Intern or Volunteer with a Grassroots Women's Empowerment 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 Women's Empowerment initiatives in Kenya:

* Support the emotional and economic stability of households run by children, widows and single parents. Offer vocational trainings, hold group therapy sessions and cultivate various support groups that serve to mobilize these vulnerable families.

* Work with an organizations Girls Forum Program that educates young women on their rights, HIV/AIDS, and reproductive health concerns through direct school visits and participatory educational theater.

* Support unemployed women in the Likoni District one of the poorest in Kenya by aiding the development of microenterprises, offering basic business skills workshops, and helping to cultivate lending and savings programs for potential borrowers.

* Train female students to be peer educators at their schools and within their communities to disseminate information about rights, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, and other social/health issues.

* Provide counseling, nursing, and/or activities (such as craft and art-making) at a hospice for elderly and infirmed nuns whove dedicated their lives to serving the local community and have few resources or family to support themselves.

For more opportunities in women's empowerment in Kenya, visit our website or contact us directly.

About FSD
The Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD) is an 11 year-old non-profit organization that provides hands-on, service-learning internships and volunteer opportunities for those looking to gain development experience and make a genuine impact on an international community. Our programs are located in eight countries throughout Latin America, East Africa, and India.

Students and professionals spend their time working with one of 160 different non-governmental organizations (NGOs) partnered with FSD, experientially learning and applying sustainable development solutions. Project work is collaboritively designed and implemented by the participant, the FSD Site Team, and the organization. In the end, participants acquire development skills and training, while immersing themselves in foreign language and culture. Interns and volunteers also have the experience of a lifetime, making long-standing relationships with their host families, host organizations, and the communities they serve.

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
Women in Kenya face discrimination, wage inequality, unequal representation in government, and lack of access to education, training, and other social services. Women are subject to a myriad of rights violations including sexual and physical abuse and the exclusion from owning or inheriting property. Social norms, unresponsive authorities, and social stigmas that brutally brand women for asserting property rights negatively affects the productivity of the land being disputed, thus inhibiting development efforts and enslaving women under an oppressive custom. Throughout the last decade, women have experienced an increase in maternal mortality; only forty-two percent of women have access to a skilled caregiver while giving birth. In addition, although free primary education has increased the number of girls attending school, there are many who are often absent due to household responsibilities or to a lack of access to reproductive healthcare during menstruation.

Despite the predominantly patriarchal society, it is clear that women are the lifeblood of the household securing food, water, fuel wood, rearing children and giving birth in dire circumstances. Women play the roles of mother, head of the household and caregiver within the extended family and the community. FSD works with several partner organizations that support women, widows and womens groups in the community. Womens empowerment is important in Kenya, and internationally, as a way to prevent diseases such as AIDS, in order to contribute to the economic development of the country, and for the general social health of any society.

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