Volunteers

Volunters are most welcome because help is needed in many places around the school. You can help out in one or many classes. Plays and games

and sports activities. Playing music, singing and dancing. Teaching computers. Drama and painting, colouring. Helping in the kitchen; serving tea

and food for the children. If you stay for 1, 2, 4 or more weeks, you are most welcome.

You are always given a timetable to follow so it is best that you let us know of your strong areas and where you want to help in advance.

There is 94 children in the kindergarten a 220 children in the school up to Primary 7 (2023), included 16 refugees from a nearby camp. The refugees come from South Sudan. The children are so happy and smiling and loves volunteers.

The teachers enjoy sharing their work and teaching methods and they also hope to get new inputs from you.

We require a Criminal record from the Police.

There are many flights to Entebbe, Brusselsair, Egyptair, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airways.

It is Important to get vaccinations, ask your doctor. Remember the vaccinations card, yellow fever vaccination is always checked at the airport.

Remember malaria pills.

You can get the Visa online https://visas.immigration.go.ug.

We will pick you up in Entebbe Airport and provide the transport up to Makjolly School in Kiryandongo, about 4 hours drive.

Also we provide the transport back to Entebbe Airport.

We will make a reservation in Max Hotel, Kiryandongo, just 10 minutes walk to the school. Max Hotel is good. Single room is about 90.000 ugs/

180 kroner/27 us dollar for one night and the cost is all yours. It includes breakfast. Good bed with mosqitonet, a good toilet and hot water.

Tv in the room. WIFI (sometimes). In case of electricity failure they have a generator. Laundry service. Security. Can eat dinner at the hotel.

Lunch is served at the school. Water in bottle is available at the school.

The school dress code is mainly clothes below the knees for both men and women and a pair of sneakers is good for the rainny days.

It does not have to be work in Makjolly school all the time.

There is so many great sites in the National Park and so many wild animals to see. Beautiful waterfalls.

Sightseeing in Kampala. Boattrip on the Nile. Rhino Sanctuary in Kigumba. Great Golf courses. And much more.

We can help to arrange that.

Volunteers are most welcome to visit the Kindergarten, Primary and Daycare Center, please contact us, if you want more information.

2nd May 2024 from Jan after 11 weeks.

11 weeks as a volunteer at Mak-Jolly kindergarten and Primary school had been an amazing experience. Not only because of beautiful staff and teachers, but also because of all the people around the school.

I have only met lovely and open-minded people, in the town and on all my walking trips. Many people shouted " Muzungu" (white man in local language) and waved to me.

At the school I have been blessed with a lot of different jobs, painting buildings, painting the playground, fencing some trees, repairing all the school tables, making different things for the children, ironing tables, an outside library. I also started a carpentry class, where the children made small games, trying to saw, hammering and drilling. Both the children and I had a very funny time. I also had a few music lessons with guitar playing. In the oldest classes I tried to explain, why we, in the north, have 4 seasons and around equator only 2 seasons. It gave me a funny, but very clever, question: How do you breathe doing winter, when there is no leaves on the tree to make oxygen?

I'm sure, everybody has learned something during my stay, I have for sure learned a lot.

I also had time to a Safari trip. Amazing.

A big thanks to everybody at Mak-Jolly. Special thanks to Maureen, Ester and John Patron. To Maureen for all our instructive and encouraging conversations, to Ester for always taking care of me and to John for being my brother in God.

11 wonderful weeks at Mak-Jolly. Love you all.

Blessings from Jan

22nd July 2020: Facebook post by volunteer Lisbeth.

For the past few months, the children in Kiryandongo have been on my mind. At the moment, they are prevented from going to school due to the Corona. This has also given me time to think about my 3 weeks there as a volunteer one year ago. A very special time that I will always keep in my heart. I really hope that the 5 volunteers who should have been at the school this year will keep up the spirit and be able to go as soon as the situation is stabilized.

I have been giving contributions to various aid organizations for many years. However, I have always had the feeling that I wish I could go there and make a difference myself.

My meeting with Maureen and Per here in Denmark gave me that option. I am amazed at what they have managed to build up from nothing. Their hearts are beating for the children of Kiryandongo, and I can easily understand why. This village is full of people who are very welcoming, curious, helpful and open-minded.

