Volunteer Trip to Kenya with ME to WE Organization

With the determination to build a brighter future and the want to take part in meaningful travel, I decided to complete the Certificate in Social Impact program’s volunteer outreach component internationally and volunteer my time in Kenya, Africa. 

The volunteer trip that I took part in was through the ME to WE organization, specifically the WE Charity. In Africa, this organization partners with communities to implement WE Villages, an international development model designed to achieve sustainable change which focuses on: education, water, health, food, and opportunity. In the 16 years since they began partnering with the Maasai and Kipsigis communities in southwestern Kenya, they have helped build schools, libraries, water projects, hospitals, kitchens and teacher accommodations. Community leaders and volunteers, like myself, support the development of these projects and volunteer their time facilitating education projects within active women’s, men’s, and youth groups. 

My volunteer trip consisted of 2 weeks within the community of Maasai Mara volunteering my time at local hospitals, primary and secondary schools, and with women’s and men’s groups. Time was spent helping working alongside community members to lay cement and bricks for a new high school. I was truly immersed in a new culture and I began to see the world through a new lens. 

From the first day I arrived within this community I was truly welcomed like family and made genuine and lasting connections with several community members. I will never forget driving down the dirt roads of the Maasai Mara on our way to the build sites hearing “Jumbo” (hello in Swahili), being yelled by families and children the whole way. 

Working to help build the all-girls high school was an amazing experience. I would constantly have young girls who were a part of the surrounding community coming up to me at the build site explaining how much this school meant to them: it meant they wouldn’t have to walk 2 hours to reach the nearest school, it meant they would have the opportunity to receive education up to grade 12, and it meant the chance of going to college and studying tourism or nursing (two of the specific girls dream jobs that I spoke to).

Working with the women’s and men’s group taught me the real value of community and coming together towards a common goal. It was so impactful to see how a community can come together to share resources and work for not only the benefit of the individual but of the group. In spending time at the local hospital, it was inspiring to see how many lives were saved just through health education and having the right resources available for those in need. It was saddening to speak to older community members and hear the struggle they had before this local hospital was built by ME to WE: having to carry injured family members 2 hours before reaching medical assistance or not having the proper medicine or medical care to cure common diseases within the area. 

The best part of visiting and spending time at the children’s schools was seeing all of their smiling faces. I made it my goal to try and make a lasting impact on every school and child I interacted with. I tried to sit down with as many children as I could and spend time talking to them and teaching them something new. I also led educational games with large groups of children, such as math games, and organized an 11v11 soccer game. Every child I met was amazing in their own way. I do hope that I have left an impact on them, I know that they truly had the most powerful impact on me. 

On this trip I not only learned a great deal about the Maasai and Kipsigis culture but also the true meaning of community. I realize now that even a small act of kindness can make a big difference in someone’s world. I am committed to going back to Kenya within the next couple of years to continue my volunteering with the hope of increasing my impact on the community. 

Written by Alicia Levy, BCom 19