Volunteer and Mentorship Programme
ILHAM has been involved in guiding and mentoring communities and students in the hope of encouraging and nurturing a culture that values education and participates in development initiatives. Since its establishment, ILHAM members have held forums with students, teacher, parents, youth and women groups to empathise the importance of education and to advise the latter groups on good approach to groups management.
In addtion to mentoring, ILHAM has received support from visiting students who have shown keen interest to help fulfill the organisation’s objectives. Since 2007, a number of them have participated in different ways in several villages in Lamu District. In January 2007, 4 students from Oberlin College, USA visited the villages and went to Faza Secondary School, Rasini and Tchundwa Primary Schools to mentor students, teach and participate in a number of extra curricular activities. Another student from France joined in July 2007 on a similar mission. She was at Tchundwa Primary School. Building from its success, another group of 4 from Oberlin College, USA visited (one repeat from the January 2007 group) and spent 3 weeks in the villages teaching in schools, organising football tournaments, village cleanup exercises, amongst others.
Locally, volunteer support has come from those who finish form VI and have volunteered to teach in primary schools. One such attachment was with a former student who was sent to Tchundwa Primary School to teach class 8 for 3 weeks.
Provided below are brief statements from some of the students.
I got in touch with ILHAM’s chairperson, thanks to the chairperson’s daughter who I had met in New York at the UN headquarters. At that time I was willing to volunteer in a school in Africa. Together, we figured out my trip to Tchundwa, Kenya, the village she comes from. When I arrived, the kindest people one could expect, hosted me in Nairobi. Then, I spent two weeks at Tchundwa’s Primary School in Lamu District as a teacher of social studies and civics. The experience I had there is surely the most outstanding I’ve had so far! A detailed report would not be enough to express how much this experience enriched me. First and foremost I would like to mention the amazing people I met throughout my stay. The family who hosted me, the inhabitants of the village, my colleagues at school, the children, all of them welcomed me beyond any generosity! I also got to share their culture which proved to be a real eye-opener. It was really a chance to discover such a rich and different culture. I experienced a completely different lifestyle and habits that appeared extraordinarily new to me. As for the teaching experience itself it was very rewarding and fulfilling. I especially enjoyed the relationship I had with my students. Looking back, I can only say: my only wish is to go back to Tchundwa and teach again!
By Valentine Honore , France, July 2007
For years I have dreamed of traveling to an African nation where I could integrate into the culture just enough to take on a new perspective of the world and my existence. Kenya, and the extended family of ILHAM, have made my dreams a reality and represent one of the most transformative blessings in my life. As a woman of color from the United States, my experiences are uniquely different from that of many privileged Americans abroad. My four week journey made me acutely aware of my privilege as an American and simply a human being. A lack of running water and electricity were not the adjustments that challenged my perspective; it was the politics of survival that dominated the countryside and urban slums.
I am eternally grateful for the open hearts and minds of the families and community that accepted me with out question or hesitation. I had the privilege of working with the 7th and 8th graders of Tchundwa Primary School in Lamu District. Their kindness, honesty, and willingness to struggle were intrinsically motivating and remain a major factor in my desire to teach. The faculty adopted me as one of their own; there are no words that express the joy I felt when I learned that they valued me as much as I appreciate them. I learned about Islam, the political history of Kenya, Swahili and the challenges I would face upon my return. I thank every human being that was patient with me in my struggle to learn Swahili and adapt to the culture. Above all I now deeply understand the value of human connection, and refuse to take for granted the people who have expanded my heart.
THANK YOU… Lea/Lei/Lela, USA, January 2008
I can say that this experience broke down every stereotype, fallacy, and misnomer I had ever heard about "Africans" or "Muslims." First, I realized that people were Kenyans...not just Africans, and yes, there is a difference. Kenya was not filled with a bunch of wild, destitute people living in complete and total squalor. Kenya was filled with some of the most beautiful and good-hearted people I have ever had the honor of meeting and sharing time with. In America, people talk about "southern hospitality." This is supposedly the best hospitality and the nicest you could ever have hoped to be treated.
My favorite thing, I realized, about the whole trip was being there. I guess that sounds strange and maybe a little obtuse, but its the truth. Here are a few: ….getting woken up by morning prayer, questions from the Faza secondary students, walking the bridge in Faza, fresh mandazi in the morning,, eating with my hands, drinking coffee on the porch at grandma’s, playing card games by lamplight, the beds, playing soccer after school, going on long walks, my feet always being dirty, the heat, coconuts, donkeys….. Like I said, there are absolutely a million things that do not sounds extremely glamorous or exciting, but they made me feel good and welcome and are a part of me.
I was always amazed at how happy people were to see us and show us around. I can’t get over it. Although it was not always easy and sometimes I did not always feel comfortable, but I always felt welcome and the trip was the most incredible trip of my life. Looking at a small child who seems to have nothing to you and not giving them money or not being able to give them food or to be able to know that things will get better for them was really difficult. Things in Kenya were very disparate. Especially when comparing some of the lifestyles with my own back home. Realizing things like being able to go to the faucet and get a glass of clean, cold water whenever I wanted was a huge privilege really shook my world. The spectrum of life suddenly broadens and you begin to see more of the world than you thought you ever wanted to see. It made me realize why people stopped looking outside of the bubble, why they stopped caring where their foods or goods came from or how it was that they got them, why they stopped looking at the slums that boarder the outside of the town: because its difficult. Leaving that bubble presents you with a sense of obligation, guilt, shame, and humility.
I just wanted to write as things came to me and express myself as honestly as possible. I hope you all understand how much I love you and miss you. I mean that with all of my heart. You all shared your lives with me and took care of me in a place where I was very vulnerable. The trust, love, and thanks I have for you all is immense. This is not something that happens often, or ever in many people's lives. I feel so fortunate to have been able to share part of my walk with you all and to be able to come back. I feel in love in the most real sense.
Thank you, Andrew Estep, USA, January 2007 and January 2008