Program Reviews

If you want your eyes opened and have a top experience this is the place to go, and Agape Volunteers was there to help at every step. I stayed in Kenya for just under a month - if it wasn't for the day job dragging me back I'd still be there. Wanting to do something a little different this year I set about searching the web for things too do - every site I went on seemed either really expensive for what you got or just too complicated to sort out. Luckily a friend had recommended Agape so I decided to book with them. Not a seasoned traveler I wasn't too confident in what I was doing - I considered trying to sort everything out myself and 'going alone' but looking back the facilities and guidance which were provided helped massively and I'm glad I booked via them.

I'd signed up for the teaching program, this involved going to a primary school and helping out. It's not like any school you'd see in the UK. The syllabus was pretty basic in some subjects, but in others I was surprised at how advanced it was. I'm positive I wasn't doing some of those maths equations till well into secondary school! (Don't worry if your education wasn't the best, I wouldn't say I excelled in maths but managed fine) I don't think you can get across in words the difference between schools in England and the ones in Kenya. Although basic, it works.

The children make the trip, very chatty. You could spend all day with them asking questions about where you come from, inquiring about different aspects of life elsewhere in the world. Children would come up to you in the street and say "Hi" just to get the opportunity to speak to someone from a different country. I also spent a week at one of the orphanages which again was amazing, I had the vision of a massive institution-style building which the kids would hate being at - I couldn't have been more wrong. It was basically a massive family which I was adopted by as soon as I arrived, straight away I was helping out cement there yard. Living with the children you get a real feel for life out there. Walking them to school in the morning past the fields was one of the best parts, seeing locals wandering about carrying out there daily routine. When you see pictures on the web and think, I wonder where that is, it looks amazing - that's your view everyday.

One thing I'm glad about was the ability to swap and change what I was doing. Although I was only there for around a month I fitted so much in. The fact I was on the teaching program but was also able to stay at the orphanage was great, in my opinion I fitted in double the experience. The safari is a must, and I'd recommend fitting in as many other excursions as possible. I had some spare money towards the end so mentioned to one of the Agape staff I wouldn't mind doing something, next day I was up a mountain. The relaxed way of life out there is something I'll always be jealous of.

The staff there are all really helpful and I cant thank them enough for the experience. I'm already considering volunteering again, and Agape will definitely be used if I do. Anyone wanting to do something a little different I'd recommend Kenya and using Agape.

I had a fantastic time in Ghana and while it was a long time I was there, it went unbelievably quickly. I was teaching in 3 different schools and taught in the church every weekday. I also managed to play in church a couple of times! All the children were so motivated and ambitious learners and they progressed quick, I felt a bit guilty leaving after all their commitment! I was surprised how much I enjoyed Takoradi and the local area, it's a beautiful city and I was shown all corners of it. I think my favourite experience of it was going to the beach there at 6am to see it bustling with people running, swimming, playing football and just socialising. The beach near where I was staying, 'Paradise' was too one of my favourite places and enjoyed taking the children there and teaching them to swim. I had only planned to go once or twice, but every weekend they asked to go again!

Spent two weeks at JayNee in Ghana, doing the music program.You live pretty much with the basic needs in life, having 25 children around you and try to settle in the culture of the country. The first few days are pretty hard, as everything is new and you can’t compare the situation with home by no means, however after a few days time flies by. I think the perfect length will be 2-4weeks. Within this time, you can achieve something there without getting bored. Enjoy!

I avidly recommend volunteering with Agape for many reasons! First up, the UK staff provided ceaseless advice and support during the preparation for my trip, ensuring I knew the specific details of my stay before I even set foot abroad. During my time in Kenya, the Agape team became like family. I completed an HIV counselling/testing program that equipped me with necessary skills that I then took into the community. Agape provided me with great independence, which I found SO rewarding.

I felt I could really delve into the Kenyan lifestyle, not being shielded from any realities. Agape offered me a genuine experience through which I made valuable connections and friendships with passionate Kenyans and volunteers from around the globe. Agape value transparency, a hands-on-approach, and voluntary work that promotes public needs not simply ‘voluntourism’.

