Volunteer work in Kenya

Volunteer work in Kenya

Your volunteer work in Kenya will include helping in the Mukuru slums of Nairobi two days a week. The rest of the time, you will engage in volunteer work in hospitals, orphanages, or pre-schools around Limuru. Your project placement possibilities vary widely, and you will have to opportunity to gather various new experiences through your volunteer work in Kenya. In order to work in the field of health care, you will need previous medical knowledge. If you are unable to provide proof of previous medical experience, your volunteer work in the hospital will be restricted to observation or administrative tasks. Aside from offering your active help in the volunteer projects, you will also contribute monetarily to the projects through a small donation, which is included in the total programme price.

 

Mukuru Slums

About 62,000 people live in the Mukuru slums of Nairobi - and usually in wretched conditions, in huts made of cardboard and sheet metal. Severe problems include an especially high HIV-rate, illnesses caused by unhygienic water supplies and sewage disposal, and insufficient knowledge about health matters.

During your volunteer work in Kenya, you will work in a clinic at the edge of the slums, which was especially constructed for the medical care of the people in the slums. Your tasks could include: 

• Assisting the doctors and nurses in their daily work
• Carrying out administrative work
• Making home visits to care for patients unable to come to the clinic

The local orphanages and schools in the slums, are always happy to welcome volunteers. 

 

Orphanages in Limuru

In Kenya, there are over one million orphans, most of whom have lost their parents due to AIDS, and many of whom are infected with the HIV virus themselves. In Limuru, there are numerous facilities which take in and care for these children. Of course, additional help is more than welcome here. Here, your volunteer work in Kenya will include:

• Teaching the children
• Preparing meals
• Organising games and sport activities for those in your care

Your volunteer work in Kenya may also include building maintenance, renovation, and replacement measures. If you can work wonders with a hammer or a paintbrush, then this is the right programme for you!

 

Kikuyu Hospital

This hospital for general medical care has to cope with a large daily intake of patients, as it is responsible for the health care of the entire community. Here, your volunteer work in Kenya will include:

• Organising the flow of patients
• Assisting opticians with eyesight tests
• Helping on a baby ward, (helping to weigh the babies, etc.)
• Accompanying clinic staff on home visits, sometimes to rural areas
• Actively helping to educate people about health safety matters

This project is exclusively intended for volunteers with previous medical knowledge, who will be able to use and deepen this knowledge during their volunteer work in Kenya.