I will be returning to Hope Speaks in April 2023, this time as a fully licensed Speech-Language Pathologist! I initially served with Hope Speaks as a graduate student intern in June-July 2021. Since then, it's been important to me that I continue to return to Hope Speaks and Uganda throughout my career as an SLP to support the work they do. The need for SLPs in Uganda, both to work directly with patients and to collaborate with their current SLPs, continues to be extremely high. As an SLP who was lucky enough to be educated in the US, I feel it's my duty to share my clinical skills and give my time in a place where it's so needed.

I will be taking a month unpaid leave from my current SLP job and volunteering my time with Hope Speaks for the entire month. I appreciate any support!

Hope Speaks is a nonprofit based in Kampala, Uganda. Their mission is to inspire hope and raise voices of people with disabilities through speech therapy, advocacy, education, and social services. In Uganda, 1 in 7 children are living with a disability. Hope Speaks' main focus is on making speech, language, and feeding therapy accessible for hundreds of children. In therapy, they help children learn to communicate their wants, needs, and ideas, build social skills, and swallow safely, as well as empower and educate families and communities about disabilities and available resources to help people of all abilities reach their fullest potential.  

Many of Hope Speaks' volunteers are Speech-Language Pathology grad students, as well as SLP professionals. Through volunteer partnerships, Hope Speaks strives to build the capacity of Ugandan therapists through training and mentoring. 

Hope Speaks has gone beyond that and also includes hosting other groups who help with projects, food for families, respite care, children's day camps, and serving in the slums.

Every donation is important and will enable me to be present and help children with disabilities to find their voices. Would you kindly consider making a donation? Also, I would appreciate your willingness to share this with others who may want to participate.

Thank you so much for being a part of my life and helping me accomplish something that's important to all of us! God bless you!