INTRODUCTION:
Our Voluntary Service in Kenya Programme is run by Education Supplements International which is a registered non-governmental (NGO) based in Nakuru, Kenya. It comprises both short and long-term volunteering.
This is a volunteer programme that aims to give opportunities to people who love and desire to live, work and contribute away from their home country environment, contribute to the progress of humanity and participate in inter-cultural richness among people of various age, gender, race, academic and economic levels.
Many volunteers have also played a significant role in poverty reduction and relief projects.
OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE:
1. Teachers
Short and long-term teaching in baby-class,nursery,primary and secondary school levels.These schools are located in Dundori Division of Nakuru North District.There are seventeen (17) schools where we attach our volunteers (Details of these schools are available on request).
2.Medical Personnel and Interns
Opportunities available at Dundori Health Centre at Dundori Centre and the Provincial General Hospital in Nakuru town.
3.Engineers
They volunteer their technical knowledge in public and community utilities/facilities and projects like schools, womens groups, water projects, the construction of the Nakuru-Dundori road, village paths among others.
4.Hand-work
Womens groups are involved in the making of African baskets, necklaces, bangles, clothing artwork for sale to generate income and improve their economic well-being of the rural women and youth.
5.Children’s Counsellors
Our organization runs the Dundori Orphans Project in Githioro Centre where a child-feeding programme is going on. Children’s counsellors have an opportunity to talk, comfort and guide orphans who are under the care of aged grandparents without much economic and academic means to assist these children.
Please visit website http://www.dundoriorphans.com for details of these project.
6.HIV/AIDS Social Workers
They work among men and women who are HIV/AIDS positive in this region with a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS.
7.Disability Helpers
There are several registered disability groups in Dundori region who welcome the presence of disability social workers for encouragement and involvement in their economic projects.
8.Community Project Consultants
Men, women and the youth in the villages of Menengai Hill, Wanyororo, Tabuga, Gakoe, Cura, Githioro, Umoja, Nyonjoro and Kiamunyeki are involved in community projects to enhance their social-economic status and reduce poverty. Community project consultants have a big opportunity to offer their knowledge and technical expertise in this sector.
9.Conservationists
The conservation and revival of Dundori Forest is a very active endeavour in Dundori Division. Tree planting by organized community groups present an opportunity for conservationists eager to preserve our earth.
10.Sports Coaches and Teachers
The youth have a very organized sports development and competition programme in both Dundori Division and Nakuru Town in soccer, athletes, basketball, netball, swimming, etc. Sports coaches have the opportunity to give their sporting talents to these young people who would otherwise be involved in anti-social activities like alcoholism, drug-addiction and crime.
11.Relief and Development
Distribution of food, clothing, mosquito nets and medicines in Dundori Division, slums and streets of Nakuru town and other needy areas, like in refugee camps in the arid areas of the North (like Turkana and Samburu Districts) and North-Eastern Kenya(like Dadaab Refugee Camp which is currently the largest refugee camp in the world), orphanages and Kibera slum (which is Africa’s largest urban slum) is an ever-present opportunity to individuals and groups.
We also organize medical clinics by medical personnel from overseas in these areas.
COMMUNICATION AND TRANSPORT
Transport to Nakuru town (which is the fourth largest town in Kenya and rated to be the fastest growing urban area in East and Central Africa) is easily available through public transport (called Matatu in Kenya, which are mainly Nissan/Toyota fourteen-seater vans) and is at most a thirty-minute drive from Dundori (15 kms. away).
Phones and Cyber/Internet facilities are available only a kilometre from the place of accommodation.
Visitors take a taxi from Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi and stay in a hotel or guest house for overnight, rest before taking a matatu at the Mololine Station at Cross Road in Nairobi for a journey to Nakuru which is 156 km (two-hour drive) from Nairobi.
ACCOMMODATION
We offer a host-family accommodation at “CAMP DAVID” Guest House where clean water, electricity, food and bed-rooms are available in a secure rural setting in Dundori.
The volunteer contributes US$300.00 per month (4 weeks) or US$ 10 per day per person for food, water, electricity and general accommodation.There is also a one-time payment of US$ 110 for picking the visitor from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi on arrival in Kenya.
SOCIAL INTER-ACTION
We encourage our visiting volunteers to be eager to learn simple Kiswahili (which is the national language in Kenya and spoken throughout East African countries) words for greetings and social meetings like Jambo!(Hi), Habari Yako? (how are you?), wewe unaitwa nani? (what is your name?), unatoka wapi? (where do you come from?), etc.
VISA
Visas are required to visit Kenya by nationals of most countries in the world. We assist in the processing of a visa by writing a letter of invitation to the Kenyan Embassy or High Commission in the country where the volunteer comes from.
To all our future volunteers and partners,we say:
KARIBU KENYA!
(WELCOME TO KENYA!)
Looking forward to working with you.
Kindest regards,
Nicholas Ng’ang’a
Executive Director
Education Supplements International
P.O. Box 3305
Nakuru
KENYA
Email: edsupintl@yahoo.com
Phone: 020 362 8347
0703 905 770
0739 879 260
Skype: educationsupplements

Dr Noah Wekesa, the Forestry and Wildlife minister on Tuesday told parliament that KWS has ceased all activity on the land which the ministry will not gazette as a national park until the matter is resolved by the court.

This means that KWS will have to wait longer to build the park it is banking on to boost its financial health that has been hit by high operating expenses.

“KWS will accept the court orders and will not gazette the proposed park (Laikipia National Park),” Dr Wekesa said.

KWS had bought the land for Sh400 million with the help of Nature Conservancy, a US-based organisation. But 248 residents of the area, who have locked horns with Mr Moi over the ownership of the land, successfully obtained court orders restraining the wildlife custodian from implementing its plans until the matter is determined .

The residents allege that Mr Moi has been trying to forcibly evict them from the land which they claim to have lived on for over 90 years. Last week, the US-based Centre for International Human Rights Law and Advocacy threw its weight behind the community activists, threatening to sue KWS should it go ahead with its plans.

Laikipia is a tourism circuit popular with high-end visitors keen on luxury offerings such as tented camps and is home to prominent resorts such as Ol Pejeta, Lewa and Loisaba.

It has hosted prominent visitors such as British royals Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton. KWS currently has 33 national parks and reserves spread across the country.

The state-owned corporation that relies heavily on government support this year raised its park entry fees to cope with rising staff costs, park maintenance, animal stocking and migration.

In the latest increase, the fees were raised to $80 (Sh8,000) from a minimum of $60 (Sh6,000) on premium parks. In the special gazette notice, Forestry and Wildlife minister Noah Wekesa also reviewed the fees structure by eliminating low and high season fees and introducing a flat rate charge in a bid to boost revenue.

KWS park plan sweetens market for land barons
KWS plan for park on Moi’s former land sparks controversy
Mabati Rolling Mills wins Company of the Year Award
Foreign visitors previously paid $75 (Sh7,500) at Amboseli and Lake Nakuru parks during the peak seasons, which run from January to March and July to October.

Dr Wekesa said the review is aimed at boosting KWS coffers to allow it meet its conservation obligations, arguing that the efforts are becoming costly, causing the corporation to run a huge deficit.

The review comes less than a year after KWS increased its fees in January in what led to a 47 per cent rise in its turnover to Sh2.8 billion in the year to June 2010.

Its expenses rose to Sh4.6 billion from Sh3.7 billion –which left it with a deficit of Sh1.54 billion that was plugged by government (Sh860 million), donations (Sh170 million) and donor funding (Sh198 million).
vjuma@ke.nationmedia.com