Safari guides · Uganda
Community Tourism and the Serah Foundation: What Your Booking Funds
Every Mwanzo Tours booking supports the Serah Foundation, a registered community organisation caring for vulnerable children in central Uganda. Here is who Serah helps, how the link works, and what a respectful community visit looks like.
The Serah Foundation is a registered community organisation in Uganda that protects vulnerable children, many of them children whose mothers are in prison, across Nakaseke, Wakiso, Mukono and Luwero. A portion of every Mwanzo Tours booking goes directly to Serah's work: case-managed care, getting children back into school, meals, and reuniting families where it is safe. If you wish, you can visit a Serah community during your trip, arranged with dignity and consent. This page explains how it works and what community tourism in Uganda can look like when it is done with care.
Why Serah exists
I lost both my parents when I was young and was raised by a childcare foundation in Bukomansimbi. Someone paid for me when I could not pay for myself. My wife Esther and I co-founded the Serah Foundation because that door has to stay open for the next child standing alone.
In Uganda, when a mother goes to prison, her children are often left with no verified caregiver, no school place and no safe shelter. They are passed between relatives, end up on the streets, or are simply forgotten. Serah finds these children and builds a plan for each one with the community.
What Serah does
| Work | What it means |
|---|---|
| Case-managed child protection | Each child is found, their situation verified, and a care plan built with the community, with individual follow-up |
| School re-enrolment | Children return to school with materials, meals and ongoing support |
| Family reunification | Where safe and possible, children are reunited with family, and mothers are supported on release |
| Serah Home, Nakaseke | Fundraising for permanent classrooms and dormitories on community land |
Serah has been registered as a Community Based Organisation since 2019. It does not aim for permanent institutional care; it works toward safe, lasting homes for children and families.
What your booking funds
When you book a safari with us, a portion of the price goes directly to Serah Foundation programmes. It is part of every trip, listed in every quote, not an optional add-on at checkout. That money supports the care, schooling and meals described above.
If you want to do more, Serah explains how to give on serahfoundation.org. Around €1 a day can sustain a child's meals and school materials long after your trip ends.
Visiting a Serah community
Many of our itineraries can include a visit to a Serah community, usually in or around Nakaseke. We arrange these with care:
- Consent first. Visits happen only when the community is happy to host.
- No children as attractions. You meet a community doing real work, not a performance.
- Time to understand. You leave knowing where your money went and why it matters.
Our women-only Women's Circle on Wheels (10 to 24 February 2027) spends its last two days at the Serah project in Nakaseke, with the children and teachers and a traditional cooking session with a women's group. On a private trip, just ask when you enquire and we will fit a visit in where it suits your route.
Fitting a visit into your route
Serah's work is in central Uganda, so a visit usually fits at the start or end of a safari, close to Kampala and Entebbe. On the Women's Circle journey, for example, the group spends a night in Nakaseke and returns to Entebbe the next afternoon before flying home.
What we ask of visitors
- Ask before taking photos of people, and never photograph children without permission from the adults caring for them.
- Please do not hand out money, sweets or gifts directly to children. If you would like to give, talk to us or give through Serah, so support reaches the children who need it.
- Come curious and ready to listen. The best visits are conversations.
Community tourism beyond Serah
Community tourism means local people share in the value of your trip, and have a say in how visitors are hosted. Around a Uganda safari, these are some of the ways that happens:
Batwa community visits near Bwindi
The Batwa are the forest people of south-west Uganda. A Batwa community visit near Bwindi is a chance to hear their story from them. We use community-led experiences that are run with consent.
Bigodi Wetland, beside Kibale
Bigodi is a community-run wetland walk next to Kibale National Park, good for birds and monkeys after a morning of chimpanzee tracking.
Porters on gorilla trek day
Porters are local community members licensed by UWA. Hiring one, for about $15 to $20 paid on the day, gives a family an income and gives you a steady hand on steep ground.
Permit fees and local jobs
Your gorilla permit, $800 per person from 1 January 2027, is set by the Uganda Wildlife Authority and supports conservation and community revenue sharing around the parks. Locally led operations keep revenue on the ground too: Mwanzo Tours is 100% Ugandan-owned and locally operated.
Questions to ask any operator about community tourism
- Who runs the community visit, and who decides how visitors are hosted?
- Where does the money go, and can they name the organisation?
- Are children ever part of the "show"? (The right answer is no.)
- Is the impact part of every booking, or an optional extra?
- Can you check the organisation yourself, for example on its own website?
We are happy to answer every one of these for Mwanzo and Serah.
Trips that include community time
- 3-Day Bwindi Gorilla Trekking, Batwa and Lake Bunyonyi
- 7-Day Gorillas, Chimpanzee and Wildlife Tour, with an optional Bigodi Wetland walk
- 14-Day Uganda Gorilla, Chimpanzees and Wildlife Safari, long enough to add a Serah visit on request
- Women's Circle on Wheels, with two days in Nakaseke
For students and universities, we also run field programmes and sustainable tourism internships.
Planning from abroad? Our country guides cover flights, currency and timing for your trip: from the USA, from the UK, from Canada, from Australia, from the Netherlands, from Germany, from Belgium and from Scandinavia.
Questions before you book? Send us a message on WhatsApp at +256 789 487 378, email info@mwanzotoursuganda.com, or use the Plan your journey form. We reply within one business day.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Serah Foundation?
A registered Community Based Organisation in Uganda since 2019, co-founded by Anthony and Esther Kiweewa. It protects vulnerable children, many of them children of imprisoned mothers, across Nakaseke, Wakiso, Mukono and Luwero.
How does my booking support Serah?
A portion of every Mwanzo Tours booking goes directly to Serah Foundation programmes: case-managed child care, school re-enrolment, meals and family reunification.
Can I visit the Serah Foundation?
Yes, on request. We arrange visits to Serah communities where they fit your route, with dignity and consent. Children are never treated as an attraction.
Can I donate directly?
Yes. Serah's website, serahfoundation.org, explains how to give. Around €1 a day can sustain a child's meals and school materials.
What other community experiences can I include?
Common choices include a Batwa community visit near Bwindi, the community-run Bigodi Wetland walk beside Kibale, and hiring a local porter on gorilla trek day.