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Sample Projects

TEACHING IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

TAN Partner Schools: -

Illasit Primary School
Mathiwa Primary school
St. Lillian Primary school
Candle light Primary school

1.) About Illasit Primary School: Illasit primary school is a public primary school. It’s an 8 hour drive form Nairobi, near the border with Tanzania and close to Mt Kilimanjaro. It is located in Illasit location, Kajiado district, rift valley province, in Kenya. The school has a student population of about 2000 students and 35 teachers. The school also hosts Touch Africa Network international volunteer work camps in the month of February and September. The surrounding community is made up largely by the Maasai tribe and a small number from the Kikuyu tribe.

Volunteer opportunities at Illasit primary: The school is open for long term (4weeks - 1year) volunteers willing to teach English and any other subject that they are comfortable with at the school. The only qualification is that one be an English speaker as a first language or be fluent in English. One need not have training as a teacher. Volunteers are requested to volunteer at least 20 hours a week. Volunteers can also help in the school feeding program (Lunch) by helping in the preparation and serving of the meals to the students. Volunteers will be free to join the students in games, school plays through the drama club, motivational talks etc. the volunteer can join the school in as many activities as he/she wishes.

Volunteer accommodation: Volunteers at the school are accommodated by a host family (one of the teachers at the school) and the host family also provides both dinner and breakfast for the volunteer, lunch is provided at the school or one can choose to have lunch outside the school at their own expense. The volunteers are accommodated in a walking distance home so there are no transport expenses.

Places of interest: Illasit is centrally placed to offer easy access to various attractions, this include, Africa’s tallest mountain Mt. Kilimanjaro, Amboseli National park, Tsavo East and Tsavo West National park, Lake Chale etc.

2.) About Mathiwa Primary School: Mathiwa primary school is a public primary school. It’s a 9 hour drive form Nairobi, near Lake Victoria. It is located in Ukwala location, Siaya district, Nyanza province, in Western Kenya. The school has a student population of about 1500 students and 25 teachers. The school also hosts Touch Africa Network international volunteer work camps in the month of October. The surrounding community is made up of the Luo tribe as is the wider Nyanza province. The Luo tribe is the same tribe that Barrack Obama (US Democratic presidential candidate) father belongs to.

Volunteer opportunities at Mathiwa primary: The school is open for long term (4weeks - 1year) volunteers willing to teach English and any other subject that they are comfortable with at the school. The only qualification is that one be an English speaker as a first language or be fluent in English. One need not have training as a teacher. Volunteers are requested to volunteer at least 20 hours a week. Volunteers will be free to join the students in games, school plays through the drama club, motivational talks etc. the volunteer can join the school in as many activities as they wish.

Places of interest: Volunteers can have nature walks in the school vicinity during there stay at the school, they can also make visits to Kisumu city (Kenya’s third largest city, 1 hour drive) and also be able to access Lake Victoria on such visits. If one is interested they can make Visits to Barrack Obama ancestral home. One can also make arrangements to visits to Kakamega rain forest which is home to butterfly farms.

3.) About St. Lillian Primary School: St. Lillian primary school is a private primary school. It’s a 45 Minutes drive form Nairobi. It is located on the outskirts of Nairobi, in Kitengela location, Kajiado district, rift valley province, in Kenya. The school has a student population of about 900 students and 15 teachers. The surrounding community is made up largely by the Maasai tribe and a significant number from the Kikuyu tribe.

Volunteer opportunities: The school is open for long term (4weeks - 1year) volunteers willing to teach English or any other subject that they are comfortable with at the school. The only qualification is that one be an English speaker as a first language or be fluent in English. One need not have training as a teacher. Volunteers are requested to volunteer at least 20 hours a week. Volunteers can also help in the school feeding program (Lunch) by helping in the preparation and serving of the meals to the students. Volunteers will be free to join the students in games, school plays through the drama club, motivational talks etc. the volunteer can join the school in as many activities as he/she wishes.

Volunteer accommodation: Volunteer at the school are accommodated by a host family (one of the teachers at the school) and the host family also provides both dinner and breakfast for the volunteer, lunch is provided at the school or one can choose to have lunch outside the school at their own expense. The volunteers are accommodated in a walking distance home so there are no transport expenses.

Places of interest: The school being in the out skirts of Nairobi one can enjoy all that the proximity to the capital city provides. The city center which is about 45 minutes from Kitengela has a vibrant night life. During weekends one can access the National museums, the Nairobi national park, art galleries plus many restaurants with local and international cuisines. From Nairobi one can arrange to venture into any part of Kenya.

