Local volunteers travelling to Uganda to support the charity I Am Someone were devastated to learn they had to cut their trip short due to a sudden outbreak of Monkey Pox.
Fourteen dedicated volunteers, 10 of whom live in and around Castlemaine, made the trek to Uganda for a month-long trip to try to improve the lives of impoverished children by upgrading the Ugandan Children’s Village, planting trees and building pre-school classrooms.
The crew were in the throws of clearing and cleaning the village, and were due to head into the more impoverished rural Ugandan communities, when the World Health Organisation declared a public health emergency due to the upsurge of mpox cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a growing number of countries in Africa.
I Am Someone founder Steve Argent, who was due to fly out and join the group on Saturday, said the news was heartbreaking, especially given the previous volunteer project was canceled due to Covid.
“It’s flattened me – six months of planning, inspiring people to come, to raise money, to bring new opportunities to our projects- my bags are packed and I’m not even going to set foot on Ugandan soil,” he said.
“It’s broken the team who have worked so hard for months to be get there, fundraising, buying their own tickets and taking time out from their work- they’ve been working non stop since they arrived.
“All the local friends they’ve made left behind so soon, and with so many of the kids not met and our other projects not even visited, they had so much more to experience!”
Steve told the Express that the group of volunteers had been working on the border of the Congo, which had been seeing Monkey Pox cases for three years, but with the sudden increase, the volunteers moved to the city of Kampala, before making the difficult decision to return home.
“The volunteers’ health and safety is paramount, so when WHO announced a public health emergency we had to work on the worst-case scenario,” Steve said.
“Our focus and thoughts go to those in the region, without the freedoms and privileges to leave like we have.
“We hope the WHO announcement means the focus will go into stopping the spread and limiting casualties.”
Steve is hopeful that the volunteers will be able to re-group, send necessary supplies and look at returning within the year.
“Not being there makes everything a lot harder, so if people are able to make a one off or ongoing donation that would help a lot,” he said.
Visit iamsomeone.org.au for more information and to donate. $10 a week can change lives and help to eradicate poverty.
