About
Our Vision
Global Partners
Staff
FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

About our program……

• How is Village Care different from other Development NGOs?
• Does Village Care International do projects in villages?
• Where does Village Care Operate?
• Who are we helping?
• How do we help the entire community in the village?
• What are Village Care Outcomes for Children?
• What are Village Care Practices for Children?
• How does Village Care help improve Practices?
• What is an Open Space Discussion Session?
• How is administration for Village Care covered financially?

About our volunteer Teams and trips……

• What is the role of the Volunteer?
• Are trips safe for all ages?
• What precautions do you take to assure team members that the country is stable to enter and how is your safety ensured while in-country?
• Have there ever been instances of problems while a group was in the country? 
• When I travel to Africa, how will my family know that I arrived safely?
• Is there the ability for communication back to the states while the trip is in progress?
• Where will the team converge - here in the states and fly out as a group, or do they come together somewhere outside the US?
• I anticipate that it could be a West coast departure since VCI is based there – is this accurate? 
• Because of my young age, would I be relegated to lesser tasks on the trip or would I be able to fully participate in the village sessions, etc?
• How much does the two-week trip cost and what do trip fees cover?
• Your trip cost information states that it does not include airfare.  How is airfare cost determined and who takes care of that?
• $2200 plus airfare seems like a lot of money – why does it cost so much?
• What amount of the $2200 is a direct contribution to the USA organization? 
• What exactly does the project contribution go for and what percentage of money that is directly given to Village Care goes directly to help in the villages, vs. administrative overhead?
• Why do I have to pay to volunteer?
• I understand that my trip fee supports the work in Africa....so why does Village Care International (USA) need funds?

************ OUR PROGRAMS ************

How is Village Care different from other Development NGOs?
Village Care is different because we build lasting relationships within the village. These relationships form a partnerships that involves information exchange. We rely on local volunteers to work in their community to identify issues and solutions that are unique to their own village.

Does Village Care International do projects in villages?
No. There are too many half built wells and buildings disintegrating for this to be effective. In order to produce real change, the community must be able to come together and find resources that are already present. By connecting the community with local NGOs, government organizations, and resources in country, we can help create sustainable change and community empowerment.

Where does Village Care Operate?
We are currently operating in Eastern and Northern Uganda, Northern Tanzania, throughout Nigeria and Kenya, in Burundi, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Togo and Benin.

Who are we helping?
Orphans and widowed parents are our primary focus. We also help the most vulnerable families in the community, village, or orphanage. This includes children who have one parent in distress or crisis, or children who have a family that is unable to provide economic support.

How do we help the entire community in the village?
The community is the acting force of change. By inviting and encouraging entire communities to participate in our Open Space Discussion Sessions, we are able to facilitate change. Community discussions lead to the organization of small project groups. The groups form a plan of action on certain issues, such as sanitation, nutrition, health care, education, and economic security. They meet regularly to support each other in the development of solutions and often donate funds to support their project goals..

What are Village Care Outcomes for Children?
The Outcomes for children are our goals for children. We want every child to be safe, healthy, living in a loving home, going to school and being educated, and behaving well in their community.

What are Village Care Basic Home Practices?
Every community (including orphanages and care homes) will improve its sanitation, nutrition, health care, education, and economic security. This will lead to successful Outcomes for children.

How does Village Care help improve Practices?
With our Outcomes and Practices Guide we offer practical information to aid villagers to raise themselves out of disease and poverty. Information about disease transmission, safe methods of water sanitation, the use of bed nets, nutritious food, banking and saving money, etc. The guide helps people understand and develop ways to keep themselves and their families healthy and happy. By working with the community, we can develop methods of keeping public space clean, and increase awareness of issues surrounding sanitation and health. Every community has issues that are unique so solutions vary from place to place.

What is an Open Space Discussion Session?
We advertise throughout the community that Village Care is having a community discussion and when the community comes together, we provide a structure for them to bring up issues that they would like to discuss, revolving around the Outcomes and Practices. After the initial conversations, they break off into groups to discuss the issues at hand for their specific group or community. We call this break away "Open Space". From this discussion, community project groups form and members determine a plan of action. We encourage these groups to continue meeting regularly and to follow through with their ideas and projects within their community. We often send our US volunteer teams to the community to visit the project groups and to serve, learn, observe, pray and encourage (SLOPE).

