Kenya is revered by anthropologists as the “cradle of humanity.” Visitors may be surprised by the stark contrasts of the Kenyan landscape. From the towering, 5199 meter high Mt. Kenya to the pristine, white sand beaches of the Indian Ocean coast, the barren land of the Turkana desert to the lush green pastures of the Great Rift Valley, the traditional thatched huts of the villages to the modern skyscrapers of Nairobi, Kenya is a land of contrasts.
With more than 33 million people, Kenya is a land of diversity. The population of Kenya is made up of numerous ethnic, religious and linguistic groups. In rural areas tradition remains very strong, with tribal languages still spoken by the majority of the people. Although Kenya’s population is essentially rural, urban population is expanding rapidly. More than half of urban populations live in informal urban settlements where basic utilities such as clean water and sanitation are insufficient resulting in high environmental degradation.
While Kenya has been long regarded as an island of stability in Africa, since its independence in 1963 it has suffered through many corrupt governments and leaders. After much international prodding and internal dissent throughout the 1990s, Kenya was finally able to embrace multiparty democracy and be released from Daniel arap Moi’s stronghold on power in late 2002. The move towards democracy and accountability has been slow and corruption still persists at senior levels of government. After a general election in December of 2007 resulted in turmoil throughout the country, YCI suspended programming in 2008. But as of January 2009, YCI was able to resume working with our local partner, Kwacha Afrika.
Kenya faces a number of challenges as a developing country. It has had remarkable success in promoting human development, but there is still a lot of work to be done to help a large unemployed youth population and high HIV/AIDS rates. Almost 60% of Kenya’s population is aged 15 to 35, with youth comprising 61% of the country’s unemployed.
YCI is proud to offer our small team program option in Kenya. These eight and 10-week programs provide a unique opportunity to acquire new skills and apply your existing experience to innovative youth and community development programming.
Volunteers work in small teams of up to six participants without a group leader, but with support and direction from a local Youth Coordinator and a Program Officer. Working alongside our local partner organization, Kwacha Afrika, volunteers improve capacity and assist in the delivery and expansion of local community programming. Youth are mobilized through skills development, HIV/AIDS awareness raising, micro-enterprise and employability and gender equality training. Volunteers live with a host family located nearby YCI’s partner organization in the Mombasa area.
Volunteers may be involved in a variety of project activities with a youth focus related to life skills development. As part of a small team of volunteers in Kenya you could:
- Coordinate and work alongside local youth in the delivery of workshops on a variety of topics which could include HIV/AIDS, leadership and governance, using a computer, self-esteem and conflict resolution.
- Use “edutainment,” which is a commonly used educational technique that combines music, dance, drama and storytelling in a variety of project activities.
- Improve facilities (repairs or maintenance) and organize activities and programming ranging from arts & crafts, to sports programming for children and youth at local meeting places.
- Help facilitate activities and events with local girls’ groups, women’s groups or youth forums. These could include support groups and mentoring programs.
- Attend and participate in community outreach activities through local elementary and secondary schools as well as larger community events.
- Organize activities around International Women’s Day or World AIDS Day.
Past Project Activities:
Gender Equity: In the spring of 2007, volunteers working with local partner Kwacha Afrika arranged a panel discussion inviting strong female roles models from the Mombasa community. Over 40 female audience members from Kwacha and the surrounding area attended the event. One of the panelists was a female HIV positive teacher. Her truly motivational speech about living positively with HIV helped to break down the stigma surrounding HIV.
Active Citizenship: With the expertise and direction of a local young trainer, volunteers facilitated a Good Governance workshop to 12 selected youth leaders. This workshop explored issues of governance and responsible citizenship, engaging the youth involved on their roles as Kenyan citizens and debating the issues that affect them. The participants had opportunities to explore responses to community problems ranging from tribalism and racial segregation, to disease outbreaks. These selected youth leaders will have the opportunity to educate their peers in similar workshops within the organization and in the community.
For information on project dates, please refer to the Program Calendar.
| HDI: |
|
154/177 |
| Life Expectancy: |
|
55.31 years |
| Infant mortality: |
|
57.44/1,000 births |
| Adult Literacy Rate: |
|
85.1% |
| Youth Literacy Rate: |
|
80.3% |
| HIV prevalence:
(ages 15-49) |
|
6.7% |
Population living below
the
national
poverty line: |
|
50% |
|
Program Overview
