About Volunteering

Volunteering abroad is a life changing experience and definitely a two way process. As an international volunteer you will learn from the communites where you work, and from the experience of travelling in Kenya and interacting with new people.

You will have the opportunity to make a personal contribution at a global level, experience hands on learning about another culture and exchange ideas with people you might not have otherwise met.

Volunteers can vary in skills and ages. Whether a skilled professional, student or an 83 year old adventurer, you can usually contribute in some way. This could be through the sharing of knowledge, to holding a widow's hand or cuddling an AIDS orphan.

Placement duration will be discussed and must be suitable for specific projects. Costs are met by the volunteers. If staying with directors Roger Molera and his wife, Christine, a contribution for food and general expences is required. Volunteers will be responsible for organising flights, visas and travel vaccinations / malaria prophylaxis.

Roger and Christine are Christians and Christianity plays a large part in Kenyan culture. Volunteers will be invited to become as involved in everyday life as possible and a visit to the Nairobi Gospel Centre International is strongly recommended!

After your volunteering time is over, why not finish with a safari and experience Africa at its most beautiful and enchanting? Wings of Mercy can help organise your trip and look for real value for money for you. Let us know when you apply and we can then discuss things further.

Volunteering Examples

Medical

The skills of doctors, nurses, midwives and other health professionals are greatly needed. There are many ways to get involved based on your skills and the needs of the specific community. You could be supporting medical professionals, training traditional birth attendants in safe birth practice, carrying out health promotion, working in community outreach programmes amongst many other projects. Experience in tropical diseases and HIV/AIDS is useful but not essential.

Teaching

As a teacher, teaching assistant or nursery nurse, you can assist teachers in schools with very limited resources but children with an insatiable appetite to learn. Many of the children are orphans and / or HIV positive which provides challenges but is incredibly rewarding. You will be encouraged to participate and contribute as fully as possible - your ideas and presence are exciting and invigorating for the children and teachers.

General

Whether a student or retired you can have something to offer and much to receive from volunteering. You could be involved in clearing a slum area, working with a women's empowerment group, holding someone's hand, helping in a school / feeding programme...the possibilities are endless. We are also looking for people with skills including crafts (jewellery making such as beadwork, art etc), sports, music etc.

The very fact that you are there can mean so much to the people we are working with as they often feel let down and neglected. Volunteering can mean the start of a long and productive relationship and may actually benefit you more than you ever thought possible.