Intern or Volunteer with a Grassroots Community Development Organization in Kenya

  Kenya

Kakamega,  Mombasa

Term: Academic Year, Fall, Spring, Summer, Throughout the year, Trimester, Winter 
Durations of Program: 1-2 weeks, 2-4 weeks, 5-8 weeks, 9-12 weeks, 3-6 months and 7-12 months
Typical Duration of Program: 9-12 weeks
Dates: See FSD Website

Description: Examples of how you can support Community Development in Kenya:

* Conduct outreach campaigns related to community mobilization, sensitization, and health education. Support initiatives such as the distribution of medications, mosquito nets, and referrals to people in need of treatment for serious illnesses.

* Help provide technical solutions and/or general assistance for the construction of sustainable water, garbage, and sanitation systems in marginalized neighborhoods.

* Help orphans and vulnerable children through lunch programs, vocational training, and psychosocial support.

* Support the training and field work of peer educators who are deployed into communities to organize informational events, distribute condoms, offer health education, and help their villages develop HIV prevention strategies.

* Work with an organizations health and vocational development programs in the Mtongwe neighborhood of Mombasa. Examples include training and resources for community health workers and capacity building for marginalized youth and women.

* Assist staff at a community resource center for individuals to access multi-media information on health issues - making use of the centers video hall, computer stations, and CD-Roms. Support outreach efforts to address family planning, mother to child transmission prevention, and voluntary HIV/AIDS testing and counseling. Conduct home visits to supply HIV/AIDS sufferers with food, painkillers, and transportation to local hospitals.

For more opportunities in community development in Kenya, visit our website or contact us directly.

About FSD

The Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1995 to support underserved, international communities in a collaborative and sustainable manner. Our model incorporates three overlapping programs:

1. Sustainable Development Training Programs for Interns and Volunteers
FSD provides comprehensive training and immersion programs for interns and volunteers seeking hands-on experience in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Program participants come from countless professions and more than 300 universities worldwide to collaborate with our partner organizations on community-driven projects that reflect sustainable practices.

2. Grantmaking to Projects and Initiatives Led By Our Partner Organizations
Donations and grants given to FSD are used to support projects and initiatives implemented by our partner organizations, site teams, interns, and volunteers.

3. Sustainable Development of Community-Based Organizations
Our professional field staff, consultants, and program participants provide on-site technical training and capacity building to more than 200 community-based organizations.

Highlights: Development Issues Addressed by FSD in Kenya
Following Kenya's first free election in 2002, it was expected that free press and open dissemination of information would become the norm. However, in 2005, Freedom House named Kenya as one of only two countries in the world whose media freedom ranking was shifted from 'partly free' to 'not free'. The apparent lack of severely inhibits Kenya's ability to quickly and effectively circulate desperately needed information, particularly to rural areas. Much of the country doesn't have access to electricity or other useful outlets for receipt of information beyond government propaganda and word-of-mouth.

Compounding the issue is Kenya's government failure to provide basic health and social services. Medical clinic often lack electricity, the ability to sterilize instruments, and transportation to move patients who need greater attention. Cultural taboos leave communities in the dark over issues such as maternal health and emergency preparation, limiting any spread of useful knowledge about family care that revolves around the subject of sex.

Without proper resources and communication channels, impoverished communities continue to be haunted by reversible problems. FSD's grassroots community development initiatives attempt to arm underserved groups with the information they need to make change for themselves and their families. Programs go directly toward offering the educational, legal, vocational, health, and psycho-social support that is desperately needed. These resources aim to empower communities to break cultural taboos, expand resource potential and information sharing, while ensuring that project work is sustainable for the long term.

Minimum Education: High School

Cost in US$: Depends on Program Selected; See FSD Website

Included in the fee is: a one-week orientation; family homestay will all meals provided; language lessons (not available in Latin America); development trainings and workshops; group sessions; midterm retreat (9+ weeks only); final debriefing session; on-going in-country support from FSD site team and U.S. staff; $200 mini-grant; eligibility for additional project funding up to $500, medical evacuation and limited health insurance; and pick-up from the airport.

Experience Required: no

Typical Volunteer: FSD supports participants who boldly wish to initiate the change they believe is necessary in the developing world. Interns are passionate about sharing their practical knowledge, heart-felt enthusiasm, and economic resources with communities abroad that suffer unnecessary hardship. They wish to gain hands-on, grassroots development experience because they believe change is most powerfully cultivated on a community level. The aim is to experientially learn how their work can empower the community toward applying sustainable development solutions, rather than increasing reliance on foreign aid. Participants choose FSD because the program structure enables them to design and implement their own sustainable projects in collaboration with their host organization and the FSD Site Team. They are able to test their ideas and theories in the most direct way possible, giving them the experience and knowledge they seek. The flexibility of the host organizations allows for participants at all stages and levels of experience in international development to participate, thus opening the programs to a diverse group of capable applicants.

Age Range: 18-75

This Program is open to World Wide Participants. This Program is also open to Couples and Individuals

Participants Travel to Kenya Independently

Typically Participants Work Independently Or in Groups of 3-10

Application Process Involves:

• Letters of Reference
• Phone Interview
• Resume
• Written Application

Post Services Include:

• Alumni Network

Foundation for Sustainable Development's Mission Statement: FSD supports the efforts of grassroots organizations in the developing world that are working to better their communities, environments, and the economic opportunities around them. We believe community development is only sustainable if it empowers the people to effectively use and cultivate their own resources in a conscious manner. Through our programs, we aim to raise international awareness of the economic challenges in developing countries and to support cross-cultural communities in finding more effective solutions to development issues.

Year Founded: 1995