The job of being a volunteer gives you a chance to get to know the locals living there. How do they live, what do they think, why do they do the things they do etc. People invited me to their homes, I went to church with them and I saw their villages and market, and everywhere I went they met with smiles, friendliness and a "hello"

At the school I helped in the kitchen, in classes and in the teachers’ room – in short, wherever they need help. This gave me a good insight in every part of the school.

I was blown away with the children’s eagerness to learn, their curiosity, their cheerfulness, their smiles and their ability to keep their concentration for a long time.

Maureen, the staff at the school and even the people from the village and the staff at the hotel were constantly making sure that I was all right. They all took so good care of me, and Maureen was just like a second mother to me (and I was 49).

Especially one episode that keeps coming back and makes me smile when I think of it, and it inspired me to do more: As a first contribution to the library they dream of, I had brought 32 books with me. I suggested the English teacher that we took the books and children outside and sat under the trees. To see how concentrated, calm and curious the children were when reading the books, shifting the books among them, reading aloud, pointing and talking about the books. I was very touched and it inspired me to go home and try to collect more books for them. And I did - now they have 670 books thanks to the Danish organization Læs for Livet.

I can only encourage everybody to go there if they would like an experience for life, and I shall be happy to tell more and show you my 7000 photos  Please do contact me if you are curious.

I would like to thank Maureen, Per and the whole Mak-Jolly family for giving me this opportunity. I now have a Ugandan family, and I am looking so much forward to follow their life. I would like to go back, hopefully with my two sons, to show them how people also live in this world in a country so far away and with not only a beautiful nature but also very beautiful people in every way.

1st September 2019: Facebook post by volunteer Lisbeth after 3 weeks in Mak-Jolly.

On days when the island boy rains at home, I come to think of Uganda and the children going to and from school. On rainy days, smaller children always come to school because of impassable roads.
But the school, which is dependent on contributions they receive no government support, does what they can to get the children to school. Maureen has chosen to prioritize ensuring that children far out in the countryside also have an opportunity to attend school. She has therefore invested in a school bus. An expensive priority when it breaks down and they depend on it to get the kids back and forth. Last, they had to spend money on renting a big car,

where the kids were literally stuffed.
I was outside and can safely say that the children's lives lie in the hands of the driver. It is not really seen in the pictures, but it takes place on quite inaccessible dirt roads and especially after the heavy rain.
Funding for the school is also used to have a nurse affiliate, who comes regularly. to ensure that children with e.g. Malaria is treated on time in the form

of a pill. It saves many lives, but families simply need the mosquito net.
The teachers here have many roles. The bus driver teaches e.g. also in computer hours and
the two female chefs are part of a new and very important initiative. They will teach the girls themselves to make reusable menstrual binders made of

fabric and plastic. Binding is simply too expensive and most girls only have a pair of panties.
During the hour, questions were asked
Teacher Lisbeth (or Teacher Toothpaste as the smallest kids call me when Lisbeth is too hard 😄) about first menstruation, first crap, first boyfriend,

first pregnancy, etc. A pretty open talk and we laughed.
I miss all these very nice people ....

2nd August 2019: Facebook post by volunteer Lisbeth after 3 weeks in Mak-Jolly

During the 3 weeks I have been around every corner of the Mak-Jolly school to get a feel for how a school, financially based on the help of private and sponsors, runs on these edges. In addition to the teachers, there are among others. also kitchen staff, bus driver, nurse, who I followed in their important functions.
Maureen has decided, unlike in the public schools, that the children here have lunch. For some of the kids, this is the only meal they get in a day.
There is heat in the heat in an even warmer and smoky kitchen to have food ready for 300 children every day. First morning food, which can be tea

with sugar or a portion of corn swelling and later lunch is usually corn starch with beans, cassava or cabbage. Some must be cut and cooked ...

23rd July 2019: Facebook post by volunteer Lisbeth after 3 weeks in Mak-Jolly

It is a matter of course to teach so many children in this inferno of noise from the adjoining rooms where there is still no ceiling and proper walls.

