Volunteering in Kenya: Part 1
Day 1 in Kenya's Tea Plantations
On this 3.5 months away from work, what I am craving is unique and different experiences. I’ve always been fascinated with cultures different to my own, understand how people engage with the world and what we can learn from each other. I knew I had to fly from Johannesburg to Mumbai, which has 1 stop in Nairobi Kenya. So after a quick google search, I got in touch with UCESCO Africa via VolunteerWorld.com to find out more about what they do. This is how my volunteering experience began. Below you will find a journal style post of my time working in Kibera, Nairobi’s largest slum, but I’d like to outline before you go ahead that this experience was truly incredible.
My experience volunteering in Kenya cracked my heart in two (multiple times) and gave me a deeper gratitude than I have ever felt for so many things in my life.
If you ever get the chance to do something similar, DO! You would be pushed to find an experience where you learn, reflect and experience more deeply.
My Journey
Day 1
As I took an Uber into Kibera slum for the first time, I had a gut wrenching feeling, asking myself if I had made the right decision to be taking on this project. Let me paint you a picture: as you pull off the motorway, you turn into a street with more potholes, bumps, flooding, garbage, and old broken vehicles than I have ever witnessed. You could almost draw a circle around Kibera slum as a forgotten precinct. Out of sight, out of mind. For so many people who live in Nairobi, I genuinely believe this is the case. It’s hard to draw a circle around and forget 2 million people, the current population of Kibera… but in truth, that’s exactly what it feels like.
People out of luck, surviving day by day, unsure of where their next meal will come from. The first thing that struck me was the smell. My head started pounding from the stench as you drive through the streets, to the office where I was headed. When I enquired about the waste issue, the charity informed me that yes… there is a waste collection system, but that no it doesn’t function because inhabitants of Kibera have to pay a small fee towards garbage collection, and when you don’t know how you are going to feed your children, unfortunately this fee falls to the bottom of the list.
Over time, this has meant that on every corner, in every stream, in every abandoned shack, there are mountains of old plastic, scraps, packaging, food scraps dumped. There are then stray animals (dogs, cats, goats, cows) nesting in these dump piles as their homes. The amount of rubbish is really shocking, but the most shocking of all is witnessing the individuals with their children standing among the stray animals, picking through the pile in search of any food that may be edible, or items of clothing to clothe their backs. It’s 2024 and millions of people are living in abject poverty all around the world. It’s difficult to understand how we can call ourselves Homo Sapiens when the reality of so many is like so.
Meeting Team UCESCO Africa
When I arrive at the office, I’m greeted by the shining light that is Edna, my coordinator at UCESCO Africa. I immediately felt at ease, and knew I had made the right decision to be here. Edna took me through my orientation, showing me all the projects that UCESCO Africa are involved with. From the 3 pillars of education, healthcare, and physical exercise, the projects they are undertaking in the poorest areas of Kenya are truly incredible. Constructing classrooms, providing education to minors, providing period education to young women, support groups for young mothers unable to work, teaching life skills like hair dressing to empower work ethic and equip them with the necessary skills to make money, free healthcare clinics and basic medication, healthcare referrals, physical exercise sessions ranging from sports in schools with children, to yoga and coping tools for young women who have experienced abuse…. The list goes on.
These people are sacrificing their time to help others, and it’s given me a huge appreciation and reality check for what words like “work” “help” and “purpose” mean. I leave my first day with mixed emotions: excitement, anxiousness, fear, heartache. I can’t wait to get started.
Day 2
After a weekend of getting acquainted with Nairobi, I’m ready to spend Monday morning getting stuck in. We walk from the office to Peggy Lucas, the first of the schools I will be working at. It’s hard to put into words the picture of when I opened the small wooden door of the school, but let me give it a go. Approximately 60 children ranging from aged 3-6 turn their heads, bright eyed and excitable, before sprinting over towards me and clambering all over me. I had two children on each leg, one in each arm, one jump on my back shouting “mzungu!!!!!” (a loving term for foreigners, now mainly used for white people). The amount of love these children have to give is beautiful. I spent the day making my way around each class, knocking and entering to be greeted by each year group by a well rehearsed welcome… “Welcome to Peggy Lucas, we are grade 3. We are happy to see you and how are you?”
The beaming smiles, energetic welcomes, and excited energy in the air was so powerful, so strong, that I had to hold back bursting into tears each time.
The children of Kibera have so much love to give, and I count my blessings that this week, it’s for me. I immediately feel at ease, letting the feeling that I have absolutely made the right choice to embark on this journey flow through my veins.
Children are the future and I feel fortunate to be spending time with this beautiful bunch for the week.
