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Volunteer Permaculturist Required for Ugandan AIDS Clinic

With an acre of land to work with, could you develop a sustainable demonstration garden for a health centre to teach its HIV positive clients about nutrition and gardening practices to maximize their land’s potential?

St. Francis Health Care Services is a health centre and social support services centre for people living with HIV/AIDS, located in Mbiko, Mukono District, 15 minutes from Jinja town. It is a private, not-for-profit health centre that was founded in 1998 and is now the premier AIDS service organization in its area. St. Francis offers free HIV testing, and medical care (including anti-retroviral therapy) and social support services to people living with HIV/AIDS. St. Francis emphasizes the importance of “positive living” for people with HIV; positive living is a holistic concept that encompasses a positive outlook on life, good home hygiene to prevent opportunistic infections, medical care and good nutrition.

St. Francis currently has approximately one acre of land on which the organization wants to set up a demonstration garden to teach nutrition and improved gardening techniques for people living with HIV/AIDS. Nutrition is an essential component of living healthily with HIV, as a daily dose of fresh fruits and vegetables can go a long way to keep the body and immune system strong to fight HIV. St. Francis currently has a Peace Corps volunteer who is a nutrition specialist and you will work closely with her to plan for the needs of people living with HIV.

Finally, the land sits adjacent to a new rehabilitation centre for children in late-stage AIDS. St. Francis has recently completed construction on the centre, which will be a short-term facility for children who come to us with very poor health. Few such facilities exist in Uganda and it is our hope that St. Francis’ rehabilitation centre will also benefit from the fruits of the garden.

The volunteer would live in a room at the rehabilitation centre and work closely with the staff at St. Francis. St. Francis is able to provide some meals, but the volunteer would be responsible for their own breakfast and supper. Finally, the volunteer would be responsible for transport to and from Uganda.

For more details, contact Brett Bell on brettmbell (at) gmail.com

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