A quick web search for ‘volunteering abroad’ results in an overwhelming number of 'pre-packaged’ options that require the volunteer to pay exorbitant amounts, which can cost thousands for a week’s stay.

You may be thinking at this point "Wait a second, I have to pay to volunteer my time? Where does the money even go?"

We also thought the same and began to dig deeper. It turns out that a lot of the time, the charity isn't even on the receiving end of those funds; furthermore, they aren't even aware that the volunteers being recruited are paying these amounts to spend time with their projects!

This led us on our search to avoid “pay for play” and find authentic charity work to volunteer our time towards. We started reaching out to our personal networks and this quickly spiraled into months of emails, Skype calls, WhatsApp conversations, and Facebook messages between a wide web of humans across the world.

Image: Jess & Iona’s Kenya Connection Web; Networking to Find Authentic Volunteer Work

Eventually, the two main projects that we landed on, and have now become the focus of this fundraising page, are as follows (shown above in red):

Red Rose School - Nairobi, Kenya

Located in the Kibera Slum, which is one of the poorest and most densely populated slums in the world, Red Rose is a primary school providing education, safety and hot meals for over 400 underprivileged children. The school runs mostly on donor contributions and struggles to meet its budgeting so they can continue funding the feeding program and provide advancements for the school - including teacher salaries to building structures. Funds raised will help guarantee these children continue to receive food (often their only meal of the day) as well as help fund the overall efforts of the education program. Visit their webpage here.

Rain Edge - Nakuru, Kenya

The founder, Sammy, was a street kid himself when many years ago, a tourist sponsored his education. He never saw this man again but he vowed to pay this act of kindness forward which eventually led way to the development of Rain Edge.

Rain Edge is an umbrella charity that encompasses Sure 24 children’s home, providing a safe home for over 150 street kids and orphans, and Rain Edge International Primary and Secondary School, which provides education for hundreds more. In order to be more self sustaining, there are two on site businesses - a bread factory and bottled water plant - whereby all proceeds go to fund running costs for the children’s needs. Visit their webpage here.

We were extremely concerned when we began this journey; where was our money actually going? It has now become our mission to tell YOU how your donations will be used.

We will split our raised funds between the two wonderful organizations that we spent our time with. We can assure you that your donations will greatly impact the children we were fortunate to have spent time with.

Why it matters?

There is an old proverb that says:

By providing funds for education, we are providing the building blocks that these children need to thrive and fulfill their dreams of becoming something great.

We know we can’t change the world, but if we can collectively change a few children’s lives, we will have started our work. We hope you enjoy this video of our journey and get excited about helping us make some change.

Want to do more?

If you are interested in getting more involved, there are additional opportunities such as:

* Pen Pal Program for your school/child

* Direct Sponsorship of a child on monthly basis (including ability to exchange letters with your sponsored child)

* Ground Work - for those looking to travel to Kenya and be hands on involved at Red Rose and/or Rain Edge

Amongst others….Please contact us for further information on how to get involved:

Jessica: jnuremberg@gmail.com | Iona: iona.demaudesley@gmail.com