Mark Suer

Mark Suer is a Germany-based researcher, writer, and photographer who has been documenting Uganda since 2022. He is co-founder of Hope on the Road — a German-registered community development NGO operating in Buhoma, the village at the northern entrance to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in southwest Uganda. The NGO runs a supported orphanage and HopeKitchen in Buhoma, alongside community programs including HopeClub, homeless support, and a sponsorship program.

Uganda Insights is built on fourteen documented field visits to Uganda across 2022–2026, totalling more than sixty days in-country. The visits span southwest Uganda (Bwindi, Buhoma, Kabale, Kisoro), Kampala, and Murchison Falls in the north. All photographs are GPS-verified originals. Articles are built from primary source documents — Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Uganda Tourism Board, UNHCR, WFP, and Uganda Wildlife Authority publications — cross-referenced with on-the-ground observation.

Gorilla Trekking and Bwindi

Mark Suer has trekked mountain gorillas in the Buhoma sector of Bwindi twice. His articles on gorilla trekking draw on direct experience of the trek, the Uganda Wildlife Authority briefing system, and the community economics of Buhoma village — where the Hope on the Road orphanage operates within walking distance of the park gate.

Uganda Refugee Response

Uganda hosts 2 million refugees — more than any country in Africa. Mark Suer's refugee coverage draws on UNHCR, WFP, and Uganda's national monitoring systems, combined with direct observation of the community conditions in southwest Uganda where many refugees and host community members live.

Poverty and Development

Uganda's poverty rate has declined significantly since the 1990s, but the trajectory is uneven and the poverty line captures only acute deprivation. Mark Suer's articles on poverty draw on the Uganda National Household Survey 2023/24 and the National Population and Housing Census 2024.

Hope on the Road (Verein Hope on the Road e.V.) is a German-registered charitable association operating in Buhoma, Uganda. Its programs include a supported orphanage, HopeKitchen (community feeding program), HopeClub, and a sponsorship program linking German donors with children in Buhoma. The organisation works directly with the Buhoma community and does not operate through intermediary partner organisations. More information: hope-on-the-road.de (German) and hopeontheroad.org (English).