Volunteerwork in a children´s home, help the HIV-infected or support our local feedingcentre
The statistics behind your volunteerwork
Every year, there are still thousands of children abandoned and orphaned in Kenya due to HIV, poverty and the early death of parents and caretakers. Statistical studies of Unicef show that in the year 2009 in Kenya, a total of 1.2 million children can be called orphans due to HIV-aids. The total number of children who lost their parents due to all causes reached the staggering number of 2.6 million in the same year. On a total population of 36.9 million, the mounting problem of orphans can only be solved by efforts from the local population with help from volunteer workers and NGO´s.
Volunteerwork in a childern´s home with Butterfly4Volunteers
Butterfly4Volunteers has different projects in Mombasa, Nairobi, Thika, Malindi, Kitui, Lamu and many more. For a short project of several weeks you can already help out in kitchen´s or do garden or cleaning work. Evidently, for such a task you do need to have some strong social skills. If you want to make a bigger impact and wish to stay longer, Butterfly4Volunteers has several projects for professionals who can do counselling work or prove themselves a trustworthy guide for the children. Naturally, a longer period will help the children to become more comfortable with you and have more confidence in a volunteering "stranger". If you stay with us for at least 3 months you can assist in the distinctive programs on the bottom half of this page.
What you always should realize working as a volunteer in our children´s homes
You should always realize you are dealing with orphans and vulnerable children. Some kids have been traumatized and sometimes stigmatized by other people. They lost their parents, due to different causes maybe, but the loss of a parent is one of the biggest trauma´s a child can face. Trust is not so easy for these kids. Many kids walk away from the children´s home because they are scared. Patience is the word you should be thinking about. Empathy is another important one. If you think you are emotionally stable enough to deal with these children, Butterfly4Volunteers welcomes you with open arms and will help out in many different ways.
Several activities possible during your volunteerwork
There are several programs run by Butterfly4Volunteers to suit your convenience. Regarding you helping out in a children´s home, there are different responsibilities to consider. You will counsel the children from day to day, you will help out in cooking for them or give basic education such as English and Math. And you will learn all the children to be responsible, by making sure that they clean their rooms and make their beds and any other necessary skill needed in life. All kids should be treated equally and according to their special needs.
As a volunteer, you can also take care of people or kids who are diagnosed with HIV as a homebased care volunteer. You are responsible for the counselling, the nutritional advice & support and necessary visits to places where they live. You might be asked to write weekly reports about the people you visit.
Helping out at our local feedingcentre, where children are fed and sheltered, is another way to spend your time with us. As you can see, at Butterfly4Volunteers we have a lot of things for you to do. Your volunteerwork can be a mix of several activities for children and people in Kenya
Skills and certificates needed to work in these volunteering programs
Apart from people with various people skills, we only station volunteers who have certificates in sociology or community development. As a volunteer, you should also meet certain other requirements:
- Experience in working with vulnerable groups
- Vetted and approved by the Government of Kenya
- Give a CV and an application letter
- At least 19 years old
- Be able to restrain from smoking within the project
- Be able to restrain from drinking within the project
- Adhere to decent dressing code
- Affairs between staff or children not allowed
- Emotionally mature