12 weeks in Kenya

I recently got back from Kenya after spending 3 months with AV on the coast and then travelling to Tanzania and Uganda afterwards. I can confidently say that choosing to do the AV program was the best decision I could have made.
Before we arrived in Kenya, I had a briefing from Sarah, who could not have been more lovely and helpful, which covered everything you need to know about the village, the schools, the house, and the programme itself. AV were so helpful before departure – no question was too silly! We were all put in touch with the other volunteers before leaving which was nice and then met by Andrew in the airport to see us off. We also had an induction weekend where we met Grace and Khalfan who showed us around, taught us some simple Swahili and basically told us more of what to expect at school.

In terms of teaching, I taught Maths, English and PE which was fun and really rewarding but one of the things I loved most about being at school was just playing with the kids after school and chatting to them. When we weren’t teaching there was plenty opportunities to make posters, do some marking, and paint classrooms from their dusty colouring back to white with some murals on the walls! Time at school really starts to fly by and you get into such a routine Monday – Friday.

At the weekends we always went away to Diani or sometimes further up the coast to Mombasa, Kilifi, or Watamu. Teaching is quite full on so going for a swim in the evenings and heading away at the weekends is important and I think we managed a good ratio of work to chill time. I was very lucky with the group that I went with – I absolutely love all of them and we are all still in contact and planning reunions! I’m very grateful that we became so close as a whole group because it meant that the weekends were always fun and being at school 5 days a week and living together never became too much because you’re just having fun with your friends.

One of the main things about AV that makes your time away so special is how immersed you become in the community. We went to weddings, birthday parties, football games, and often had dinner with friends we made. Khalfan was always so lovely and introduced us to so many people in the village and was so helpful – literally anything we needed he would come round in 10 minutes to help us. He became one of our friends and I know we all miss him now we’re home.

The reason I chose AV over all the other gap year companies out there is because of the perfect level of support. For me, I didn’t want to have my hand held and be told where to go and be looked after all the time. I loved that we lived by ourselves, but with Khalfan close by, and that we cooked for ourselves and did what we wanted when we wanted. I would say as an 18/19 year old AV is the perfect level of support that you feel safe and looked after, but also you have freedom.

I cannot recommend AV enough – I absolutely loved it and made memories and friends for a lifetime.