A volunteer's experience abroad

You don't have to have a aparticular skill to volunteer for this programme. Do you want to learn about international communities and see NGOs on the ground, or wish to spend some time with children in a developing community, this placement is for you. Passion and a genuine interest in learning, helping, and experiencing are the most important factors here. As long as you are willing to put in some effort and some of yourself, you will be able to make a worthwhile contribution to both the community and organisation. Initiative, confidence, and feeling free in presenting personal knowledge and ideas are further attributes that are particularly suited to this programme.

A volunteers experience:-

I went over and spent four months with this organisation. These truly were some of the best months of my life. The programme is located in a beautiful and stunning rural community, where the pace of life is slow and the smiles plentiful. The children within the community are absolutely adorable. They are eager to greet you and play whether they are children in the orphanage, children at the school, or just children whose homes you happen to be passing. Their nature may just humble you.

This is a fairly new organisation that has achieved an amazing amount for the time that they have been operating and the amount of people that have been involved. Yet this is not to say that having a few extra hands for working, or a few extra minds to contribute some further ideas or knowledge, would not allow the organisation to do much more. Many changes have been possible through the organisation.

Working with children in need

I went over to Kenya wanting to be involved with the children. I was able to do this by taking some creative art classes in the School. This had never been done within the school or experienced by the children before. I also spent time with the school children during various play breaks, conducting games such as Simon Says and follow the leader. Much time was also spent with the children at the orphanage (where there are currently over 30 children). Drawing, playing games, reading, sharing meals, and even conducting excursions out of the orphanage for the children in order for them to share new experiences, were all things that I was able to undertake with the children. Sometimes the children just enjoyed having someone to sit with, to cuddle, and just be with.

Working with the community

HIV/AIDS awareness work, planting, greeting groups and parents within the community, administration tasks, fund-raising, home visitations and just sharing life experiences with new friends and organisation members were all tasks that I undertook during my time here. The programme was also open to me taking some time off when I wanted to so that I could sight see around Kenya. They even kept in touch with me when I was gone, making sure that I was OK and assuring me that they missed me along the way! 

The members

One last factor, I know it's common for some people to be concerned about joining a "Christian organisation" to do their volunteering overseas. Although many members of the organisation are religious, they do not push their teachings or values onto others in any way: this includes their volunteers. Within the groups family there are number of different religions adopted by the members, and as in Kenya itself (a country with 42 different tribes), acceptance of other people's belief systems is commonplace.

I am so grateful for my experiences while I was with there, and every day that I was there I truly felt blessed to be where I was, with the people I was with, and to be involved in what I was doing. I am aware that its common place for people to say that through volunteering you personally gain so much, learn so much but it's only said so often because it’s true. This does not mean that your experience of going to Kenya and volunteering will always be easy and every moment wonderful. It does not mean your trip will be guaranteed to be great. You, too, have to put in some effort. But if you are open, have patience, like experiencing different cultures, are acceptant of challenges, and most importantly, have a love for people and a passion for the world we live in, then this is the kind of thing that will blow you away!

A personalised volunteer placement

If you are looking for a personalized volunteer placement, within a small and warm organisation, this one is for you.

Let Gap and Career Breaks organize your overseas volunteer break.

This Kenya volunteer project is available with Gap and Career Breaks from £695 for 4 weeks.