaurants, shops, pharmacies, local customs, and practices, Dos and Don’ts, safety and so on.

Please feel free to ask the coordinator any questions if you need more information.

Meals

3 meals a day, i.e. breakfast, lunch, and dinner are provided from Monday to Friday. Breakfast and dinner will be given at the accommodation whereas lunch will be provided at the program location.

Breakfast includes:

Tea/coffee
Bread
Jam
Fruit
One dish (eggs, porridge, French toast, cereal etc.).

Lunch is mostly prepared by local families or community members and typically includes meat (beef or chicken or fish), potatoes and rice. Our program coordinator may take you occasionally to a local restaurant for lunch.

Dinner includes vegetables, meat once or twice a week, rice, maize etc.

On weekends, only breakfast and dinner will be given. For lunch, program attendees can attend local restaurants. The program coordinator will recommend restaurants and other activities to do during the weekend. Weekend trips can also be taken up after consulting the coordinator and your fellow volunteers.

Always be wary of local street food. Do not drink tap water directly. Brushing your teeth with tap water is fine. You can purchase packaged water bottles from a supermarket for drinking.

Daily Transportation

Most of the program locations are within a walking distance from the program location and in cases where travel is required, volunteers are picked up and dropped back on either a boda-boda (motorcycle) or a car. The program locations or local utility shops are not generally within walking distance of accommodations.

We endeavour to make this program both accessible to our international student travellers and beneficial to our farmers. Here we present the program fees, detailed by week and by category.

As detailed below, the weekly costs include all the essentials you’ll need during your stay in Uganda, from accommodation and transport to meals.

Inputs are small investments we will be provided to the farmers you will be directly working with. Though they will no doubt benefit from your education and experience, we want to insure that we can also support them financially in developing their businesses at the same time. The management fees are a small weekly portion that goes to the ATA team on the ground that will be helping to coordinate your mission and research.

• Comprehensive pre-departure information
• Accommodation
• Meals
• Airport pickup from Entebbe International Airport in Uganda
• Round-the-clock assistance from our in-country coordinator and local staff
• Program orientation by our in-country program coordinator
• Drop and pickup from your accommodation to the placement (if the placement is located beyond walking distance)
• Certificate Of Completion (Upon Request)

For additional details, including arranging an informational interview, feel free to contact ATA’s International Consultant, Alex Jeffries

Alex Jeffries

E: alex@passportcreative.co

US: (916) 202-8481

WhatsApp: +33 6 45 30 70 23