Kenya

Volunteer Teaching in Kenya

Where?

Gap year projects and volunteering opportunities with AV are based beyond the grassy Maasai Plains and the escarpments of the Great Rift Valley. High above Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake, lie the rolling hills of the Uasin Gishu Plateau and the lush mint-fresh tea estates of Western Kenya - your new home!

A mix of Kenya's vibrant and friendly indigenous tribes farm livestock and tea - trading their products in the region's colourful markets. At sunrise and sunset you will see the dusty roads lined with hundreds of uniformed children in ‘crocs' heading to and from school.

Outline Experience

4 days	About 10-12 weeks	4 weeks
Welcome and briefing at Lake Naivasha in the Great Rift Valley - Swahili lessons, teaching tips and Kenyan culture	Volunteer teaching in selected rural schools in the Western Uplands of Kenya for one term	Independent group based travel to explore East Africa

What?

Your volunteer teaching placement in Kenya will see you and your group living and working in pairs (or more) in selected schools as Assistant Teachers and within easy reach of each other. For one term (about three months) you will immerse yourself in the school community. Our schools appreciate help in English, maths, art, drama, music and computers (if they have them) and any other subjects you prefer. If it's sports you want to coach then the opportunities for football, rugby, cricket (limited but keen), netball and all ball games are actively encouraged.

And there's more.....

Make the most of your time in Kenya and think about running a club (debating, French, modern dance, music or drama); decorating classrooms with educational
murals ... the opportunities are endless. Let your
imagination run wild and you will thrive. You will also
learn so much that is new for yourself - Kiswahili,
cooking African dishes, traditional tribal customs, how
to travel on ‘boda bodas' - and to spend large parts
of every day laughing a lot!

Orphanages

One of the saddest facts of the developing world is the growing number of orphans, largely as a result of AIDS and, more recently in Kenya, the clashes of the 2007 elections, which left a number of abandoned or orphaned children. There are many orphanages that you can become engaged with in western Kenya during your volunteer project. They all need help, love, time and money and any involvement is always appreciated.

Living arrangements

You and your AV partner will live in a staff house within or close to the school grounds during your volunteer teaching project in Kenya. This becomes your ‘home from home' where
you cook for yourselves (and other AVs and guests). We also
give you a basic living allowance to see you through your
entire time in your school. You'll find everything you need in
the local markets, which are very cheap, or in the larger
towns not too far away.

Independent travel

As you come towards the end of your volunteer teaching placement , leaving your school will be a sad occasion for you - saying goodbye to the children you've taught and the friends you've made. However, at least you and the rest of your group will have some great adventures to look forward to over the next few weeks. You will have nearly four weeks of independent group travel anywhere you want. How about chilling out with other AVs under the palm trees on the Indian Ocean coast, or rafting the mighty Nile River in Uganda, or trekking Mount Kenya or Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peaks? Fancy some time in Zanzibar or in the Ngorogoro Crater in Tanzania? A safari to see the ‘Big Five' and masses of other wild game in its natural habitat? There are so many options that you'll have to choose very carefully.

And Afterwards...

If you're like 99% of those who have been before you, you'll agree that it will have been the best four months of your life so far. You'll find leaving difficult...and returning easy! We say that "Once an AV, always an AV!" What this means is that you will be joining an exclusive club that will be there for you to help out if you ever get into difficulties and will always be pleased to see you again in Africa. As an AV, we hope your relationship with us will continue long after your initial time in Kenya.