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The Kanungu Region
The gap year projects are centred around the Kanungu Township in south-western Uganda.
It is a beautiful rural area around 300 miles (ten hours by bus) from Kampala, the capital. The nearest town on the tourist map is Rukungiri.
The sports tournaments were great fun. Even if you were on the losing side they were brilliant! I hope the schools enjoy the tournaments as much as we did and that they continue them, and perhaps name it the Volunteer Uganda cup!
It is a mountainous zone, 6,000 feet above sea level, so it avoided the disastrous floods in 2007. The height keeps the temperature low by African standards, an average of 18-28 degrees centigrade.
The remoteness makes life a real challenge for the villagers. They are far from facilities that we take for granted, including electricity and water. The local children have to carry water from the valleys up to their homes and are expected to bring a jerry-can of water and a bundle of firewood before running off to school three or four miles away every morning.
View from the camp
People
The village has around 2,000 people and, like the rest of Uganda, a very young population. Up to 50% of people are illiterate as education is expensive on local earnings and, as families have to pay for medical treatment, school fees must wait.
Education is the only way to break the vicious cycle of ignorance, poverty and disease. AIDS and unemployment are special challenges and school dropouts are most vulnerable - they leave the village and end up in an even worse situation in the towns.
Schoolchildren with a lake in the background showing the beauty of the countrrside
Kanungu facts
The statistics below give some indication of the poverty and need in the area:
| Population | 205,248 |
| Population 0-5 | 43,747 |
| Population 0-14 | 103,197 |
| Population 65+ | 6,640 |
| Sex ratio (males per 100 females) | 93.4 |
| Dependency ratio | 114/100 |
| Crude birth rate | 55/1,000 |
| Crude death rate | 172/1,000 |
| Infant motility rate | 122/1,000 |
| Under five mortality | 206/1,000 |
| Maternal mortality | 700/100,000 |
| Life expectancy | 48.9 yrs |
| Child malnutrition | 60.2% |
| Population growth rate | 2.31% |
Source: Kanungu District Information Portal
Uganda facts
Kanungu is a remote rural region of Uganda; here are some statistics for the country:
| Geography: | Uganda is a land-locked country lying on the equator in central Africa. It shares borders with Sudan, DRCongo, Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya. 20% of the country is covered by inland lakes. The rest ranges through tropical rain forest to savannah with mountains on the western border. |
| Climate: | The climate is tropical |
| Area: | 197,058,000 sq km |
| Population: | 30 million |
| Capital City: | Kampala (population 1.3 million) |
| People: | Over 20 tribes. Baganda (17%), Banyankole (8%), Basoga (8%), Iteso (8%), Acholi and Langi. Small Asian and European communities. |
| Languages: | English is the official language. Swahili and Luganda widely spoken. |
| Religions: | Christianity, with a sizeable Muslim minority. |
| Currency: | Uganda shilling (USH) |
| Head of State: | President Yoweri Museveni (elected February 2006) |
| Prime Minister: | Professor Apolo Nsibambi |
| Life expectancy: | 52 |
| Infant mortality: | 66 deaths per 1,000 live births |
| Illiteracy rate: | 30% |
| Population under 15: | more than half |
| Poverty: | 35% below poverty line |
Source: Foreign & Commonwealth Office