4.) About Candle Light Primary School: Candle Light primary school is a private primary school. It’s a 30 Minutes drive form Nairobi. It is located within Nairobi, in Embakasi constituency, Nairobi Province, in Kenya. The school has a student population of about 500 students and 10 teachers. The City of Nairobi is cosmopolitan and therefore the school caters for students from all tribes, religion and creed.

Volunteer opportunities at Candle Light primary: The school is open for long term (4weeks - 1year) volunteers willing to teach English or any other subject that they are comfortable with at the school. The only qualification is that one be an English speaker as a first language or be fluent in English. One need not have training as a teacher. Volunteers are requested to volunteer at least 20 hours a week. Volunteers will be free to join the students in games, school plays through the drama club, motivational talks etc. the volunteer can join the school in as many activities as he/she wishes.

Volunteer accommodation: Volunteer working at Candle Light Primary School are accommodated at TAN central hostel in Buru Buru estate in Nairobi about 30 minutes drive to the school. The Nairobi hostel provides the volunteers with both dinner and breakfast.

Places of interest: The school being within Nairobi one can enjoy all that the capital city has to provide. The city center which is about 20 minutes from Buru Buru has a vibrant night life. During weekends one can access the National museums, the Nairobi national park, art galleries plus many restaurants with local and international cuisines. From Nairobi one can arrange to venture into any part of Kenya.

ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN

TAN Partner Orphan Homes: -

Imani Children Homes (Nairobi)
Imani Children’s Home (Malindi, coast province)
Shepherds Children’s Home
Kyale Small Home

1.) About Imani Children’s Homes: Imani children homes are established as non-governmental, non profit organization. They take up orphaned and abandoned children from Kayole area and its environs. Imani A and B are located within Nairobi in an area called Kayole, northern parts of Nairobi. The third Imani is situated in Malindi, in the coastal province of Kenya (North coast). Imani A has a child population of about 30 orphans. It is designated for infants and toddlers below 4 years old. At this age (4years) they are transferred to Imani B (1 kilometer away) which caters for older children and has a population of about 40 orphans. Imani children’s home in Malindi has no age specification for the children; it has a population of about 25 orphans.

Volunteer opportunities at Imani Children’s Home: all three Imani homes are open for long term volunteers (4weeks - 1year). One need not have any special skills to volunteer in the homes. Its best if one is good with children and has a special love for the innocence only found in children, the children are used to having foreign volunteers working with them and there is always a volunteer or two with them all year round. So volunteers working at the home will also have a chance to work with other foreign volunteers from other countries. Work at the homes range form playing with the children, looking after the toddlers and even feeding them, helping in preparation of their meals and at Imani B one has a chance to work in the homes animal farm. Imani B has an animal farm with a few cows, goats, rabbits, fowls etc. Volunteers are requested to volunteer at least 20 hours a week. Volunteers can join the children in as many activities as they wish.

Volunteer accommodation: Volunteers working at Imani children homes in Nairobi are accommodated at TAN central hostel in Buru Buru estate in Nairobi about 30 minutes drive to the home. Those working in the Malindi home will be hosted by a host family. The host family and the Nairobi hostel provide the volunteers with both dinner and breakfast.

Places of interest: Nairobi being the capital city of Kenya obviously has many places to see and hang out. The city center which is about 20 minutes from Buru Buru has a vibrant night life. During weekends one can access the National museums, the Nairobi national park, art galleries plus many restaurants with local and international cuisines. From Nairobi one can arrange to venture into any part of Kenya. Malindi is a major tourist destination and offers a myriad of options, from white sandy beaches to scuba diving and a sampling of the coastal culture.

2.) About Shepherds Children’s Homes: Shepherds children homes is established as non-governmental, non profit organization. The home takes up orphaned and abandoned children from Kayole area and its environs. Shepherds children home is located within Nairobi in an area called Kayole, northern parts of Nairobi. Shepherds home has a child population of about 45 orphans. The home has no age specification for the children so the children at the home range form toddlers to 14 years of age.

Volunteer opportunities at shepherds Children’s Home: Shepherds children’s home is open for long term volunteers (4weeks - 1year). One need not have any special skills to volunteer in the home. Its best if one is good with children and has a special love for the innocence only found in children, the children are used to having foreign volunteer

Working with them and there is always a volunteer or two with them all year round. So volunteers working at the home will also have a chance to work with other foreign volunteers from other countries. Work at the homes range form playing with the children, looking after the toddlers and even feeding them, helping in preparation of their meals. Shepherds have a large contrast compared to Imani in that it is not as developed as Imani. The home is in dire need of volunteers who can also undertake networking and fundraising initiatives to help the home access development partners as well as donor funding. Volunteers are requested to volunteer at least 20 hours a week. Volunteers can join the children in as many activities as they wish.

