Program Reviews

I volunteered in Kitale, Kenya with Village Volunteers at Common Ground. Myself and my two friends stayed in huts for 3 weeks right next to the director's (and his family's) home on the school grounds. We taught the pre-teen girls at the school dance classes, helped plant trees for a conservation project, and visited a local medical clinic. We ate our meals with the family and helped cook local dishes in the open-air kitchen. I really like how the local community leaders are directing the volunteers on what the community needs rather than an outside organization coming in and trying to implement changes that they assume are best.

My experience at Village Volunteers has forever changed me. More than five years later I continue to sponsor the education of an orphan I met during the program. Having the privilege to live with the locals game me an inside glimpse of the local culture, and it something that I never would have gotten if I've stuck to the tourist circuit or signed up with a volunteer program that was largely run by foreign aid programs rather than by the locals themselves.

Something I wish that I knew before I went was to bring lots of books, as evenings are quiet and the closest town is a matatu ride away. You get up early and go to bed early, and it's an adjustment if you're coming from a fast-paced city where you're used to going all the time. But that's part of the allure of volunteering in a remote area, where time seems to slow down and you have a greater change to reflect on your experiences. I'll always remember the time I spent with Village Volunteers, and I hope to be able to volunteer with them again--but next time through their program in India.

I am writing this review from a parent's perspective as our daughter travelled to Kenya alone with Village Volunteers at the age of 19. I was most concerned about her safety and well being. Village Volunteers did an excellent job preparing her physically and emotionally for what ended up being an experience of a lifetime. From the time she arrived in Nairobi to traveling a great distance to her destination at Sister Freda's and then on to Masai Mara and back many weeks later to Nairobi she was treated wonderfully by the people involved in the Village Volunteer organization. I would recommend this organization to anyone young or old who dreams of becoming involved in an organization that whose goal it is to immerse people in a life changing atmosphere and experience.

I first volunteered through Village Volunteers almost five years ago and had a wonderful experience in all three villages I volunteered in. As clichéd as it may sound, the experience was life changing and has had a great impact on the life I’ve led since then.

I spent time at the Common Ground, Sister Freda and Namunyak Maasai Welfare programs in Kenya and loved my time at each of them. From the time I landed in the airport in Nairobi, I felt welcome and safe as Village Volunteers had provided me with numerous contacts in both Nairobi and the villages I was to visit. Once in the villages, I spent most of my time working on microfinance projects with women’s groups with a few other volunteers helping with bookkeeping, marketing, agricultural research and anything else the women asked us to assist with. I also spent time teaching at various primary and secondary schools, learning about bio-intensive agriculture, helping at mobile medical clinics and many other projects.

In addition to the volunteering aspect of the program, there are plenty of opportunities for volunteers to travel and see and learn even more about the beautiful countries they are in. Volunteer coordinators helped us plan weekend trips and sometimes even accompanied us on them. Rafting the Nile in Uganda and taking a bicycle safari in Hell’s Gate National Park in Kenya were two of my favorite trips.

For me, the highlight of my volunteer experience was spending time with my host families and becoming familiar with local cultures and customs. Each day, volunteers eat breakfast, lunch and dinner with their hosts talking about the day’s events or anything volunteers have questions about. Volunteers are invited to partake in all family related activities including weddings, birthday celebrations and any community events that may take place while volunteers are there.

My experience with Village Volunteers left such an impact on me that I’ve spent much of my time since then working in East Africa for various international organizations and went to graduate school to study international development so as to better equip me with the knowledge I need to work in development. Many volunteers that I have met through Village Volunteers have had similar experiences and have also gone on to further their studies in international development as a result of the wonderful experience they had with Village Volunteers.

I highly recommend this experience to others and often refer my friends to Village Volunteers’ website.

Last summer I found Village Volunteers and they helped me prepare for my trip to Kenya. I couldn't have been more prepared for my trip and it was exactly how they had explained it to me. Whenever I had a question Village Volunteers responded back to me within 24 hours at the most, every time. They provided help and support for me as I was preparing for my trip as well as after I returned home. I am returning back to Kenya, through Village Volunteers, to continue volunteering and working with the many wonderful people I met there. I couldn't be happier with the experience/adventure I had in Kenya and that was only made possible by Village Volunteers.

