Traveling to Kenya for two months this past spring with Village Volunteers was an unforgettable experience that acted as a turning poin
t for me in my life. I graduated from college a little over a year ago and I’ve since been struggling with what it is that I want to do with my life. I’ve always wanted to explore Africa and I’ve been active in volunteering for many years, so I took this uncertain transition time in my life as the perfect opportunity to see a new part of the world. I never would have thought that volunteering in Kenya would have given me such direction, but that’s exactly what it did. Two of my interests prior to leaving the U.S. were social work and medicine. Village Volunteers placed me into organizations that provided me with real-life experience that far surpassed anything I could have accomplished in the U.S.
My first placement was at Mama na Dada, Africa in Kunya Village, about 2 hours from the city of Kisumu. Beginning this journey at Mama na Dada was challenging initially. You are given a lot of freedom to pursue your personal interests within the multi-faceted organization (including partaking in the water and sanitation project, the village primary and secondary schools, the daycare and feeding program- established for the orphans and partial orphans of the village, women’s empowerment projects, just to name a few). I became very close to the children and those working for Mama na Dada, including Irene, Omollo, Roy, Judy, Susan, and Eunice, and realized immediately how dedicated the staff were toward improving the lives of the children, their guardians and the people of Kunya in general. Day-to-day interactions illustrated that these children and the members of the staff had exceeded the lines of a simple organization to become a family. And they welcomed me into that family with open arms. Although I got off to a rickety start, I left Mama na Dada having initiated my own Garden Project to cut down the costs spent on food for the children in the program. I’m still in touch with the wonderful friends I made at Mama na Dada and hear that the garden did so well, they wish to move and expand it closer to the lake.
After Mama na Dada, I moved on to continue my volunteering experience at Sister Freda’s Medical Clinic in Kitale. I’d like to first praise Sister Freda as, without a doubt, the most incredible woman I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. With a heart of pure gold, she never ceased to give everything she could to the people of Kenya, as well as foreigners. In fact the mission of the clinic is “to promote and participate in the provision of integrated and high quality promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative health care services to all Kenyans and other nationalities.” And she not only fulfills this mission daily, but goes above and beyond. I never saw Freda resting, she was playing with the orphans one second, working with patients in the clinic the next, checking in on the staff, volunteers, visitors, organizing mobile medical clinics to extend her resources to the slums in the area; you name it, in fact, before you could name it, Freda was doing it. She always had an open ear and a kind word to say. I loved every second of my volunteer experience at Freda’s and there was never a dull moment. Even with a feeding program, nursery school, all girls secondary school, nursing school, VCT center and clinic, Freda still found room to house seven orphans, the staff and all the students within the secondary and nursing school and greenhouses and fields for providing fresh produce to the compound. During my time there, I was able to watch major surgeries (i.e. caesarian section), natural childbirth, and work in the clinic lab screening patients for Malaria, Typhoid, HIV and Brucella. In both the clinic and the outreach programs (where Freda, the staff and volunteers provide medical attention to those living in the slums around Kitale) I was exposed to more medical practice, diseases and conditions primarily affecting impoverish areas then I ever would have in the U.S. It was an eye-opening experience to say the least.
The final place I traveled to was Namunyak Maasai Welfare, where I was able to go on safari in the Maasai Mara and stay with a loving and welcoming family. Emmanuel Tasur, the head of the family and founder of Sirua Aulo Academy, a beautiful and academically recognized school, was someone who had a dream to build a school for his people and succeeded. Just speaking to Emmanuel you understand how he made his dream a possibility. He is wise beyond his time, loving, smart, patient and determined to provide the Maasai children (initially, but now has expanded to include all tribes) a proper education without losing sight of their rich cultural background. I spent the least amount of time at Namunyak, but meeting Emmanuel and his wonderful family inspired me. One of the things that stunned me the most about Kenya was the prevalence of Malaria and the amount of people that succumbed to it. Malaria is pervasive everywhere in the country, but in certain places 1 in 4 children will die of the disease before the age of 5. Sister Freda and Emmanuel’s love and ambition prompted me to do my part to help those in need; so much so that I’ve recently accepted a position at Princeton University in a lab as a Research Specialist. The lab’s main research focus is to study the molecular mechanisms and genomics of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that results in the most deadly form of Malaria, with the intent on finding a cure. Not only was Village Volunteers exceptional in providing me safety, preparation, words of encouragement and an incredible experience, but they functioned as a guide in helping me find myself and my passion to take that first step out of transition territory.