Although I don't think it is possible to capture in words my time in South Africa, here is a little something! My 3 weeks in South Africa were full of life changing and one-off life experiences and opportunities. Here’s a few of my favourites – elephant monitoring, walking through the bush, teaching children at a local school, enjoying the beauty of Sodwana Bay, hiking around False Bay, standing six metres from a rhino, helping to capture Mountain Reedbuck, touching an elephant's tongue, watching a leopard lie down in front of me, stoking a cheetah, tracking leopard movement around the lodge, doing static counts, watching the beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

I had an amazing 3 weeks in South Africa through a programme that offered me the chance to truly experience life in South Africa. My time in this wonderful country allowed me to develop the knowledge, skills, memories and a 'feeling' that could not have been gained in any other way. For that, I am genuinely thankful to Elton and Melissa for helping me live this experience for the 3 weeks! Thank you so much. And I think it's safe to say, I've caught the 'feeling' and I will be back one day!

Although I don't think it is possible to capture in words my time in South Africa, here is a little something! My 3 weeks in South Africa were full of life changing and one-off life experiences and opportunities. Here’s a few of my favourites – elephant monitoring, walking through the bush, teaching children at a local school, enjoying the beauty of Sodwana Bay, hiking around False Bay, standing six metres from a rhino, helping to capture Mountain Reedbuck, touching an elephant's tongue, watching a leopard lie down in front of me, stoking a cheetah, tracking leopard movement around the lodge, doing static counts, watching the beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

I had an amazing 3 weeks in South Africa through a programme that offered me the chance to truly experience life in South Africa. My time in this wonderful country allowed me to develop the knowledge, skills, memories and a 'feeling' that could not have been gained in any other way. For that, I am genuinely thankful to Elton and Melissa for helping me live this experience for the 3 weeks! Thank you so much. And I think it's safe to say, I've caught the 'feeling' and I will be back one day!

After finding myself with 6 weeks to spare in the summer I decided to go to Africa to do some volunteering. After searching through google and researching a number of charities I decided to go with Agape. I worked directly with Gee to get the trip sorted, with a 10 day turn around from booking to flying out to Kenya. After landing in Kenya I was picked up from the airport promptly and taken back to the Waithaka volunteer house where I was met by the house mamma Florence, who is amazing! Breakfast and dinner is great, local Kenyan food and the house consists of the basic amenities along with a TV and DVD player. As there is a curfew keeping yourself entertained is a important, we generally played card games, monopoly, drinking games and watching movies. My first full day consisted of a tour around the local area and a trip to the main shopping mall and local market. You can buy most things locally around the house, such as water, food, DVD's (burned from downloads) and alcohol. On the first day of placement I was taken to Saint Dorcas Children's Home by one of the guys from Agape (Little Bony), where I was introduced to the head teacher and each of the classes. The St. Dorcas Children's Home is relatively small with children from all backgrounds, the age of the children ranged from 4-20 and they were all so excitable and lovely, it made the days fly by! You get lunch provided which is the same as what the kids eat, generally maize, corn and beans. After a day or two you are given a class to teach. I found myself teaching Class Five (10-11 year olds) English, Maths and Science. It was fantastic and it gives you such a great opportunity to bond with the kids and have some fun in the classroom. During my stay I did a number of excursions; Kibera Outreach Day, Maasai Mara Safari, Hell's Gate, Mount Longonot and then the two excursions included; City Tour and IDP Project. Kibera is a good opportunity to see just how much of a struggle it can be living within the country and despite the hardship so many people have are so positive and make the best of their situation. A bottle in the street gives the kids something to play with for hours. You get the chance to meet two families who are extremely welcoming and happy to talk you through how they ended up where they are. You will also go to a workshop where they make items out of animal bones, the employees are all from Kibera and helps get them off the street and earning money. Safari is a great experience, you get to see loads of different animals in their natural environment, we managed to see 6 of the super 7 (Lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino, leopard, hyena and cheetah), missing out only on the rhino. If you do the four day, you will more than likely see the a rhino. The accommodation is great, as is the food and you can stay up late in the group drinking and playing card games or just sit by the bonfire. Hell's Gate is probably one of the best excursions you can do, it consists of a bike ride, cycling past zebra's, warthogs, gazelle and antelope. This is followed by a hike through a large gorge with a small amount of rock climbing. The views are phenomenal. You then get to relax in a sulphur spring pool before heading off to lunch. After lunch you go on a boat ride around lake Naivasha where you see a lot of hippo's. Mount Longonot is a hard hike up the dormant volcano, at the top you get some fantastic views both into the crater and the surrounding areas of lowland, forests and lake Naivasha. Masaai Tribe is not for the faint hearted and you need to have an open mind. You pick up bottled water on the way but that's it, don't expect showers, toilets, a cooking hob etc. this is living the Masaai way with a fantastic hike (around 7 hours), children that are infatuated with you, going out hunting, milking a cow etc. It's definitely worth doing if you can live without modern comforts for a few days! City tour is a good little tour visiting a crocodile farm, elephant orphanage, giraffe sanctuary and a park with friendly, wild monkeys. During the tour you get to hold a crocodile, get a kiss from giraffe and have monkeys climb over you whilst you hand out some peanuts to them. IDP is a tour around the project where the charity is helping build homes for the displaced families currently living in tents. They have already built a school, a number of houses, a chicken coup and started on a medical building. It's great to see just where the additional money goes from the money you pay. The guys in the house - Florence, Izzo, Jo, Joseph, Tabby, Little Bony - are amazing and will always look after you, as well as taking you out on an occasional night out. I would thoroughly recommend going out to Kenya and I'm already planning my trip back for next year to work at the IDP project.

