Agape Adventures: Teaching & Community Development

I have been teaching in a primary school in Kibera for a month. The main thing is for volunteers to bring resources and fun things for the kids to do.
I have been staying with a host family and they have been most welcoming, even the teacher and staff at the school have taken me in as a member of staff, taking me to the markets and local sights.
The staff at Agape have been so good and organised right from the start where I made my initial inquiry. I have used another volunteer organisation for another trip and the comparison with Agape is so much more professional. I have had safety briefings and given many contacts here and back in the UK so have felt extremely supported.
When I had a problem it was delt with quickly and discreetly so as not to make me feel uncomfortable on the project and now everybody is happy.
Would definitely recommend Agape and this project as I felt I have actually made a difference and will continue to after my stay.

I enjoyed the experienced of going to the school everyday, I loved being with the children. The difficulty I had was that certain (charities) do not do as much as they should for the schools. There was a lot a things at the school which I felt the (charities) could have helped with. A lot of promises are made but never forfilled. Its heart breaking when you fundraise a lot of money thinking it for the good of the people you will be volunteering for, but in reality very little of it actually reaches the ground but instead is spent on administration costs. That was my only difficulty, otherwise everything else in accordance to (my) experience was well set up. I have plenty of highlights, I got to travel other parts of Kenyan and met a wide range of volunteers from different countries. Through them I was able to volunteer at two other places, one in Butere rural Kenya and at Rare Gem Talent school, a school for children with learning disability outside Nairobi.

From the moment I arrived I knew I wasn't in Kansas let alone Ireland anymore :-) Still though the culture shock wasn't overwhelming. I did have a very real sense that I was "different", especially when I picked out amongst the crowd to be officially welcomed at church on the first day. But any trepidation quickly disappeared over the coming days, with everyone I met being so friendly: from my host family, the school staffs, and of course the kids; the stars of the whole experience :-) Of course things are basic in Kibera but you soon get used to things like using a bucket instead of a tap; no doors on the buses (mutatus); and no rice krispies. Nairobi city centre is always there if you really need some semblance of "normality" like traffic lights and restaurants with a formal layout. They still have Sky sports out in the slum though :-) Saying that the school is not in slum-slum, that's where the real culture shock is, so be warned. The school is rightly the focus of the trip and the teachers are doing a wonderful job there. The kids are great and there are some little geniuses out there. I just hope I did them justice and my stay left some small mark to improve things for them.