Hi, my name is Kirsty, and I first went on a trip with Edukid in 2023 to Uganda.

Since then, I have stayed in contact with the team, firstly to do voluntary work on their databases from home, and secondly to try and spread word of the trips at university. I am currently a student at the University of Bath, and wanted to set up a way in which university students could go on trips, so I have started to train as an Edukid leader to be able to take people on university specific trips, the first of which goes to Uganda in June 2026. In order to train as a leader, I went on another trip to Uganda this year acting as one of the leaders, which was an excellent opportunity.

I was very surprised how much of an impact my first trip had on me. I know people always say these sorts of things, but you really have to be there to see and understand it. I am not a particularly emotional person, but going on this trip made me realise how much we have at home, and how little it takes to change a child’s whole world by giving them an education. On this trip, we spent several days at the school doing activities and learning about the local culture, and we also visited the home of a student to see what their daily life consists of. For me, the home visit was the most touching part of the trip, and the bit that motivated me to want to make a difference to this community.

After coming home from my trip, I decided to sponsor a student, as the small expense for me can improve their entire future, as well as their family’s. I now get annual updates about how my student is doing, including statements from her and photos of her at school. It is amazing to see how you are actively changing someone’s life. However, it is not possible to pay for everyone to go to school, and I still felt I wanted to make more of a difference, so I got in contact with the Edukid team again, looking for voluntary work I could do to help remotely. I now do small amounts of work on their databases, which takes pressure off employees and allows them to put more time and effort into working on projects which go towards the education of children living in extreme poverty, without taking up too much of my time.

Once I had my place at university confirmed, I knew I wanted to try and organise a trip with them, so we could increase awareness of and contact with Edukid around the country. After working with the team, we decided the best thing to do was create a trip specifically for students, which is slightly longer than usual trips, to give people an opportunity to see things for themselves. We then thought that it would be a good idea for me to become trained as a leader so it could be a university-led trip, and so I could take people on these trips every year once there was more knowledge about them. This led to me going on my second trip to Uganda in 2025, which turned out to be the best trip of my life. It was so lovely to return, knowing what to expect, to meet some of the people I had met previously and even to meet the girl that I sponsor to see how her life is progressing.

I would love for everyone to have the opportunity to go on one of these trips, to experience the wonderful things Edukid do in country, to see the different cultures and to integrate with the local communities. It really is a life changing experience, so if you ever get the chance, you should take it straight away, it is the best decision you will ever make. If not, it is amazing to make a difference in any way you can: financially, through volunteering or even just by spreading awareness. My hope is that Edukid will have the resources to expand and change many more lives than they already have.