Great Mercy Orphanage Home

Name: Great Mercy Orphanage Home
Start: 2025-08-08
End: 2025-08-28
Location: Kitale, Kenya

Code: 5a2a1bc7-d4e6-11ef-9ba5-fa163ef8d720 Copied

Kenya Education Environment Children Education Environment +1 Fixed dates

About the project

📝 Detailed information

🏢 About the local organisation

Great Mercy invite all individuals, couples, students 18 yrs. and above wishing to obtain a working holiday experience in this orphanage in Kitaleand outreach program in Rift-Valley and Trans-Nzoia District Kenya and in local secondary schools throughout Kenya. This programme focuses on volunteering with children from local communities who have been orphaned due to their parents dying of AIDS. The devastating effect of this epidemic has meant that children are now on their own often looking after younger siblings.

Great Mercy also work with widows, poor communities and local school building their capacities so that they are able to handle their own problems. Unfortunately, there are many needy children and impoverished families in Africa who are now reliant upon outside help, both domestic and international. This means that volunteers are fundamental to the ongoing work of this project.

The orphans are both officially and unofficially “adopted” by the programme and supported in all aspects of their lives being taught various income generating skills to help ensure their family’s survival, together with being given vital education, resources and love. By volunteering, you will help children, disadvantaged communities and marginalized groups of individuals, such as widows, abandoned, orphaned children build a better life and support themselves.

The volunteer work is hugely rewarding and the objective is to promote sustainable projects and progress.

💼 What the programme involves

MAIN WORK ACTIVITIES :

• Vocational training. You can help the youngsters by teaching them skills such computer training, Math and English ;

• Sexual Health Education: Take part in discussions and forums about western lifestyle, sexual health, AIDS awareness and other topics ;

• Mobile clinics. Attend to the sick, the elderly, orphans and other community members, or if you prefer you can undertake clerical duties relating to their care ;

• Food Security. You may provide support to impoverished families demonstrating sustainable agricultural practices and improving food production and diet ;

• Caring for orphans: in the Kitale orphanage home ;

• Relief programme: Involves reaching out to poor families with food relations and clothing ;

• Counseling Programme: You can visit people with AIDS, talk with them and offer them care and support ;

• Construction and Hand on Activities: There are all kinds of jobs to do depending on your skills ranging from carrying building materials to hands-on building work.

The Kitale Orphanage Community Programme is a shining example of a successful community upliftment programme. This programme is situated in Kitale town Rift-Valley Province Kenya and aims to help those who are infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

About this project :

This programme is run under the guidance of Mrs. Judith Mutange who has a special place in her heart for children. In addition to the various AIDS education, building and agricultural projects on offer, volunteers also get the opportunity to help change the lives of the young orphans in the Great Mercy Orphanage.

The programme focuses on orphans, abandoned and children from poor background have an orphaned child often only 1-16 years old looking after their younger siblings. You will help these children to carry the burden that the AIDS epidemic has left them with after it took their parents.

The orphans are officially “adopted” by the programme and the older children are taught various income generating skills to ensure their new family’s survival. The programme also provides the orphans with proper shelter, food and school fees so that they can go back to school.

There are a number of activities and projects that need volunteer assistance; the main one being helping staff to support and educate the many orphans that the project has formally adopted. This may include activities such as helping to build the orphans adequate shelter, helping them learn skills such as farming, carpentry and art and finally just giving the orphans the love and attention that they so desperately crave for.

You may also be asked to assist with some of the of other projects such as :

• Home based care visits ;

• Sexual health education: As they learn about African lifestyle; children in primary and secondary schools would love to learn the western lifestyle. This class is made up of project staff, foreign volunteers, pupils or students from local schools and teachers from the schools, discussing body development, sexual health and AIDS. Each of the above participants is required to give his/her views about different issues that are discussed. The same programme is also undertaken in the local communities, participating with the staff, volunteers, youths, orphans and guardians.

