Heritage of Faith and Hope Children's Home

  Kenya

Machakos

Duration of Program: 3-6 months
Typical Duration of Program: 3-6 months

Description: Heritage of Faith and Hope Children's Home was started in Mlolongo in August 2002 with the aim to feed 20 children within Nairobi city. Since its inception, the Home has grown remarkably, runs a school and owns a 3-acre piece of land donated by the Mavoko municipal council. The Home has 91 children in total, the youngest child being 3 years old, the oldest 19 years. The Home is a Christian institution and has significantly contributed to the development of the local community via poverty alleviation and provision of essential services such as education and health.

The Home has the following objectives:
* Improving access to health for orphans, destitute and vulnerable children
* Improving access to education for orphans and vulnerable children
* Providing parental care and guidance for orphans and vulnerable children

Since it's started, the project has made remarkable achievements in the following areas: Parental care, Health services and Education. However, due to expansion and high cost of living, the project continues to face diverse challenges such as inadequate staff, fees for secondary school students, etc.

Volunteers' major duties include:
* Responsible for the day-to-day coordination of the Home to ensure efficient performance of the organization operation.
* Counseling of the children

The program will run for a minimum of 1 month and a maximum of 6 months. The program is running throughout the year.

Orientation meeting will take place in Nairobi before proceeding to the project.

Heritage of Faith and Hope Children's Home is situated in Eastern Province, Machakos district, Syokimau location, Mlolongo township, approximately 20 kilometers from Nairobi. This is a semiarid region with hilly terrain. The region is hot during the day, temperatures sometimes rising to 25°28°C. At night it can be cold, temperatures falling to 15°20°C. The area is not very well developed in terms of infrastructure, but it has electricity, telephone lines and piped water. Mlolongo area is densely populated and numerous business activities are going on, as this area is close to the EPZ zone.

Volunteers will be using public transport Matatu (minibuses) to get to the project site. It is 30 minutes drive from Nairobi.

An extra fee of 400 Euro for every 2 months is intended to support the local hosting organization and is due upon arrival on the project.

Qualifications: On this project there will be two separate volunteer position types:
* The first will involve counseling the children. The applicant that fits best for these duties is a social worker.
* Secondly, the Home requires a volunteer with office skills (management and administration to run the Home). In addition, they would also need the volunteer to have some experience in fund raising, lobbying and resource mobilization.

However, we have an open policy and applicants with other ideas to share are also welcome to apply and will be considered.

Volunteers need to contribute/initiate ideas and by that would be promoting the growth of the Home. This is an opportunity for the volunteers to work at a community/grassroot level in capacity building and training in self-sustainability.

Cost in US$: $590 US

Experience Required: no

Typical Volunteer: Motivated, tolerant, open-minded and cooperative person with adventurous spirit.

Age Range: 21 and over

This Program is open to American and Canadian Participants.

Participants Travel to Kenya Independently

Typically Participants Work in Groups

CADIP - Canadian Alliance for Development Initiatives and Projects's Mission Statement: CADIP promotes peace, cooperation, tolerance and understanding in international, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural surroundings. The organization also promotes patterns and examples of civil activities focused on serving others, on building social ties and strengthening communities, on supporting civil society development. Aims and general objectives: * To promote volunteering as an expression of civic contribution * To strengthen the international contacts among young people * To build tolerance and understanding in multicultural and multi-ethnic surroundings *To promote multiunderstanding among youth all over the world * To facilitate the individual growth of the volunteers through the acquisition of work, life and learning skills * To work for the recognition and promotion of non-formal learning * To support the community initiatives and assist in community development.