Kenya: Asembo Kar Geno

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES AT KAR GENO
Education – Kar Geno works closely with three primary schools (Mabinju, Memba and Ndwara primary school) and one secondary school (Memba secondary school). There are shortages of teachers, therefore, there is a need for volunteers to help with the teaching in these schools to supplement the teaching staff. The volunteers could teach English, Mathematics, Science, Social studies, Physical Education to every age student. Because of lack of teachers, the education quality is compromised therefore children need extra help with homework. Most parents are illiterate therefore they can’t help the children with their homework. Volunteers help children at home in their homesteads with homework or at the Kar Geno Center.Volunteers can assist in farming projects, and share with the farmers’ good agricultural practices that can improve their yields. (Bio Intensive Farming Curriculum Available through the Sustainable Village Library).

Health – Kar Geno works with the Ong’elo Health Center. Work along side their small medical staff, HIV counselor, social worker, public health officer, and pharmacist,  The population in the catchment is over 15,000-26,000.   Health sector volunteers can also work with them on HIV and other public health disease preventative campaigns through workshops, home visits and conducting health talks. If the volunteers are qualified health practitioners they can assist in the curative programs at the clinic and outreach.

Empowerment initiatives  – Due to their cultural orientation, the girl child has been looked down upon which naturally creates low-self-esteem. Many girls drop out of school due to pregnancy and having children that they cannot care for adequately. This is not only the problem of the girl, but it has become a challenge to the community. This challenge should be tackled at the parental stage with boys and girls however volunteers can hold talks with parents and youth on how best this challenge can be handled and ultimately alleviated.

The school calendar is divided into three terms. A term runs for approximately 3 months but your volunteer activities do not need to end since you can continue to help children with academics in their weak areas, sports, music and dance, and drama and workshops on topical/empowerment issues.

 FIRST TERM ( second week of January to the First week of April)

 SECOND TERM( First week of May to the First week of August)

 THIRD TERM( First week of September to Mid-November)

Agriculture/Water Purification:

Share expertise in improving agricultural output through organic and sustainable farming method

Building & Construction:

Assist in the building and construction of local community huts

Business training

Work with women who practice table banking, a form of micro-credit. Help the women learn simple business planning and book keeping.

Work with women 

Help women develop their craft enterprises and Moringa tree projects

General: 

Partake in weaving, pottery work, and other cultural arts.

ACCOMMODATIONS AT KAR GENO

Housing

There is one guest hut, which has two beds and bunks. The hut can be shared two persons or 4. Bed sheets, blankets, and towels are provided.

Bathing

They have improvised private showers next to the guest hut. The water is cold in the morning. When you have your shower during the day the tanks will have warmed up so the water is slightly warm.

Bathroom facilities:

We have pit latrines. That are clean! The latrines are only for the volunteers. The community members have their latrines within their homesteads.

Meals 

The typical meal comprises of a maize/corn ingredient commonly known in Swahili as “ugali” which is white corn cooked into a dough consistency. Ugali acts as rice or potatoes and is eaten with stewed meat, fish or vegetables. They also have rice and potatoes but ugali is common.

There is always an option of vegetarian and nondairy options. Under the women empowerment program, there have been 14 women trained in catering and they prepare the food for the guests or together with guests.

Drinking Water

The village has a water supply from the township. This water is fine for cooking and washing for the volunteers, but for drinking, we recommend that the volunteers buy the bottled water or bring a camping water purifier.

Electricity

The volunteer huts do not have electricity but the solar power can be used to charge batteries. Florence, the program director has electricity in case of solar power overload, the batteries can be charged in her home.

Internet Access

The Internet can be accessed in the village by use of a mobile modem.

Phones

You can rent a phone from our country coordinator as you arrive in Kenya however they do have a strong mobile phone network in the country and local Sim cards are easily obtained for visitors to call at the local rates and for the internet.

        Laundry

We don’t have washing machines, however, the women group provide laundry services.  Laundry is done for volunteers at minimal cost. All volunteers are asked to launder their own undergarments.

Safety

Kar Geno has a strong community where ownership is vested within the community, therefore the whole community safe guards the welfare of all volunteers. There are four appointed security personnel for surveillance during the entire stay of the guests and their personal effects. There is a police station 300 meters away and they patrol the village often.

In case of illness

Kar Geno has a  nurse and if there is a need for a referral, they will call the ambulance or can call a taxi for St. Monika Mission Hospital. Another hospital is St. Elizabeth Mission Hospital Lwak ) two Kilometers away. They have trained nurses and clinicians in Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and First Aid.

