The children we work with are more often than not heavily burdened
from a very early age. As the adult population has been devastated
by Aids many of the children have taken on the role of parent, heading
up families, trying to feed and clothe other siblings as well as
trying to attend school.
The Footsteps Rafiki Programmes are aimed at broadening the experience
of the children in the communities we work with, and bringing some fun
and play into their lives: introducing them to sports and arts and creating
the opportunity to meet new people and gain some understanding of the
world outside their village. With this in mind, we take groups of volunteers
to the Magunga Primary School and the Rae Mixed
Primary School outside Kisumu, Kenya, in August to carry out a number
of activities with the children:
• Art/crafts/Face Painting
• Decorating class rooms
• Sports Activities and a sports day
• School trips
• Buying and planting more plants/trees for the school garden
In 2006, our friends at the children's sports coaching company, futurepro,
worked with us to send two trainers to the school, as the children were
very keen to play football, rugby and other ball sports. Read the report
of our Rafiki 2006 programme, Michael's
diary and see the gallery of photos.
Between
the 1st and 10th August 2008 we will send our next
group of intrepid volunteers. All our volunteers must raise the
money to cover the costs of their trip.
In 2008, we expect volunteers to raise a minimum
of £1100 to cover the costs of travel, accommodation and activities
- a safari can cost another £300 if you'd like to do that
- please ask for details and we'll put you in touch with agents
in Nairobi who can provide all the support you need.
If you'd like to register your interest in
taking part as a volunteer in our next volunteer trip or if you
feel able to help our volunteers by making a donation towards their
costs please contact Suzanne
on 020 8942 6750. Many Thanks.
See the video of our 2006 programme (right)
or to see it in a bigger size click
here.
