Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Hello All,

If you are planning a trip to Uganda congrats and you should definitely go....it is a wonderful and beautiful place with many amazing people. If you are planning that trip through teach and tour sojourners be careful. The man who runs the organization seems very friendly and nice but if you stay any length of time you begin to realize there are some strange things going on. I was working with the organization at the end of 2009 for four months and in that time the following things happened: many services promised were not given, my email was accessed by somebody from Teach and Tour Sojourners and one of the business partners told me it was deleted, three of the women workers were not being paid and I ended up giving my rent money to them to get them paid off after I found out about it, one woman told me he was sexually harassing her, his business partner told me another young woman working with them in the past had accused him also, does not take very good care of guests unless they yelled or begged him for something (like a bed net or to go to the doctor). Be careful if you choose to work with him. He is very friendly but lies about strange things (told us he had a fiancee and a son but had neither) and doesn't take care of equipment even when he was receiving thousands of U.S. dollars (we had 11 flat tires in three weeks). I know some people who stayed for only a couple of weeks and had a good experience (although they had many of the same complaints that I did). I thought about not posting this information but just felt people had a right to know and then they could make their own decision. The last time I posted he also posted saying I wanted to have an improper and inappropriate relationship with him. This is untrue and offensive. He will most likely post something else negative about me but please just be careful.

5 comments:

  1. Teach and Tour Sojourners is a fraud, according to Kampala authorities. As of today - July 11, 2104 - the police and the Ugandan Tourist Board (UTB) are searching for Lawrence "Larry" Maka in order to arrest him for operating an illegal tour company, fraud, etc..

    Stay away from TATS. The teaching they promised never materialized; the excursions were enticing and never achieved except under terribly conditions and never according to the contracted agreements.

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  2. And another example, that supports the story by Ngong above. Mr Maka has alleged that we sexually abused a student while we were at one of the schools. It's a false and insulting charge, with no basis in fact. But he's threatened to contact our universities and local police; stay away from TATS!

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    Replies
    1. I have been invited to teach with TATS this spring. Please tell me more about your experience. I am guessing I should say no!

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  3. I have been invited to teach with TATS this spring. Please tell me more about your experience. I am guessing I should say no!

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  4. STAY AWAY!!!! I just returned from there. I am so sorry I had not seen this post before. I had a terrible experience and I have reported him to the National Council of Higher Education. He has also been arrested for fraud twice while I was there. Once you complain he then sends out very negative and in fact nasty emails to your institution.

    PLEASE stay AWAY!!!

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