2024 dates will be announced soon!
Send us an email with your prefered dates
This 10-day Social Impact Trip is especially for adventurers who want to make a difference & improve the world. Aidah, Stella, Susan and Steffi are co-hosting the Social Impact Trip in Uganda with their project by heart 22STARS.
GROUP MEET UPS
PROJECT VISITS
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
SIGHT- SEEING
WORKSHOPS
COMMUNITY
THE EXPERIENCE
Kampala and Jinja
Connect with nature, connect with local communities, and make a social impact. During 22STARS project visits to Kampala and Jinja, you will learn how to use your skills and knowledge to empower local people with dignity and respect. We will provide an on-site workshop on what "the white savior complex" and "poverty porn" are, among other things, how to avoid them, and what you can do to add real value to the local communities you visit. During our meet ups and workshops with Stella & Steffi, you'll learn how to make a difference on the ground and grow impact.
Of course, we'll also have plenty of free time & fun.
We will spend 5 nights in the vibrant capital city of Kampala, which never sleeps. Following that, we'll spend 4 nights in Jinja, the adventure city for adrenaline junkies and nature freaks, right at the source of the Nile! Wake up to breathtaking views over the Nile, jump right into the cool water, do yoga or meditate before we start our day.
One thing is for sure, Uganda will be an experience that changes your life and we want to do the same for the local communities you will meet!
The Impact
The amount of your Social Impact Ticket will be used directly in Uganda. We support local communities, the local tourism industry and a direct donation of 10% goes to the 22STARS Foundation. In addition, we create even more impact through our workshops, group meet ups, project visits and our community for life!
Project Visits
We join the 22STARS projects at least five times. We visit the sponsored children in school and their families in their local businesses. You will learn how to share your skills and knowledge to empower people.
We appreciate your help in fundraising for specific items like beds, mosquito nets, and water filters for our communities.
Impact Workshop
Not every influence of the visitors who joined us has been positive. We discuss issues on the ground such as "poverty porn," "white savior complex," and "neo-colonialism." We show you what you can do to make a positive difference. We will be happy to teach you more about a social business based on a product model / based on a donation model.
Community For Life
After our Social Impact Trip we stay in touch with the group via Whatsapp. Many valuable friendships have already been formed that go beyond the Social Impact Trip :)
In the community we share valuable social impact articles and you can share your thoughts and experiences with the other group members.
Group Meetup’s
We will have at least four Group Meetup's. In each meeting, we will discuss our experiences to date. Upon request, we will invite local entrepreneurs to brainstorm on specific topics.
Meals
Our meals are prepared by the women of the 22STARS Foundation. We support their business and also invite them to eat together.
The Accommodation
We will stay for 5 nights in an accommodation in the middle of Kampala. The location is a small oasis in town and feels despite everything, as if you are in nature. Best of all, we have a swimming pool! Our accommodation is about 15 minutes away by boda boda (motorcycle cab) from the 22STARS project in Acholi Quarter.
In Jinja we will spend 4 nights in Bujagali, a small village next to Jinja on the banks of the Nile. We will stay in two-bed safari tents, hot showers are available just around the corner in a shared bathroom. It is also called "glamping"! :)
You will wake up to a breathtaking view of the Nile: a beautiful river sunrise right in front of your safari tent. Jump into the cool water, do yoga, meditate or get a massage before we start our day.
Our accommodation in Jinja offers many additional activities that you can book for a small price: Bungee jumping, white water rafting, mountain biking, hiking, yoga, fishing, tubing or just sit by the Nile, meditate and enjoy the beauty of the country.
The Team
Stella Airoldi
Your coach & leader before, during & after the Social Impact Trip
Stella is the founder of 22STARS Jewellery and the 22STARS Foundation. Stella accompanies the projects of 22STARS in Uganda and also when she is on the road, she works remotely for 22STARS. Stella mainly earns her money by renting apartments, as 22STARS is her heart project. As a digital nomad with a social mission, she calls herself a "Social Impact Nomad". Stella uses education and entrepreneurship to empower families in Uganda. She wants to inspire and help others make a social impact through her business and travel. Stella is in Uganda a few months out of the year. When she's not there, she loves being with her family in Europe and her friends in the digital nomad community.
Stella participates as a speaker at many events and workations including Nomad Cruise, Freedom Summit, CoBoat, Digital Nomad Talks, Flaks, Nomad City Las Palmas, DNX and FreedomXFest.
Stefanie Oeffner
Your Co-Host & leader before & during the Social Impact Trip
Steffi startet traveling in 2010 and couldn´t stop since. On her Instagram "TravelToPuraVida" she posts about her experiences.
Steffi joined Stella and her project in Uganda for the first time in March 2018 and fell in love with the country immediately at the first day! 22Stars became Steffi´s project by heart and unplanned she became the biggest ambassador of 22Stars. After sharing her experience on stage at the Tour of the Show "6 Jahre Weltreisen, die geilste Lücke im Lebenslauf" many people wanted to join Steffi in Uganda! Very fast our Social Impact Trip were born: a meaningful & authentic holiday experience which can change your life.
The first Social Impact Trip with Steffi, Stella, Susan and Aidah happened in 2019 and we had several successful Trips since. Every Trip is unique and we put a lot of love in it <3
Steffi has organized many Trips and Workations for "Digital Nomads" (DNX), Adventure Camps and much more.
