Volunteer in Kenya

Hi Marta1991,
To my way of thinking(and this is only an opinion!), Volunteer and Holiday should not be used in the same sentence! First think about any skills you have to offer, and the possibility that you may be taking a paid job away from a Kenyan. That said, try Global Volunteer Network, or Volunteer Kenya(ICODEI), and if you get involved in the fundraising aspect to help some of their projects, then I say good on you.

Voluntourism does not get a good press on here - the best thing you can do is go on holiday and spend money with local businesses.

I agree with the above posts. Might not be a popular opinion. There are countless young people unemployed in Kenya. Just look around Nairobi - people just hanging around in the hope of finding casual work. Why do westerners come to do unskilled/semi-skilled jobs when locals need the work? If you are a skilled worker, perhaps a builder, engineer, electrician, then you can provide training for local workers to improve their job prospects and improve building standards of lower income housing (much needed). If you are doing this to improve your CV or to make yourself feel better and can be honest with yourself about that, then volunteer in Africa and build toilets while the locals watch. If you want to help people then spend money - take taxis, shop at the tourist markets, buy from street vendors, donate to local NGOs (but select carefully).

Ps
oh and yes I am a westerner working in Kenya. I'm a scientist providing specialist training to regional scientists. Every job like mine is advertised for local and regional staff first and if there are no good candidates the job is advertised internationally to bring the required skills into the country.

I tend to agree. The only comment I would add - perhaps it is a nitpicky one - is that stopping the volunteers is unlikely to create extra jobs for locals. This is because the councils don't have the funds to hire more Kenyans for those public health improvement projects, or just don't want to for selfish (corrupt) reasons.

The teachers' union has been up in arms about foreign volunteer teachers being used here and there. But when they ask the government for more funds to hire Kenyan teachers, they get turned down. If it comes down to a choice of a remote school in the north having a foreign volunteer teacher, or no teacher at all, I wouldn't blame them for defending the volunteer system.

There is also the fact that most Kenyans don't want to be stationed in remote outposts.

But I would still go with the others here and advise you to take a holiday and enjoy complete freedom to see the country.

Hi Marta

I'd suggest you do some vigorous research to find a charity which provide low cost volunteer work. Many large organisations charge serious amounts of money to volunteer in many countries around the world. I'm not sure what your interested in or where your skills lie, but I would look into volunteering abroad in some more detail and come back with some more specific questions.

As said above, volunteering abroad has become a business in Africa and Latin America to a degree which is why some of the replies are fairly strong, I wouldn't let this put you down though. As I said above, do some more research and come back. I know of a few good, ethical projects which you maybe interested in too. Send me a PM if you want.

Hope that helps.

Send me a PM if you want. - not possible.
Goodness knows why, and LP aren't saying, but Private Messaging has been removed.

No worries, cheers.

I wasn't aware that PM's weren't available at the current time.

I think they've gone forever. :-(

LP would rather we talked to each other via faecesbook.

lol ... volunteer "holiday".

Paint a school, save the world, improve your CV / Resume.