Professional | Volunteer Opportunity
Looking to use your professional skills in a unique setting? Hope Speaks has openings for professional volunteers in the following categories:
- Speech and Language Pathologist/Therapists
- Medical Professionals
- Physical Therapists
- Occupational Therapists
- Nutritionists
- Social Workers
- Media & Communications
- Special Needs Educators
- Administration
Through the valuable work of skilled professional volunteers, Hope Speaks is able to increase our services to hard to reach communities and individuals.
To qualify for our skilled professional volunteer program:
- Hold nationally-recognized accreditation/certification in your professional field
- Provide 2 references from previous work or volunteer experiences
- Be willing to commit to a minimum of 10 days in Uganda
- Pass police checks and clearances
- Complete a pre-trip course that includes cultural preparedness and child protection training
- Sign and adhere to Hope Speaks’ Code of Conduct for the duration of your trip
While volunteers would typically be expected to cover the full costs of their trip, Hope Speaks is willing to negotiate financial options with long term volunteers (those who stay for 3 MONTH period or more). If you require financial assistance, please include that on your application form, or email deb@joinhopespeaks.org.
- Airfare
- Western style lodging with 24/7 security
- 2 Meals a day
- Transportation to and from volunteer related activities
- Travel insurance
- Wifi (at lodging and clinic)
- Laundry
- A donation to Hope Speaks programming
- Processing and application fees
Not Included (But available at an additional cost)
- 2-3 day Safari
- Tourist and Cultural Activities
The cost of each of the 3-week trips for 2025 will be $5000 for May/June trips and $5300 (possibly more due to increase in flights) for July/August trips. This includes: Airfare, lodging in a beautiful guest house with 24/7 security, 2 meals/day, ground transportation while in country (either Hope Speaks vehicle or taxi with Hope Speaks staff), health insurance while in country, WIFI internet, laundry, utilities, a donation to Hope Speaks programming, and processing fees.
Not included in the cost: Immunizations prior to travel to Uganda, the $55 Ugandan visa (online prior to trip), phone data, possible meals out to eat, snacks, souvenirs, personal expenses, and excursions (safari and other optional outings depending on what you would like to do). If you need more information on any more of this, please don't hesitate to ask.
*A non-refundable $100 deposit is required after your application is approved and before a background check is run to secure your trip reservation.
PLEASE NOTE: Hope Speaks is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All money that you raise for your trip is through donation to Hope Speaks and is non-refundable. Hope Speaks is legally unable to issue refunds of tax-deductible donations if your trip is canceled.
Thank you for your interest in serving with Hope Speaks! We look forward to hearing from you!
If you have any further questions, please feel free to let us know.
For the following trips, the first date is the date you will arrive in Uganda.The last date is the date you would fly out of Uganda. For planning purposes, you will be leaving the day before the first date, and returning the day after the last date.
- May 16- June 6, 2025
If approval is given, a $100 non-refundable deposit must be made and a background check passed. Once that is done, you will need $2000 in your fundraising account page before we can book your flights. The balance of $3000 will be due 6 weeks before you leave. (Deadline for this trip is Feb 16, 2025) - June 13- July 4, 2025 (Full))
If approval is given, a $100 non-refundable deposit must be made and a background check passed. Once that is done, you will need $2000 in your fundraising account page before we can book your flights. The balance of $3000 will be due May 31. (Deadline for this trip is March 13, 2025) - July 11- August 1, 2025
If approval is given, a $100 non-refundable deposit must be made and a background check passed. We then will need $2200 (or more) raised/paid, so we can book your flights. The later we book the flights, the higher the flight costs. (You pay difference above $2200). The balance of $3100 will be due by the end of June. (Deadline for this trip is March 31, 2025)
- For Undergraduate students YOU MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY an SLP or supervising professor in order to serve with us. They must travel with you to Uganda. No unaccompanied undergraduate students will be able to serve with us by themselves. (new policy from clinical committee)
- Custom travel dates are available between September 2025 and May 2026
- If our scheduled summer trip dates do not work with your personal, work, or school schedule, we are very flexible and will try to make other arrangements so that you are able to serve with Hope Speaks when it works best for you.
- For professionals who can only volunteer for 2 weeks, the cost is $4300. Volunteers coming for 2-week trips ideally should be able to arrive on the arrival dates listed above so that team training and orientation activities are all done together with the team at the beginning.
- If you would like to join us for longer than 3 weeks, the cost is $5000 for initial 3 weeks for the May/June trips or $5300 for the July/August trips + $90/day for every additional day beyond the 3 weeks.
- If you stay longer than 3 months, the daily rate is reduced to $85/day, plus the cost of your flight and a donation to Hope Speaks for programming
- If you would like to complete your CFY with us, please request additional information from our U.S. volunteer coordinator, Deb Bratt
Our Mission
When the professionals at Hope Speaks realized that no one in Uganda, even those who can afford it, actually has consistent access to high quality speech and language therapy, they developed their innovative One for Two model. By expanding services to paying clients, Hope Speaks can reach more families and communities in Uganda.
The One for Two model, in which funds received by paying clients are used to provide speech therapy services for two children in poverty, helps sustain the mission of Hope Speaks: Inspiring hope and raising voices of people with disabilities through therapy, advocacy, and social services.
Where We Work
People in Uganda face many challenges: Lack of education, high rates of poverty and life threatening illnesses, unclean water, and much more. These factors have resulted in an increase in disabilities throughout the country. Volunteers work in seven locations, from the capital city of Kampala to remote villages, to provide services where they would otherwise not be offered.
These include:
- Kampala School For The Physically Handicapped
- International Schools
- Dawn Childrens Centre
- Mukisa Foundation
- Mercy Childcare Ministry
- Angels Center For Children With Special Needs
- Katanga Slum
How to Contribute to Hope Speaks?
You can help in many ways. Volunteers work with parents to give them the tools they need to understand their child's strengths and challenges. They work with teachers and caregivers on speech therapy interventions that they can use daily to foster speech and language development in the children they work with.
Volunteers also mentor Ugandan speech therapy interns as they gain the important clinical experience needed to become competent speech therapists in Uganda or elsewhere. If you are a certified speech therapist, please help us fulfill our mission by volunteering for Hope Speaks. If you are not a speech therapist, please consider volunteering in another capacity, such as photography or marketing, or make a donation, which will help us to further expand our outreach.