INTERVIEW WITH FLORENCE ACHIENG DIRECTOR OF KARGENO

About Florence 

Florence grew up in Western Kenya, in a family of 15. Her mother overcame many hardships while raising her family. While education was seen as a waste of resources for girls, her mother stood by her in the endeavor to attain an education. Florence worked for her school supplies and walked two hours every day to school. As a young woman, Florence dreamed of doing something big for women’s empowerment and making a change to the African perception of a woman’s role. This inspiration led her to form Kar Geno (Center for Hope).

About Kar Geno (Center for Hope)

Kar Geno is a growing organization which supports community development, improved opportunities and standards of living. Kar Geno provides assistance to the social sector through encouraging social solidarity, organic agriculture, technology education and environmental sustainability to turn the tides against the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS and poverty.

Currently, there are many women who, by necessity, are selling handicraft goods in the local market to support their families. Most of these women lack business education, a gap that Florence has hopes of addressing with financial literacy and entrepreneurial training.

Kar Geno is a chance to give women a voice in this community. It is an opportunity to pursue their dreams of starting a community health center, increasing their orphan and girl’s education program, developing agricultural programs, and much more.

With the support of Village Volunteers, Kar Geno has been able to expand and fund many projects and develop inspiring partnerships, with the rest of the world.Tell us about your childhood and your family?

I was the 8th born in a polygamous family of 15 children. Our father died when I was four years old and our mother was only 31 years old at that time in Western Kenya. My mother, as you can imagine, had her work cut out for her. She was a widow, with six children to raise, yet all she had was one cow and a piece of land. She did all she could, went through hard life, through the hurdles and lived through what you can truly call a peasant life. She took us through school to the point that she could.

What challenges did Florence face getting an education?

I grew up when there was a great challenge in the education sector. The schools were few and very far away, living in a rural village where girls education was regarded as a waste of resources was never easy. My memories of high school are probably were having to work on our farm, plowing and weeding so that I could sell the vegetables and use the money to buy pens, toothpaste, shoe polish and such personal effects when it was time to go back to school. Pocket money was tight and I had to walk for two hours with my bag either on my head or my shoulders since bus fare was out of the question. My mother stood with me to ensure I got a formal education.

What inspired Florence to do the work she is doing and how did you get started?

Making a great change in the African perception of a woman’s role in the community development has always attracted and soothed me. As a young girl, I dreamed of doing something big through women empowerment. I have made a number of different choices, but always remained somehow linked to women and community empowerment. This really inspired me to form Kar Geno (Center for Hope). My goal is to give hope in life.  For me, Kar Geno is a realization of a dream, and an opportunity to support a cause I hold dear; Kar Geno is a chance to give women a voice, as I believe women have a crucial role to play. Women look at the world with open eyes and hearts. They marvel at things which are no longer noticed, Women ideas are only limited by their imagination. Why Volunteer with Kar Geno?

Volunteers help the community to develop customized solutions and international exchange of ideas.

Volunteers will gain experience in a variety of fields including; social work, children and youth development, HIV/AIDS awareness and sports program development.

Being a volunteer with Asembo will be an opportunity to have a taste of real Luo/African delicacies. Staying within our community will give volunteers an ample opportunity to learn and experience the way of life and cultural practices.

What are their hopes for the future?

In the future our hopes are to develop:

• Community Health Center, to build a community Hospital that can provide outpatient and inpatient care with a fully equipped maternity clinic/ward that is to operate 24/7, this would ensure that health care is available and accessible to women and the entire community.
• Agriculture, we hope to plow back the vast idle land through a targeted corporate social responsibility CBR initiative with an objective to re-engineer women driven, market-led smallholder agricultural production and to establish agriculture based cottage industries.
• Moringa Project, To provide Moringa Powder for the very malnourished and vulnerable children to all Village Volunteers run feeding programs. We also hope to have resultant direct benefits to the community including employment creation, redistribution of incomes and sustainability investment.
• Orphan and Girl Child Education, We’re targeting to reach out more girls with sanitary pads and the scholarship program and also offer care and love to the orphaned. We also hope to build a community resource with a center with fully equipped computers to engage our girls and youths during school holidays.

How has your partnership with Village Volunteers affected your work?

Village Volunteers has created and made market available for our Moringa Project by purchasing Moringa Powder for the feeding program. This has enabled us to expand and fund other projects. We have also developed friendship and great connection with other partnering organizations which has re-energized the organization. The Volunteers also creates exciting exchange programs within the community to the rest of the world.

How does the community benefit from having volunteers?

We are a growing organization that works for community development, promotion of better opportunities, improving standards of living and provides assistance to the social sector.

Volunteers will help the community to provide customized solutions keeping in view of the community needs and to develop mutually beneficial relationships to foster education, culture, and international exchange of ideas.

Volunteers will also gain experience in variety of fields including; social work, children and youth development, HIV/AIDS awareness and sports development

This will be an opportunity to have a taste of real Luo/African delicacies. Staying within our community will give volunteers an ample opportunity to learn and experience the way of life and cultural practices.