Volunteer Work in Kenya: Go Volunteer Africa

I had an amazing 3 weeks in Nairobi, Kenya. I went for a volunteering experience working in the slums of Kibera. I was placed at a community outreach center. It was enriching and the best possible way to spend a summer break. I loved the opportunity to not be a tourist, but actually, immerse myself in a culture completely unlike mine. At work, I had a lot of self-direction in what I did, but some of my larger tasks included; researching and drafting a grant proposal, writing a weekly newsletter, overseeing fundraising. I also chose to work with the kids in the Early Childhood Development Center when I had some free time. I was always learning something new at work and felt completely welcomed by the entire staff. I was touched and left in happy tears on my last day of work as the staff gathered to say goodbye and gave me a lovely handwritten letter with notes from everyone at the staff. In my free time I explored Masai Mara with other volunteers, I also visited Mombasa, the Masai markets, surfing. and seeing as many sunsets as possible. All the other volunteers were lovely, it was sad saying bye, but exciting having a network of friends all across the world.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the childcare and welfare project in Nakuru, Kenya. Everyone, volunteers and locals alike, were highly friendly and many locals would attempt to stop on the street to chat with you. The accommodation was basic but suitable. Everyone had their own bed and the food each night was delicious! The tap water was not suitable to drink, which meant that you spend some money on bottled water. The project itself was enlightening, and very worthwhile. Sometimes the work could be hard with the little children, as you would see issues that would be very unlikely to arise in the Germany, but the people /staff made everything worthwhile. The weekends were packed full of tourist-safari trips, and it was very interesting to see the difference between "Locals-Kenya" and "Tourist-Kenya". The project was an amazing and rewarding time of my life, and I made friends with people whom I hope I stay in touch with. The project felt well organized but also was relaxed and enjoyable. Overall, I enjoyed my project and would volunteer with Go Volunteer Africa again in a heartbeat. The staff at GVA, especially Paul was very helpful in making the arrangements.

My family and I want to thank you all at Go Volunteer Africa for the most wonderful experience in Kenya. We will recommend your organization to anyone interested in volunteering and will also consider working with you in the future. You did an excellent job in every aspect and my children loved every bit of the experience. We had some concerns and reservations because of the little children and weren’t sure if they would fit in and love the experience. We really enjoyed working alongside other volunteer families we met. My family will cherish all memories of the people we met and the experiences we had. It was one of the best decisions I ever made for my family. Kenya was amazing, the culture, landscapes, and great hikes all in one trip, and, on top of that, we made several wonderful friends! The local team is doing some amazing work in Nairobi. Thank you so much Paul, for organizing this family trip. You were very responsive to our many questions and gave us useful information.

We had an amazing family experience as volunteers with Go Volunteer Africa in Kenya. We loved the whole experience and we miss the time with the local kids. My wife and I decided to travel with Go Volunteer Africa after reading so many positive reviews from past volunteers. Of course we had a few reservations since this was our first time to travel abroad with our little children 5 & 9. We wanted to visit and explore Kenya but did not want to go as just tourists. While visiting, we wanted to experience the culture and give back if we could. Go Volunteer Africa’s Paul organized everything we were looking for as a family. Cultural immersion, a chance to meet new people and make friends, a great place to stay, and affordable safari deals. This trip was worth every penny! Herbert (the head of in-country staff) is such a wonderful guy and we promised him to leave a positive review because of the fabulous work he does. He was helpful, always a pleasure to be around and he has an amazing touch towards children. Maddie and I cannot thank you enough for such an incredible time. Choosing to travel with you was and still is the best decision that we made last summer and we shall do it again next summer. We highly recommend this organization for family volunteer experiences due to our personal positive experiences with them! They are local, so they know where they need the help. Our kids learned a lot about themselves and the world outside.

Kenya in general is an amazing country and my experience at orphanage and with Go Volunteer Africa was incredible. Paul my program agent is very professional and organized the trip just right from the moment I signed up. I spent six weeks in Kenya working at the orphanage centre and enjoyed every moment of it!! I also accompanied a volunteer heading to Eldoret program site and I spent 5 days there. The activities were hands on, the wildlife during our safari was mind-boggling, the scenery was awe-inspiring and the staff were utterly fantastic. The whole experience was brilliant for me. Simply living with the basics, cooking lunch and dinner for the children, organizing sports activities and enjoying a truly communal atmosphere was totally unique and wonderful. I learnt so much from the endless knowledge of the staff members, and learnt even more about myself from simply going out there on my own and seeing how I coped. My favorite bit of my stay was vegetable gardens I set up with the children and my family also funded the knitting class. I highly recommend the program in Kenya, the local team is just awesome. Thank you Go Volunteer Africa for giving me an opportunity to make a difference!