How is administration for Village Care covered financially?
Village Care administration is funded separately by corporate donations. US Staff members are volunteers and raise their own personal support (donate here). None of your donated funds will be diverted to administrative costs.

*********** VOLUNTEERS AND TEAM TRIPS ************

What is the role of the Volunteer?
Team members visit children and families in their homes, survey water sources and food supplies, review education and health care services, and explore ways that people can earn an income and support their families in their community, among other things. You will meet and share with small groups of local people, and you may be called on to do many different tasks in support of the orphanage or village. Teams offer "Quick Assessments" for VCI's registered children to determine any critical care needs in a community.

Are trips safe for all ages?
Yes! Village Care strives to maintain a great safety record for it's volunteer travelers. Our African staff thoroughly checks out any area a team may visit prior to their ever getting there. If there is any indication a community or area may be unsafe for our volunteers, we don't go there. It's that simple. Teams do not travel at night (unless absolutely necessary) and do not visit areas with unsettled conditions. Teams are well taken care of in every community we serve, with well cooked food, secure living facilities and safe and reliable transportation. As in the US, the biggest danger lies on the open road, but we hire only drivers with excellent experience and knowledge of the areas we serve to insure a team is as safe as it possibly can be.
Anyone under the age of 18 must have parental approval to join a VCI team.

What precautions do you take to assure team members that the country is stable to enter and how is your safety ensured while in-country?
We have a full African staff on the ground in Africa. This staff oversees all the work there. Most of these men are pastors, and all are men of integrity and strength. We rely fully on them for the safety of our teams and to date, we have never had any incident where a team member’s safety was in jeopardy.  Village Care is a “known” organization in the areas we work and gets full support from the authorities in the communities we serve. The parts of Africa we visit are very safe for Western visitors and very stable in terms of political or tribal issues, as well. VCI will not take risks and will cancel any trip that is deemed unsafe.

Have there ever been instances of problems while a group was in the country? 
We have never had any instance of problems while a team was in-country.  

When I travel to Africa, how will my family know that I arrived safely?
Most teams go through Nairobi, Kenya, and they typically stay at least one night there. Nairobi has plenty of internet access so it is rarely a problem to get an email message out to family and friends upon arrival. Teams traveling to Uganda do not stay overnight in Nairobi but would have email access within 24 hours of their arrival in Uganda. Team leaders will communicate for the team members, in many cases.
While on the ground, in the field, periodic emails will be sent with information on what and how the team is doing so family and friends can share in the team members experiences.

Is there the ability for communication back to the states while the trip is in progress?
This depends on where the team is on any given day. Internet service/access is not always readily available, but we do try to get the teams into a major town to send an email. Phone calls home are not advised because they distract the team member from the focus of the team. We ask team members to keep personal phones turned off for the duration of the trip. Emergency phone numbers are provided for families in case of an emergency need to reach the team member.

Where will the team converge - here in the states and fly out as a group, or do they come together somewhere outside the US? 
We make every effort to put all team members through a connection point in the US, typically Washington DC, and use that as our meeting hub for teams. In some cases, team members choose to purchase their own airline tickets, in which case, they may meet up with the team somewhere in Europe or even in Nairobi. Every effort is made to coordinate all team members flights to allow optimum bonding time together prior to reaching Africa.

I anticipate that it could be a West coast departure since VCI is based there – is this accurate?   
No, team members can depart from whatever major airport is nearest to them, and connect with us in Washington DC unless they would prefer to fly out to Sacramento and leave from here with the team leader. This is always offered to the younger team members, but of course, it’s more costly..

Because of my young age, would I be relegated to lesser tasks on the trip or would I be able to fully participate in the village sessions, etc? 
You would be expected to fully participate as a team member wherever your team leader and team host needed your help. Each team member, regardless of age, is expected to pull their own weight, to serve our families and communities with equal love and compassion, and to serve each other, as well.
In some communities there may be restrictions for youth depending on the subject of the discussions. If you were restricted in this manner, your team leader or the African host would likely ask you to lead a group discussion for youth instead of participating with the adult group.
Youth, as defined in much of Africa and in the areas we work, is anyone who is not married regardless of age. Your team leader or host will determine whether or not you can participate in an “adult” discussion in the communities you visit.