• Mobile clinic programme: Here knowledgeable volunteers give their services for free by attending to the sick widows, the elderly, orphans and other community members. Those without special skills can help with clerical responsibilities and learn by seeing how the nurses and staff go about attending to the sick. In this programme there is also a home based care initiative that reaches out to the HIV/AIDS orphans and widows.

• Food Security: This project involves reaching out to impoverished families to educate them on sustainable agriculture and support with food inputs. There is also the follow up exercise to ensure that families trained and supported are working hard and achieving success.

• Construction: This programme involves the protection of water springs to avail clean drinking water to the communities, providing building materials to offer adequate shelter for AIDS orphans. There is also the much-anticipated construction of a community care center. While skilled volunteers can directly participate in construction works, unskilled volunteers may participate in areas such as material packing, transportation, loading, etc.

• Community mobilization: It is important for you to understand the objectives of this programme to ensure full community participation in problems that affect them and the entry strategy to a community where we have to facilitate development activities. In this case you will accompany staff to learn how we carry our community capacity building programme.

🏠 Accommodation on site

During your stay you will be accommodated in houses that you will share with the other volunteers on the programme. The houses are comfortable but quite basic with running water and electricity etc. with good security. Water shortages may be experienced.

🍲 Food

During your stay on this project, food will be given by your host family, volunteers will be provided with three meals a day (break fast, lunch and dinner), food will be prepared by the hosts with the help of the volunteers. Most foods are locally made and fresh produced.

📍 About the location

Location: Trans-Nzoia County,
Region: Rift Valley Kenya
Town: Kitale

🎒 Leisure activities

This will provide opportunities for international volunteers to learn/ enjoy local life and exchange with local people, the region has a good number of touristic attractions and site seeing points (kitimikai, Impala Park, tour Rusinga Island, Lake Victoria for boat rides, bird watching, hippo searching, ...).

⚠️ Requirements

You'll need to meet certain requirements, including age, health, and attitude. You'll also need a passport and visa to enter the country.

1. Age: You must be at least 18 years old (if you are below 18 years you need written consent from a guardian), or the age required by your program ;

2. Language: You should be able to speak at least basic English, or the language required by your program ;

3. Passport: You'll need a valid passport to enter Kenya ;

4. Visa: You'll need a Single Entry Visa or tourist visa to volunteer in Kenya ;

5. Travel insurance: You'll need to have travel and health insurance ;

6. Background check: You may need to provide a criminal background check report ;

7. Vaccinations: You may need to get certain vaccinations before entering Kenya ;

8. Training: You may need to participate in training provided by your organization ;

9. You should also be open-minded, flexible, and patient, and willing to step outside your comfort zone ;

10. A positive attitude towards independent progress of others ;

11. A willingness to adapt to local conditions.

🤝 Meeting point

Arrival Terminal-Jomo Kanyatta International Airport.

Orientation will begin in the morning of the 7th August 2025 at ACoH offices and you will be picked up from accommodation and taken to the orientation will be conducted by ACoH staff in Nairobi and cover everything you need to know about your project placement. Introduction to Kenya and Luhya land, Luhya Kalenjin customs, language and expectations, safety, travel opportunities in Kenya, introduction to your project and placement. The orientation will also give you a chance to meet other volunteers.

ℹ️ Additional information

Additional requirements :

1. Some programs may have additional requirements, such as a registration fee or program fee ;

2. Medical volunteers may need to provide college enrollment documents ;

3. Volunteers working with children may need to provide a criminal background check report.

Participation fee :

400 Euros per person (3 weeks). The project fee or extra fee includes airport pick up, airport transfer, food, accommodation and host, transport from Nairobi to the project and back to Nairobi after the project, city tour, orientation (2 days), host in Nairobi on the arrival and end of the project and 24 hours Agape Centre Of Hope Office Support and project monitoring.

This Project runs all round the year and is open for applications at all times.

Interested in this project? Create your account and apply online.