The end of volunteer tourism

6 weeks of intense work collaborating with local Kenyan entrepreneurs, from school teachers to craftsmen to chemists. I was initially drawn to Balloon Kenya as this was an opportunity to work abroad on meaningful projects, unlike that which boils down to aid. I had travelled within Africa before and was particularly interested in development and therefore this was a perfect hands-on experience in an environment I knew I loved. I was not expecting nearly as much personal development on the entrepreneurial front as it really taught me to approach tasks both in Kenya and when I returned, with a different mindset. I truly believe the entrepreneurs we worked with benefited from our input and the learning was very much mutual. It was hard work but there was also time to play. Weekend trips included visits to Nairobi, safaris, climbing mount Kenya or having a weekend off, depending on what took your fancy.