How much does the two-week trip cost and what do trip fees cover?
Cost for the 15-day trip is $2200 plus the cost of your airfare. Once you are on the ground in Africa, the Village Care trip fee covers:
• All in country preparation
• National team leader/guide and interpreter
• In-field orientation by African staff
• All private ground transportation throughout your international stay
• Safe and experienced drivers
• Bottled water for the duration of your trip
• All breakfasts, dinners and some lunches (including drinks)
• All housing accommodations
• Two-night safari experience including up to four two-hour game drives or one two-hour and one day-long game drive (East Africa trips, only)
• Project donation to the orphanages and villages you visit
Also included is our intensive seven-session telephone conference pre-trip training, as well as open communication and assistance from the time you inquire about your trip!
Not include in trip fees are personal expenses, immunizations, travel insurance or passport and visa fees.

Your trip cost information states that it does not include airfare.  How is airfare cost determined and who takes care of that?
Airfare is a separate cost aside from the cost of the trip itself. VCI will purchase refundable airline tickets for team members or, if desired, team members may procure their own tickets provided the purchase is coordinated with VCI Logistics prior to purchase, insuring flight arrival and departure times coincide with the team. We don’t recommend this, of course, but we understand the need for team members to possibly save money. Summer airfares are usually especially high – airline tickets can definitely be costly.
For those who use VCI connections, we do offer missionary discounts on the airfare which often allows us to reserve airline tickets in advance of the flights, therefore holding the cost on the tickets, providing us with tickets that are refundable and changeable, and providing us with flexibility you don’t find with the “cheap tickets”.
We encourage team members to fundraise in order to help pay for their trip costs, including airfares.

$2200 plus airfare seems like a lot of money – why does it cost so much?
Village Care does not profit on your trip. All fees are used to pay trip costs and to support the communities we serve in Africa. Unlike many other organizations, we include all costs up-front – there are no hidden costs! Most organizations add things on to their “low cost”, such as project funds, the safari or private transportation, and before you know it, you are actually paying more for your trip without providing any type of contribution to the communities you visit. We are competitively priced and challenge you to find a better priced trip that gives you the all we offer, including our great customer service.
We encourage our team members to do fundraising to pay for their trip. It’s a great way to raise money and spread the word about what Village Care is about and what you’ll be doing in Africa. Email info@villagecare.com for fundraising ideas and support.

What amount of the $2200 is a direct contribution to the USA organization? 
None of the trip fees go to the USA organization itself.  We survive only on private and corporate donations.

What exactly does the project contribution go for and what percentage of money that is given to Village Care goes directly to help in the villages, vs. administrative overhead?
Team trip fees provide a small donation to the project work in Africa. The exact amount that goes to the projects and supports the villages is dependent upon the size of the team. Smaller teams are much more costly to send, and the larger teams much more economical. With a small team of just 4 or 5 people, the amount may only be in the $100-200 range per team member, while a larger team of 8 people can net up to $300 per team member for the projects and communities. These funds provide food, medicines and emergency medical care, among other things, to the people your team will be serving.
No funds from team fees go to Village Care USA.
Trip fees do cover the cost of the team leader and our African staff to host the teams. Without these people, we could not offer team members a great trip at the personal level we offer.

Why do I have to pay to volunteer?
Sometimes people are surprised at being asked to pay to volunteer. You will find that the vast majority of organizations such as Village Care charge a fee to volunteer. Village Care is committed to the long-term self-sufficiency of each of our partner communities. These communities have very limited resources and they are unable to support your costs for food, shelter, transportation and supervision.

Your trip fee not only pays for the obvious needs of a volunteer but is also used to help create economic sustainability and community development in the places we work. This can take many different forms such as providing skills, tools, and knowledge in addition to open-forum community-wide discussions. All of these things will work towards improving the quality of life for all members of the community.

I understand that my trip fee supports the work in Africa...so why does Village Care International (USA) need funds?
In addition to recruiting, placing and training volunteers, other services we provide are:

• Financial support for leadership to help them provide three-day symposiums for community discussion surrounding sanitation, nutrition, education, healthcare and economic security, and the outcomes for children these things can achieve
• Financial support to further expand local projects in each village
• In-country fundraising to contribute to micro-loan programs within the community
• Provisions for volunteer assistance with community projects
• Funds to support African staff as they work to locate additional partner communities
• Standard overhead in Africa including vehicles, maintenance, insurance, registration, etc.

WIthout the support of our US donor base, we would not be able to expand the work of Village Care into more African countries, and eventually, onto more continents worldwide. Thank you for all your support!

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