Susan Laker
Project Manager in Kampala
Susan Laker was one of the reasons Stella founded 22STARS. Stella met Susan in 2009 when she was conducting research on post-war victims by the LRA. Susan was about her age (24) and lived in a small mud house with her three teenage children. They all did not go to school, but chipped stones in the quarry and made paper bead jewelry that the children sold on the street. Thanks to the Wafula family, Stella ordered jewelry from Susan every year and started 22Stars in 2013. With the money she earned, Susan went back to school herself to learn English, as well as how to read and write. So in 2015, Susan became the 22Stars project manager for the jewelry project and also for the foundation in Kampala. Susan inspires many children in her community that it is never too late to start school, and together with Stella, she puts education first!
Check out Susans Talk here, she shares the challenges she faced in her life an how cretivity has saved her family.
Aidah Nambozo Wafula
Project Manager in Jinja
Aidah Wafula met Stella back in 2009! Aidah was working at an Aids Information Center where Stella volunteered. Together with her husband David, she brought Stella and Susan to meet the other women who lived in Acholi Quarter in Kampala. Acholi Quarter is an internally displaced camp for post-war victims from northern Uganda. In the years that followed, Aidah managed the 22STARS jewelry project in Uganda and helped Susan Laker with orders. In 2015, Aidah moved to Jinja. Aidah started a second project site for 22Stars in Danida Village, one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city of Jinja. Her father was born in this area, Aidah left because of school. However, Aidah keeps coming back to this community and does her best to help the families in Danida. She also makes jewelry for 22Stars. Aidah helps translate and conduct social business trainings and weekly meals in Jinja.
Aidah has four children, three girls and one boy. Aidah is married to David Wafula and lives in Jinja.
David Wafula
Project Coordinator in Jinja and Kampala
Since the beginning of 22STARS, Pastor David Wafula has been our main source of inspiration and a driving force in the early stages. Pastor David Wafula holds a Bachelor's degree in Theology and a Master's degree in Organizational Leadership and Management and is the husband of our Project Manager Aidah Wafula. David joined our team in April 2020 to support our project managers in Kampala and Jinja. We are very happy to have David with us and look forward to the positive impact his expertise will have for 22STARS! In his spare time, David enjoys singing and making people laugh. Location: Jinja.
David is Aidah's husband. They live together in Jinja and he recently started his own church.
Testimonials
Anita Vetter
My trip to Uganda with Steffi and Stella was one of the best things I have experienced in my life so far. I am deeply impressed by the warmth of the people, the beauty of nature and everything the whole 22Stars Team is putting up there in Kampala and Jinja.
The best part was finally meeting the twins, Nakato and Babirye, for whom my travel friend Anja and I have been paying school fees for a while. I left a part of my heart in Uganda - but that was a fair deal, because I carry a piece of Uganda in my heart now, too. I will definitely come back!
Lisa Wilhelm
The trip with Steffi & Stella changed my whole way of thinking. The country, the people I got to know and the experiences went deep under my skin. Thats why I joined already two Social Impact Trips :)
What made my time there so special? Not only the breathtaking nature, but also pure joy of life, smiling faces, loving hugs & children's hands holding you like they never want to let you go.
I am deeply impressed by the great work of Stella and everyone involved with 22STARS. I am so grateful to have learned about this project and to have been able to learn how to make an impact myself.
It is hard to explain what Uganda does to you. I think you have to go there yourself to understand!
Lisa Bauer
The only decision I regret is not joining the Social Impact Trip much earlier. I admire Stella for her big heart and for what she does in Uganda. Uganda and 22Stars is something you have to see and experience yourself.
Thank you Steffi and Stella for your love for this country, which you showed us with great enthusiasm and passion. Thank you to all the heart people and friends I was allowed to meet in Uganda and the great moments together, which I will never forget!
The 22STARS Project
Kampala and Jinja in Uganda
Kampala is the vibrant capital of Uganda and Jinja is known as the adventure city for adrenaline junkies. While both cities are great to visit, they also have some areas in need of development assistance. 22Stars conducts its projects in the poorest areas of both cities.
In Kampala, the project is located in Acholi Quarter, an internally displaced camp where post-war victims from northern Uganda live. The people speak Luo, have a different culture than people in Kampala, are traumatized by the war, and face discrimination from locals. They live near a quarry where children as young as 3 work in the quarry to earn money to survive.
In Jinja, the project is located in Danida/Masese Village, where displaced people from northern Uganda also live, but overall there are more people who came from all parts of the country and came here for lack of money. In this area there are all kinds of languages and most people work in small factories and belong to a church group that gives them hope.
In both places you can hardly find houses with running water and electricity, but these areas are still a small town in themselves! They are full of small stores, bars, vegetable stands, hairdressers and everything else you would find in a small town. The place is full of life!
The members of 22STARS are made up of strong women and men who have overcome many challenges in their lives. Most of them are illiterate, do not speak English, are affected by HIV/AIDS and fled war and abusive households. But their will to fight for a better future for themselves and especially for their children is amazing!
Some of our team members are still a bit shy, while others are proud and confident. But they have one thing in common: they all wear a big smile on their face. When we asked them what they need most, they told us that they need education! That's why we want to make a difference through education and entrepreneurship!
We are now sending 490+ children to school and helping 85 families with small business training and small loans so they can become self-sustainable. Uganda is such a beautiful country and we also want to open the doors for them to discover the country they live in, have a stable income, a stable home and food on the table every day.
We want to double our impact by 2024 and need your help to send more children to school and teach more of our team members valuable skills. Not only are computer skills, math and English valuable, but dance, arts and crafts, photography, singing and yoga classes are also welcome!
