Travel for Solidarity : Ubuntu Women Tourism Foundation

Where: Uganda

Who: Hilda Namara,CEO and founder of Ubuntu Women Tourism Foundation

30 women employed

Founded by Hilda Namara , Ubuntu Women Tourism Foundation is a startup founded in 2022 in the field of sustainable tourism that offers unique travel experiences and volunteer opportunities to enable people to discover, learn and support the environment in Uganda.

Ubuntu Women Tourism Foundation believes that sustainable and engaging travel can be a powerful positive force to break down barriers and unite people from different cultures and communities. They work to offer unique travel experiences and volunteer opportunities that allow you to enjoy unspoiled nature and leave a positive impact on local people and the planet.

Thanks to their many years of experience and direct knowledge of destinations, they aim to create thoughtful and carefully curated trips that leave a lasting positive impact both on travellers and on the people and places you have the privilege to visit.

Their mission is to shape the future of sustainable travel by cultivating transformative tourist experiences. Their ideal is a sustainable world in which individuals pursue responsible actions based on "Ubuntu": 'humanity to others'.

The travel philosophy of the Ubuntu Women Tourism Foundation is based on curiosity, openness and respect for people and nature. Therefore, the Foundation creates significant adventures for socially and environmentally aware travellers; among the activities proposed we find :

Immersive safaris,

trekking in the green to discover the banana plantations or the discovery of the families of gorillas and chimpanzees

cultural immersive experiences such as the preparation and tasting of traditional food, walks in the host community, experiences in close contact with local animals such as Ankole, weaving and crafts courses and finally the possibility of being hosted at home by the locals.

As an ethical company of social travel, UWTF promotes holidays that aim to reduce poverty and support development initiatives in the places that are visited, which otherwise would not benefit from tourism.

For example, "Women and girl empowerment": a project funded by almost 50% of travel revenue, which currently involves 30 women even though the future goal is 200 women within the community. It focuses on generating new livelihood opportunities through the emancipation of women: after taking courses in ceramics, weaving, finance, have acquired entrepreneurial and economic skills through free advice from the association and through the teaching of small savings plans that allow them to market through the sale of their goods, participation in meetings and family management.

Other activities of UWTF include the construction of simple infrastructures that allow meetings within the community and facilitate exchanges.

A project under development is the "Child sponsorship", we organize platforms for distance support that allow the improvement of the lives of children and families that are currently 28.