Community Volunteering & Cultural Immersion on the Kenya Coast

I just recently returned from my 7 week trip to Kenya where our group of 9 volunteers lived in Msambweni. AV was originally recommended by my School and I'm so grateful I discovered the company through them.
The trip was fantastic, the teaching was beneficial for myself and for the children I taught I believe. I could really see a difference in the standard of maths in particular for my standard 4 class which was fantastic. In addition, I also taught Science and PE. The staff at the school were also very friendly and helpful.
The village itself was extremely safe and everything we needed - including a small market, small restaurant and the beach were all within a short walk. The house we got to stay in was also very nice and it was amazing and always fun to stay with what had become such a close group of people that I can now call friends.
The weekends were also amazing for breaking up the school term with activities such as staying at a hostel and an airbnb in Diani, the more touristic area 40 minutes drive away should anyone feel like a more western meal or western ingredients from a larger super market. The Safari trip we went on in Half term through some of Kenya's largest National Parks was also an irreplaceable experience.
All of this was made possible by AV and their help when it came to questions, recommendations for safari companies and hostels, and also a guide next door in the village itself to help with local issues. The company could not have been more helpful.
Thank you again for the experience, the only thing I would change is I wish I could've been out there for longer had I not had commitments to return to at home.

Volunteering in Kenya over the summer of 2016 was a truly amazing experience. AV were incredibly well organised in preparing the volunteers for what to expect and what to bring. I got to meet and great people from across the globe and the local community were very friendly and welcoming. The UK and Kenya office were very friendly and efficient, making the whole experience simple for the volunteers, in addition to keeping families at home updated with our progress. The projects at Milalani Primary School were incredibly rewarding, as was working with the community. The additional activities available were amazing, with the group going to Shimba Hills safari park, scuba diving in Shimoni Marine national park and sky diving on Diani beach. I can not speak highly enough of our guide Charles. He knew how to get the most out of us and made sure we had as great an experience as possible. The more you put into this fantastic experience, the more you get out.

My time in Kenya was amazing, I couldn't recommend it more. The school I was with was so welcoming and kind, and charles, who worked for AV, was unbelievably kind to us. I made friends with people in the village and had an amazing time. After a few weeks we became confident to go out and spend our evenings with the local people or go places with them at the weekend. I was invited to teachers houses for dinner and to visit them on weekends. AV did everything they possibly could have to make my experience so enjoyable and charles was always there when we needed him but never made it feel like he was just there to watch over us. All in all it was an amazing time and I would do it again in a heartbeat and recommend to anyone. So so much fun.

My son has just returned from 4 months in Kenya with AV. He has had an amazing time and loved every minute. He has fully involved himself in village life and made many friends and memories that will stay with him forever. The accomodation was basic but in a compound with a family who became friends as well as hosts.I never felt worried about safety as the people were very welcoming friendly and pleased to see them. They managed to cook together quite easily visiting the local market each day and also being invited to teachers and locals house to eat. The school he worked in were welcoming and supportive and by the end he was teaching almost a full time table ( and dont worry if they have no traching experience as they helped him in) The school were very grateful to have him there and part of the money he paid
To AV went towards new gates and a wal. Iin fact if you ask him his favourite part of the whole trip it was being in school every day. From start to finish I felt he was supported by the staff at AV without taking away any independence. Their staff member Charles who worked in Kenya became a friend to the group and organised a doctors visit when tonsillitis hit and helped the group sort their onward free travel( even inviting them to his family home in Mount Kenya ).
My main concern was the free travel month but Charles guided them as to where and where not to travel and they had an amazing time in Zanzibar Tanzania and on safari. I cannot recommend the whole experience highly enough and it was worth every penny we raised. AV have far exceeded my expectations and i would have no hesitation in using the company again. Thank you

My experience in Kenya has changed me in many ways. It was an incredibly humbling experience, it brought me back to the pure joy of connecting with people with zero material possession or status and it made me aware of how truly blessed I am to live in the United States. I loved the people I met on this trip, the amazing sites, activities and cultures I immersed myself in and the feeling of making a difference in those less fortunate than I. I would go back in a heartbeat if I could - I miss the country very much and all of the wonderful people I have met.

I participated in this Africa Asia Ventures trip in the summer of 2016, and it was honestly one of the most impactful and incredible things I have done so far in my life!

The AV team was so helpful and kind, ensuring we were safe and were fully organised for the trip, and once out there the representatives were friendly and so easy to get on with. I didn't know anyone prior to the trip, but a few good friends whilst there. The best thing about AV is you see first hand where your money goes, and how it directly benefits people. I was pushed out of my comfort zone in the best way possible, and in the process I learned so much about myself.

I could not recommend this programme more enthusiastically; I encourage all to take a look at it and consider going on the adventure of a life time!

As an 18-year-old sixth form student, I chanced to hear about AV at a gap fair put on by my college. Not particularly knowing where I wanted to travel, only that travel I would, I started talking to Andrew and an ex-student / AV volunteer about their 5 week summer projects in Africa. About 4 months later I boarded Kenya Airways flight KQ0101 bound for Nairobi, from where a connecting flight would take us on to Mombasa. It is impossible to summarise all the fantastic memories and shared experiences of the trip, which ranged from seeing a wild leopard cub at Shimba Hills Game Reserve and later sailing a traditional Kenyan dhow to singlehandedly teaching classes of forty primary school children and seeing the renovation of a dilapidated classroom to completion. I made some great friends on the trip too, some of whom came from as far afield as the Netherlands and China, and I think it’s fair to say that they were all just as sorry as I was when our project eventually came to an end and we had to go our separate ways. In short, I can’t recommend AV highly enough. The UK office is clearly very well run and always on hand to assist in any way it can, and their representative on the ground in Africa, Charles, who was with us for the duration of the project always made us feel completely at ease and looked after despite being in such foreign land as Kenya. You couldn’t find a better gap year company than AV if you tried!

My AV experience was absolutely life changing for me. Through my volunteer group, I met people that remain my best friends (and one of them my future husband!) even today (eight years on). The Kenyan people were hugely welcoming and really opened my eyes to a different way of living and looking at life.

The school I was at (Lessos Elementary) was basic but not the most basic, which enabled us to have at least some teaching equipment (i.e. a few textbooks for the kids to share etc). The kids were AMAZING!! I was thrown in the deep-end a bit, with teaching English, Maths, French, P.E. and some drama/dance/artsy subjects but the kids help you through and they're just so eager to learn anything you have to share with them.

I lived with two other British girls and we all got on amazingly! We lived in this very cute little bungalow, which had no running water or electricity but it was very much our "home"! It made the whole experience more fun and realistic to how the locals live..! We taught together and then at the weekends we'd meet up with the other 20 or so volunteers and travelled around West Kenya together. One of the best weekends we had was getting a coach to Uganda, where we all bunked out in dorms and went bungee jumping and white-water rafting.

The free time at the end of the programme enabled us to see the coast and Nairobi - both of which are vastly different to the Rift Valley. We even managed to go on two safaris and visit the idyllic Zanzibar in Tanzania.

I can honestly say that those six months were the best six months I've lived to date - every day was fun, different and challenging and the people (both the Kenyans and the volunteers) really made it for me!