The Fuller Center for Housing Global Builders Bugiri, Uganda

In February 2025 was honored to be a member of the first Global Builders team to build in Bugiri with the Fuller Center for Housing Uganda. Well-known for its biodiversity and abundance of wildlife, most notably the mountain gorillas, Uganda is indeed a beautiful country with friendly, peace-loving people. About 40% percent of its 50 million people live on less than $2 per day.

Small mud huts with leaky thatch roofs remain the most common housing in Uganda, especially in rural areas. The Fuller Center of Uganda has been at work to help families have safe, affordable places to live for many years, and is now hosting volunteer teams. Teams can expect to feel warmly welcomed, and will work hard on the job site, possibly in the hot sun. Drives are often in unairconditioned vehicles and roads can be very dusty. Be prepared!

We spent our first night together at the Frontiers Hotel in Entebbe. Perfectly adequate and a short walk to the Imperial Resort Beach Hotel along the shore of Lake Victoria, there is a public park with bar and restaurant. For a few shillings you can sit by the beach and enjoy a drink with a view and music. It was here that I got my first up close look at the not-so-lovely but ubiquitous Marabou Stork.

On the way to Bugiri from Entebbe, we enjoyed a stop in bustling Jinja, on the shores of Lake Victoria, and the source of the northward flowing Nile River. We ate at the very fancy and lovely Jinja Sailing Club.

Our bus in front a a finished Fuller Center home

Upon our arrival in Bugiri we checked into our home away from home, the Happy Wallet Hotel, undoubtedly one of the best places in town. There’s no place to shop or stroll in Bugiri but the hotel is safe, affordable, with decent food, tall beers, clean non-airconditioned rooms with mosquito nets, a small swimming pool, and laundry service for a small fee. The best part perhaps was the village where we were working was only a ten-minute drive away!

Lunch at the work site was catered by a local cook, and the spread was diverse and more than ample. Luckily for us, watermelon and pineapple were in season! We enjoyed having lunch on site under a huge avocado tree.

These guys get paid to deliver water with their bicycles!

Our team worked on three houses being built on small plots right next to one another. Because construction was just getting started, we were mostly digging, shoveling sand and rock, moving heavy loads in wheelbarrows and eventually mixing concrete. The best part perhaps was working alongside future homeowners and about a dozen local day laborers, hired by the Fuller Center. These young men were extremely hard working and strong as oxen!

Mid-week we had a chance to visit some of the small businesses in town that the Fuller Center started in order to bring money into the program to help more families achieve homeownership. At the time they were running a barber shop, a hardware store, a soon-to-be coffee shop and a gym, of all things!

On our last workday there was, of course, a community celebration where neighbors turned up, officials from the local government and rousing speeches from Fuller Center staff and board members. We especially enjoyed our last moments with the partner families and our local crew. A huge feast was prepared and enjoyed by everyone!