I was nervous before I came to Kenya. I am now excited to say that I experienced something life-changing in Kenya. I joined Go Volunteer Africa’s Mombasa Program and I loved every bit of my trip. Working in the kindergarten and hospital allowed me glimpses into the education and medical systems and gave me an opportunity to learn. I learned that sometimes to be most helpful, I had to be brave and ask where I’d be most useful. Sometimes doing the little things meant the most to those around me - like calming a crying child to allow the nurses to be able to finish pressing work, or having the patience with a child to sit and help them finish their food for the first time. I was in the public hospital emergency room, where I was also able to see a C-section as well as a live birth. This experience was crucial to my decision to continue studying medicine. I am 20 years old and have just started the pre-med track. In Kenya, I found incredible kindness everywhere I went. An incredible experience, and one that I will never forget. Thank you Paul and Herbert at Go Volunteer Africa for organizing my trip to Kenya.

Ever since I was really little, it has always been my dream to travel to Kenya because of its wildlife, and with Go Volunteer Africa I was given the perfect opportunity. In July 2022, I spent three weeks at the conservation program in Mombasa in Kenya. I had the most incredible time of my life. The volunteer placement is located in a beautiful, very safe area of the island and was walking distance from beaches which all us volunteers loved. Mombasa itself it is a lovely place. The locals are extremely friendly and after a day you feel like you've known the coordinators and other volunteers for your whole life. Participating in the wildlife conservation was a unique experience, especially releasing them back into the wild on my last day there. My only regret is that I didn't stay longer. Paul my Program Supervisor at GVA did an amazing job organizing the trip and getting me in contact with the local team before I left. They answered all questions quickly and provided modules to prepare for the trip and make it easier. I was nervous since it was my first trip alone, but I loved it and plan to return next summer. The accommodation is lovely and so is the food. The beach is just a five-minute walk away, and there's a medical centre right next to the accommodation in case of an emergency. Overall, GVA is an incredible and affordable option for people like me who love adventure and traveling with a purpose. Its indeed the best volunteer program in Kenya and Africa. Everything was well-organized and I felt supported throughout. I felt that it was all worth the money and was by far the cheapest volunteer program out there! I would strongly advise anybody to travel with Go Volunteer Africa, especially on the Kenya wildlife project, its awesome!

My husband and I decided to do a humanitarian trip in Kenya, so we submitted an application to Go Volunteer Africa. We were then contacted by Paul, who told us that we would need to submit a payment of $360 as a placement booking fee to reserve our spot, and then we would be able to pay the remaining $920 in cash upon arrival to our project. We paid the booking fee and withdrew $920 in cash to pay the rest when we arrived, and Paul sent us our information packet which had all the information we would need for our trip, along with the contact information for the program director in Nairobi, Josephat. Then we booked our flight, got our vaccinations and had everything ready to go. A few weeks before our departure, Paul changed his mind and said we would have to send him the program fee electronically before we left. We explained to him that this would not be possible because we had already withdrawn the cash to pay on arrival. We even offered to pay half electronically and the other half on arrival. Apparently Paul didn't like this idea so he completely ignored us. Three weeks before our departure, we still had not received responses to any of our messages to Paul, so we looked through the packet he had sent us and found the program director's contact info, so we reached out to him and explained the situation. He said it would be fine if we just paid in person on arrival. Three weeks later we left on our trip. (We still had not received any message whatsoever from Paul). We turned out to have a very poor experience with the organization of GVA, so once we concluded our trip, my husband left a completely honest and truthful review to warn other travelers about the program. Immediately we received several threatening emails from Paul, calling us liars and stating that he would use our personal information from our application against us. He said that he had our home address and emergency contacts' information and planned to use them to retaliate. If the President or Person in charge of Go Volunteer Africa is reading this, please reach out to either me or my husband so we can send you copies of our correspondence with Paul. I am positive he is not the kind of person you want representing your organization. As for everyone else who is thinking about a humanitarian trip to Africa, do it! Just stay as far away from GVA as you can. Dealing with them is about as stressful as it gets.