I had one fantastic time in Kenya, fantastic, awesome and surreal are the best words I can use to describe my time there. The people were just awesome and the level of support was
fantastic. I am planning to return to June for 5 weeks.

I volunteered with a couple of friends and we all did different programmes but were all staying in the same place, which was fantastic. I did the medical programme as a I am medical student while the others did the teaching and orphanage programme, which involved working at a local school. We all had very different experiences but they were equally incredible and we would recommend all the programmes.

The accommodation is in a large shared volunteer house which means that you can see everyone in the evening. All the staff are really professional but also similar ages to the volunteers which makes the atmosphere very relaxed which helps. All the food is excellent and you must do a safari!

So far I'm having a great time! Things at the volunteer house is wonderful, I'm sleeping and eating well. It was great to be placed with anther volunteer Betty who I Facebooked before coming out here.

I'm certainly learning that volunteering is what you make it. I can see that for people who are used to travelling a lot tend to be more open with meeting people, speaking to people and in general using their initiative to make the most of the spare time.

Me and 3 other volunteers organised with our school and headteacher to do like a "fruit and fun" morning yesterday (a Saturday) from 9 til about 11:30. For just £2 something we got 100 bananas, enough for one for every student and about 30 other kids, some of them street kids. We also got some juice and the headteacher provided water so we had a massive pot of juice so every child could have a drink after hours of playing games. My experience teaching at summer camps definitely helped as I was confident enough to get all the children into a big circle and sing some songs I'd learnt at camp. We hope to do this kind of "fruit and fun" Saturday morning every Saturday which perhaps future volunteers could continue with.

I'm very interested in helping to fundraise for my school here. I didn't really bring much from home so I'm eager to see if friends and family could post things like old school uniforms and stationary which could really be so useful. A friend of mine works for Disney, and he says he will be able to send a whole load of Disney stationary, pencil cases, notebooks etc so I can't wait to receive his package, but I haven't yet got an address to send to him. I want the parcel to be addressed to me preferably so I can check the stuff first, for example if there's only enough for like half the kids I want to be able to distribute it fairly. I suppose I'll ask Isaac or Joe about it so we can get that cracking. I've heard something about high tax on receiving packages particularly with clothes. Isaac mentioned getting volunteers to bring things but I think it would be a lot of hassle sending everything to each volunteer.

Loving working with everybody :-) would recommend this to anyone thinking of volunteering! We did a combination of nursing and childcare volunteering over a number of weeks in Kenya. All the staff were very professional and friendly and we felt safe at all times. I really felt like we were making a difference and that Agape was focused on helping the local community, which is what I was looking for. The additional trips are really fun and would absolutely suggest taking a safari! We did the three day safari and we saw all the animals we wanted to and it was incredibly cheap (the extra trips are also run by Agape staff). The accommodation is basic but kept very clean and there is plenty of food at all times in the volunteer house. If you really want to make a difference when you volunteer then this is the trip for you!