They spend a lot of repeating sentences in chorus, so keep partying an alarm. One is completely masturbated after 9 hours here.
The teachers are not only cool and skilled, they are also super cute, have a great sense of humor and ask many interesting questions. I've given them

some leeway in the breaks in the teacher's room, which is a round open building in the middle of the school yard, by playing UNO with them.

A game I had actually brought to the kids, but which quickly became a hit with the adults as well, when asked if I wanted to teach them.

Ever since, the kids haven't played 😆
I myself have been teaching computer lessons. The students are deeply concentrated and think it is hugely exciting, even though we have only come

to how to write capital letters 😉
I ended the hour with a Spiderman movie from Youtube. It was a huge hit. Within a few minutes it was rumored and the room was stuffed to the

breaking point with kids not used to movies and TV.
Some have asked me how to support the school. There are several ways to do this.
Mobile Pay for this issue:
+45 94743 (NB: Mak-Jolly school, Uganda)
They will be used to build their own borehole so that they are guaranteed clean water every day. It has been difficult to witness the days when there

was not enough water to drink, to wash fingers after a toilet and before eating. A basic and very important thing.
You can also get a sponsor child.
Or go down here 😊 All hands and heads are needed.
Check if necessary. their website:
www.makjolly.com

22nd July 2019: Facebook post by volunteer Lisbeth after 3 weeks in Mak-Jolly

Uganda is crazy beautiful, green, lively, colorful ..... and noisy at least here in Kiryandongo 😊
I am surrounded by beautiful smiling people who are grateful, curious, eager for learning, helpful, hardworking, hospitable, hopeful, believers,
dancing and singing.
All that I land crashed into, and it is pretty overwhelming to be the only Mzungu in town.
But everyone here makes me feel at home, takes good care of me and makes sure I am well. They are wildly sweet ....
Wherever I go or stand, there are some who look curious and at first a little reluctant to me. When I catch their eyes and smile, I always get the

biggest smile back and a small "hello".
And then there are these cute little kids who joyfully run into me and shout "Mzungu Mzungu" and want to hold hands. It's hard not to be happy in

the lid ....
But there are also some young children who are stuck in a shelf because they have never seen one like me 😆
When I have some time alone here, I may be struck by thoughts, like what will become of all these very lovely, talented and hopeful children who

are so full of joy of life and eager to learn? Where do they end up?
But they are really well on their way. They go to school here at Mak-Jolly Kindergarten & Primary School. They learn to read, write, reckon but also

about everything that is important to them in order to survive both in terms of growing crops, avoiding diseases and much more.
I am impressed by what Maureen Hansen has built here, and she struggles to maintain the standard and improve conditions by constantly seeking

support and help. Her big heart knocks to give these children a better future.

5th April 2018: Facebook post by volunteers Ida and Mary after 6 weeks in Mak-Jolly

"Volunteering at Mak-Jolly school for 6 weeks has been an amazing experience.

Thank you so much for the love and for taking good care for us. Being a part of Mak-Jolly has been a dream come true.

We are so grateful for the staff and we want to thank you for everything you did to us; to the Kitchen Lady who made special food for us, even when

she was sick. To the driver who drove us anywhere we wanted to go, even on weekends when he was free. And for the teacher who invited us at her

home and made food for us with her family. And last but not least thank you to Maureen who always made sure that we were alright and escorted

us to Kampala for 4 hours and drove back again to Kiryandongo the same day just to make sure we arrived safely - thank you so much!

Thank you Maureen Hansen and Per Hansen for the good work you have done to all those kids in Kiryandongo who need help. You are both such

blessing for them! We will pray that everything will be fine and your plans for the school will come true. It has been a pleasure to be a part of your

lovely family. We will surely come back.

Best regards from your volunteers Ida and Mary".

3rd March 2018: Facebook post by volunteer Magnus after 4 weeks in Mak-Jolly

"Thank you to everyone who has been part of my stay in Uganda, and especially in Mak Jolly. It has been the most fantastic experience. Meeting the

staff and children, who are all amazing, being a part of their everyday life, and learning so much about a place that is so different from where i come

from. But one thing stays the same no matter where you go in the world, i find. Kids are kids, and they want to be loved. And they are loved at Mak Jolly.

Mak-Jolly Kindergarten Primary

and Daycare Center