My wife and I loved Kenya and loved working with the kids. We would 100% recommend that anyone and everyone come and volunteer. However, you should definitely either come on your own or find a program other than “Go Volunteer Africa”. Our experience with them was absolutely awful. I think it is safe to say that we were the first ones that ever volunteered with them here in Githurai. There is no such thing as a volunteer house here. I won’t complain about the living accommodations because everything can be expected. We got used to no running water, no internet, cold baths with a bucket and everything being generally filthy, but what I found unacceptable was being completely ignored by the staff from the moment we paid the program cost and the complete laziness of the planning altogether. Josephat was the program director and the only person we had “contact” with while in Kenya. We saw him about three times during the entire three-week program. On the fourth day, he walked with us to a random school and just asked them if we could teach there. It was clear that the director of the school had never seen him before and that he had not prepared any activities for us to do at all. Our entire last week was spent in our dirty apartment bored out of our minds because the school was on break and Josephat had nothing for us to do. We had no idea the school was even going to be on break. Based on this description, you might think we told them we were coming the night before we arrived but rest assured we told them we were coming months in advance. On top of all the abismal planning, Josephat was completely unresponsive. I have never been flat out ignored so much in my life. Just getting fresh water to drink is like pulling teeth with Josephat once he has already been paid. He didn’t answer a single one of my calls the entire time we were there (I called him probably 6 or 7 times for urgent matters) and 75% of my messages went completely unanswered while the other 25% took days to receive a response. On a few occasions we even caught him hiding from us or pretending to be sick to avoid us since we were staying in the same building where he lived. Honestly he turned what could have been a phenomenal experience into a very stressful one. I should reiterate that I would still recommend coming to Kenya to do Volunteer work as it is very rewarding, but if Josephat is still the director of the program here, do yourself a favor and find a different program.

I had a really positive experience with Go Volunteer Africa. The level of support and friendship I received from GVA staff members and fellow volunteers made this an incredibly rewarding and positive experience. I researched a lot of organizations before I went to Kenya, some of which were cheaper and some better organized than Go Volunteer Africa, but I really wanted an organization that was part of the community. It was such an amazing experience and I got so much more out of it than I thought, the cultural immersion, chatting with the kids, sharing meals with local families all made me feel so much more than a tourist or even a volunteer, I really felt part of the project. I was in Kenya for 4 weeks and then traveled to Tanzania for another 2 weeks. I would recommend Go Volunteer Africa to anyone but if they do not have what you are looking for just get out there and do it you will not regret it!

We have participated in Go Volunteer Africa’s family volunteer and explore program in Mombasa, Kenya for 15 days and we really enjoyed our time with them. Tim our Coordinator answered every question and request for changes very fast and patiently. So he planned the perfect program for us and volunteer guesthouse in Mombasa was really the perfect wish for our family. Salim, our Project Manager and Guide was very professional and really knows how to care for the family with little children. Salim is very knowledgeable and friendly. We shared many life experiences and the evening beach time was so awesome. We got involved in a coast school and we spend most of the days painting and playing sports with the school children and our kids had a great time there too. In short, we had a great trip. We would therefore heartily recommend Go Volunteer Africa.

I went on a Go Volunteer Africa placement in Kenya, it was amazing! I was placed in an orphanage based outside the Nairobi capital, where I volunteered for 6 weeks. My Kenyan coordinators were very helpful and often went out of their way to assist me, and quickly responded to complaints. Living conditions were more comfortable than I expected. I would rate them really high. The support I received and the experiences I had while in Kenya were so great and will stay with me forever! It’s hard to describe accurately in words my time in Nairobi it was an awesome experience. Thanks Go Volunteer Africa team.

My volunteer experience in Kenya was an incredible experience.. Thanks to Go Volunteer Africa, I was able to meet some of the most interesting and influencing people in my life. I've always believed that travel stimulates growth, and Go Volunteer Africa gave me the greatest opportunity. My in country contacts were caring and head office in Uganda was supportive and responsive. I would definitely recommend this experience to those who are missing out.

I had an incredibly life changing and eye opening experience with Go Volunteer Africa in Kenya. I didn't know what I would find there or what the experience would even feel like. There was no way for me to prepare for such an exploration, no past event I could reflect on. All I knew was that I had to go because there is more than just the world that I am living in, and that was what I was dying to see. I have done some previous travel to different countries, but never for longer than two weeks so a month seemed scary at first. The Ugandan based office staff was extremely helpful and made me feel comfortable and supported throughout the process. The in-country support was also great. I loved cooking with my host family, learning recipes and songs in Swahili and really getting a honest look at life in Kenya. I also liked that we had time on weekends to hangout and really explore the area. I felt safe the entire time. I really enjoyed working with the kids and liked that Go Volunteer Africa is African based and had long standing relationships in country so the programs were sustainable. Overall very rewarding and I’ll take this time abroad with me in life forever.