Volunteer accommodation: Volunteers working at Shepherds children’s home are accommodated at TAN central hostel in Buru Buru estate in Nairobi about 30 minutes drive to the home. The Nairobi hostel provides the volunteers with both dinner and breakfast.

Places of interest: Nairobi being the capital city of Kenya, obviously has many places to see and hang out. The city center which is about 20 minutes from Buru Buru has a vibrant night life. During weekends one can access the National museums, the Nairobi national park, art galleries plus many restaurants with local and international cuisines. From Nairobi one can arrange to venture into any part of Kenya.

3.) Kyale small home: Kyale Small Home small home was established in 2001 and specifically targets physically handicapped children. It is located in Nunguni location, Makueni District in Eastern province of Kenya. It is about 3 hours drive from the Nairobi. The home which is situated within Kyale primary school compound offers a home for the children that enable them to attend school easily without having to walk long distances. The rest of the school community (teachers and fellow students alike) work together to provide an enabling environment for the children to study.

Volunteer opportunities at Kyale Small Home: Kyale small home is open for long term volunteers (4weeks - 1year). It is a special project as it offers volunteers a chance to both work with vulnerable children as well as teach English at the primary school in the compound. One need not have any special skills to volunteer in the home. Work for volunteers would involve, giving guidance and counseling to the children to build their self esteem, empowering the minors to be self reliant, working along house mothers in provision of basic needs to the children, help children study and play, train the children on creativity. Volunteer work could also include teaching English at the Kyale primary school in the compound. Volunteers can join the children in as many activities as they wish.

Volunteer accommodation: Volunteers working at Kyale Small home are accommodated by a host family within walking distance from the home. The host family provides the volunteers with both dinner and breakfast.

Places of interest: Kyale is relatively close to Nairobi compared to other rural projects and therefore volunteers are free to visit Nairobi on weekends. There is also a historic town 2 hours away called Machakos. The town was used as a stop over town by early European settlers and missionaries on there way to the interior of Kenya or heading back to the coastal town of Mombasa.

CONSERVATION, FORESTRY AND ECOLOGY PROJECTS

1.) About Kakamega Rain Forest Butterfly Farm: Kakamega rainforest butterfly farm is a community based organization based in Kakamega rainforest. It’s a 9 hour drive from Nairobi, in western Kenya near Lake Victoria. It is located in Kakamega district, Western province, in Kenya. The project has 60 members with most of them being women from the community. The surrounding community is made up largely by the Luhya tribe and a small number from the Lou tribe.

Volunteer opportunities at Kakamega rainforest butterfly farm: The project is open for long term (4weeks - 1year) volunteer placements. Volunteers in the project have a chance to work in the butterfly farm-collecting the butterflies from the forest, collecting the larvae, doing research on monkeys, tree species and snakes for those interested, the community also carries out tree planting and other conservation activities to conserve the only rain forest in East Africa. The project also has Saturday classes for children from around the community on how to conserve the forest as well as other environmental issues and Hiv/Aids. There are no special skills required to volunteer in this project and the project is open to both skilled and unskilled volunteers. Volunteers are requested to volunteer at least 20 hours a week. Volunteers will be free to join the project and the community at larges in as many activities as they wish.

Volunteer accommodation: Volunteers working in the project are accommodated by a host family (one of the project members) and the host family provides all meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner). The volunteers are accommodated in a walking distance home so there are no transport expenses to and from the project.

Places of interest: Lake Victoria (the largest fresh water lake in Africa) in Kisumu town, one can also take a trip to the crying stone which has religious significance to the community and the breath taking sceneries dotting all over.

HIV/AIDS AND HEALTH PROJECTS

Name: Nairobi Home Based Care Alliance

Membership: Nairobi Home Based Care Alliance comprises of community based organizations (CBO’s) and self help groups (SHG) working with Hiv/Aids patients. They are a mix of projects whose objective is to care for Hiv/Aids patients as well as projects that have taken up home based care of Hiv/Aids patients in addition to their original objective which may lie in socio-economic objectives.