Village volunteers handled my logistics so I could provide physical therapy services to children at the community inclusive special school and Marquart Catholic hospital. Along with that I helped train a local to act as a PT once I left. VV placed me with a great host family. They handled all my meals and ensured I always had enough water for bucket showers and daily hygiene. The family became my 2nd family. Not only did I get to provide PT services and teach local community members, but I got to completely immerse myself in another culture. I learned what life is like in a developing countryby experiencing it firsthand. I attended a funeral, cooked with the women, did my wash by hand, shopped in the market, bucket showered, and experienced life without western luxuries. It wasn't easy, but it was one of the most fulfilling things I've ever done. I learned that it's about who we surround ourselves with and not the material things that truly make a person happy. I think I helped a few people too by helping them recover from illness and injury by providing PT.

Loved loved loved traveling to Kenya. So much so that I have gone back three more times in three years! The people I met and lived with are no longer friends - they are my family - in the truest sense of the word.

My first trip in 2009 through Village Volunteers was intended to be a chance for me to have a little adventure, do what I could to help while there and immerse myself in another culture. I expected to resume my life as usual once I returned to the US. I had no idea how the experience and the people would affect my life forever. I have taken my husband back with me and my two teenage children have already been twice. I also now have a non-profit One Way Out (owokenya.com) providing educational opportunities to the children I met in two villages.

I would absolutely recommend a trip to Kenya and Village Volunteers!

Prior to my trip to Kenya with Village Volunteers, I did not know much about African cultures and I had never lived anywhere outside of the northwest corner of the United States. Three months is a relatively short period of time, in the scheme of life, but yet it is long enough to adapt to a new location and begin to feel as if it is home. Within the three months I spent in the small village of Kiminini, Kenya, I learned more than any book or website could tell me; the experience had an impact on my life that I will never forget. Even as I am writing this it does not fully grasp all that I learned and the true meaning of it, because a great deal of my learning came through the relationships and interactions that I had there.

Village Volunteers (VV) is a program that provides wholesome support prior to departure, while you are overseas, and once you return as well. In planning my trip I had close contact with VV staff. They happily answered all my questions, helped me prepare for the significant change in culture and life style, and ensured that all details of my trip were covered. While in Kenya I felt extremely safe and was always supported in activities, trips, or projects that I wanted to partake in. I was able to be a part of a multitude of wonderful programs and projects that VV has helped to establish that are truly improving the lives of women and children.

My experience in Kenya and what I learned about the people and culture is extremely meaningful to me because it is something that can never be replicated in exactly the same way. What I learned personally about myself, the friendships I made, realizations, and true understanding of diversity that I obtained, will always be a part of my life. I now have a better understanding of cultural competence, and I now have a passion for international development, especially in African countries.

I had absolutely no negative experiences with Village Volunteers and I would without a doubt recommend this program to anyone wanting to go to Africa or Asia!

My experience in Kenya under the organization of Village Volunteers was one of the most formative experiences of my life. Upon arriving in Nairobi I was greeted and escorted my VV's In-Country Coordinator Wendy Gaya. As the sights, sounds and people absorbed into my senses, Wendy wisely toured me through the robust city in a Matatu.

As I traveled west towards Transmara land on a bus to visit the first village, Namunyak Maasai, I got to experience the diverse landscape of the country. Greeted by Emmanuel Tasur I was taken to his home and got to live on his land that sat atop a valley of green lush hills. I spent three weeks volunteering with adolescent girls in a local school talking about HIV/AIDS prevention. My time with the Tasur family (Emmanuel and his wife Lillian) was wonderful. Getting to experience their work with the local community, sharing stories of their lives and learning how to cook chipati (a Kenyan classic, similar to a tortilla) in Lillian's cooking hut made me feel like a family member.

I spent the rest of my three months traveling to Mama Maria and Mama Na Dada Villages, also working with local youth in HIV/AIDS prevention and healthy lifestyle practices. All of the village partners were exceptional and thoughtful of my safety and experience at all times.

I have the utmost respect of the Village Directors and projects they run in Kenya. I truly valued the opportunity to learn and support some of the most revolutionary activists in Kenya and witness how their projects and passion are impacting their communities.

I have made two trips to Kenya via Village Volunteers in 2009 and 2011. VV is beyond wonderful! They did everything and more an organization can do to help me be successful. Ms. Greene and all the VV people go out of their way to be helpful. I proudly give Village Volunteers my highest recommendation!

I have been chairing a humanitarian program for the United Nations Foundation and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers for several years. We were anxious to get our program into a remote African locale. Village Volunteers was invaluable in identifying the best location and in providing logistical support throughout the project.

My project to provide electrical power to a school in a Maasai community has been a huge success, largely due to Village Volunteers.

If you are considering volunteering abroad, I would give Village Volunteers my highest recommendation.

Percy Shadwell, Chair - Reliable Electricity
IEEE Humanitarian Technology Challenge