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• You are here: Home | AV Ventures | Kenya Venture | Itinerary

Itinerary - Africa and Asia Venture

Itinerary

ARRIVING IN KENYA

The group flight departs from London Heathrow and will be seen off by one of the AV team. You will fly into Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, where your Kenya-based AV representative will meet you on arrival. You will head straight to the Machakos District for your orientation course. On the way you’ll get your first glimpse of rural Kenya!

BRIEFING AND ORIENTATION

A chance to settle in, unwind after the hectic few days leading up to your departure and get to know your AV group. The orientation course is important for making sure you’re fully prepared when you arrive in your school. The course will be led by the AV in country representative, giving you a chance to get to know them too and will cover the following:

• History, customs and culture of Kenya and its people
• Safety, health and security
• Teaching techniques, lesson planning and practice
• Some language training in Kiswahili
• The education system in Kenya

The orientation course for the Kenya Venture takes place at Lysak Haven Park, situated along the main road from Nairobi to Machakos. You will stay in dormitory accommodation with your fellow AVs and will have all your meals cooked for you.  In between briefings you will have the chance to relax and get to know the other AV volunteers in your group!

At the end of the orientation course you will be taken to your AV houses, ready to start your project for real. Here the AV representative will leave you to settle into your new home, but remember they’re never more than a phone call away if you need them!

THE PROJECT

What you do each day is partly down  to you and what you have chosen to be involved with, however no two days on AV are rarely the same!

In the classroom all lessons are taught in English and the schools appreciate help in English, maths, science, art, drama, music and computers (if they have them). You may also spend time with students who have been left behind at the back of the class, teaching them to read, write and speak English in smaller groups. You can teach in pairs or on your own and on average will have at least 12 academic and PE/games lessons every week. Outside of this you will spend time planning for lessons and may have homework to mark!

For those doing sports coaching you will run all the PE lessons and arrange sports clubs. PE lessons may involve big classes and little equipment, a game of tag or duck, duck goose are great for their simple rules and mass participation, in general they are a good test of you initiative and resourcefulness. Sports clubs involving football, rugby, athletics, rounders, volley ball, cricket and netball are all actively encouraged – however you can also teach new games. Many AVs arrange fixtures or tournaments between the different AV schools or an inter school sports day.

In addition to working the classroom or on the sports field AVs make a big impact by running after school clubs – these have included debating, reading, French, modern dance, art, music or drama; AV volunteers have run talent shows, produced school newsletters and magazines or started a choir. Many AVs choose to brighten up classrooms by painting them or decorating the walls with educational  murals from the alphabet and numbers to world maps and the solar system - let your imagination run wild and leave your mark!

Each day you will spend time socialising in the staff-room, usually over a cup of chai (sweet tea) or lunch. This is a great chance to get to know you fellow teachers and learn more about them. They will be keen to talk about where you are from, your family and life at home whilst you can practice your Kiswahili! The teachers will be on hand to show you round and advise on where to shop, the nearest internet café etc. They will also be a good link into other work within the community, with the potential for helping at local orphanages, medical clinics or community centres depending on where you are and how much you want to do outside of your responsibilities in the school.

At weekends and on public holidays you can stay at home or travel further afield. You may want to continue work on projects you have started, such as painting a classroom or run an inter school sports competition. Alternatively you can head to the local town to do some shopping, catch up on news from home at an internet café or meet up with other AVs, visit their schools and travel to see other parts of Kenya.

To find out what a typical day on project might be like take a look at our ‘Day in the life of an AV' feature, written by AVs who have been there and done it themselves!