Objective/Aims/Activities: HBC activities are carried out by volunteer, mainly women who have come together to take care of Hiv/Aids patients. The friends (the group refers to the patients that they are caring for as friends) are the poor folks who would otherwise not afford hospitalization. The patients are found in slums (informal settlements) in many cases abandoned by friends and family. The Nairobi HBC alliance also carries out training of their counterparts in rural Kenya depending on availability of funds. Local non governmental organizations on their part offer training to the community members who are usually trained as Trainers of Trainers (ToT’s) in community health to accelerate the number of members who are versed enough as community health workers in providing this kind of care and who can also be able to train others

The care givers work involves helping their friends maintain general hygiene in their homes, helping out in house chores like cooking, washing clothes, utensils of their sick friends. Massaging their limbs as well as sponge bathing of their friends, escorting their friends to regular medical check ups (some groups have gone as far as building wheeled beds that can be maneuvered in the slum alley to take their friends to hospital) They also offer counseling on living positive with Hiv/Aids as well as providing moral support to their family members affected by the scourge.

Challenges/volunteer opportunities: the challenges facing HBC givers are many and diverse. Because of the large number of people suffering from Hiv/Aids and need the kind of help the members give, it creates a situation where by the volunteers are overwhelmed in terms of manpower. This can be addressed by several measures such as undertaking capacity building workshops to train more care givers. They also lack enough tools to carry out their work, tools such as, latex gloves and skin ointment for their friends(patients) other challenges include nutritional supplements which are essential for patients under Hiv/Aids medications(anti retroviral drugs, ARV’s). Clearly there is a need to create networking and fundraising channels between Nairobi Home Based Care Alliance with both local and international organizations interested in Hiv/Aids, an assignment which begs for skilled volunteers in this fields.

Touch Africa Network is therefore offering placement for both local and international volunteers to either take part in providing manpower, networking and fundraising initiative which will go a long way in the propagation of this noble project in Nairobi and its rural affiliates.

HEALTH AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN

TAN Partner: - Dr. Lumumba Health Unit

About Dr. Lumumba Health Unit: Dr. Lumumba Health Unit is a small clinic with medicinal facilities, which hosts vulnerable children in the same compound. It’s a 2 hour drive from Nairobi, and is situated in Muumandu, a small town half an hour drive from Machakos town, Eastern Province of Kenya. Dr. Lumumba himself has the education of a nurse, and takes the responsibility for the residents of a big rural area east of Machakos, that don’t have the opportunity to reach the urban health facilities. He therefore functions as the local dentist, midwife, regular and emergency doctor. The health unit offers internet and computer services, distributes e.g. mosquito nets and hosts along that about 6-12 older children between 10 and 15 years, and some babies, that are abandoned and left behind by their mothers. The surrounding community is made up largely by the Kamba tribe.

Volunteer opportunities at Dr. Lumumba Health Unit: The Health Unit is open for long term (4weeks - 1year) volunteers willing to assist the health unit and/or children’s home. Qualifications are not required, for the doctor will involve you in any of his daily challenges, but qualified volunteers with medicinal or therapeutic background are highly welcomed. Besides involving yourself in the Health Unit you can take actions in the children’s welfare e.g. organize activities, assist with homework, structure their day and council them. The volunteer can join the Health Unit and the children in as many activities as he/she wishes.
Except for a 13-year old boy called Alex, who, due to Epilepsy has to be under constant medical supervision, the children go to school from morning until afternoon. They are constantly at the home during school holidays in April, August and December. Especially the small children need special care, for most of them are brought to the Health Unit underweight or sick.

Patients come in on a daily basis with a broad variety of concerns, such as tooth ache, pain, open wounds, child immunization, or ante-natal care.
Volunteers can also visit the nearby schools the children go to. They will be free to join the students in games, school plays through the drama club, motivational talks etc.

Due to the close contacts between Dr.Lumumba and the governments Children’s Department, Health Department and Red Cross, volunteers get to be involved in the mainstream children welfare program development and implementation.

Volunteer accommodation: Volunteers will be accommodated directly in the Health Unit in their own room. This is very practical in case of an emergency (e.g. accidents, labor) case at night for you can be directly assisting the doctor if you wish to. The project will provide breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Places of interest: Machakos town has some curio shops and a large fruit and vegetable market. Nearby is a mysterical place, where gravity is supposed to be not functioning, allowing water to flow uphill. Machakos area has great opportunities for hiking. Nairobi is close by and on Nairobi-Mombasa Highway it is very likely to see Zebras, Giraffes and other wild animals on the plains.