kenya

Kenya remains firmly in the bottom percentage of the Human Development Index rankings with nearly 60 percent of its population surviving on less than $2 per day. While the economic performance has improved, to date it has been largely ineffectual in stimulating progress towards citizens at the bottom level of the economy, in terms of standard of living. Indeed crucial poverty indicators such as child and infant mortality are moving in the wrong direction. Also corruption is rampant in the country, although the incidence of corruption is falling; it has long been considered a key reason for Kenya’s poor economic growth.

There are approximately a little over 35 million people living in Kenya today. The poor have lower schooling for their children who are more likely to be malnourished and less likely to be immunized and face higher chances of dying in infancy and childhood. They have much lower enrollment in high school. Girls are as likely to enroll in primary school as boys but drop out or are pulled out more often. Girls from poor rural households rarely attend secondary school.

The causes of rural poverty include: low agricultural productivity, unemployment and low wages difficulty in accessing financing for self-employment, poor governance, bad roads, high costs of health and education and HIV/AIDS. Kenya’s rural people include small farmers, herders, farm laborers, unskilled and semi skilled workers, households headed by women, people with disabilities and AIDS orphans. Women are particularly vulnerable because they do not have equal access to social and economic assets. For about 70 per cent of women, subsistence farming is the primary and often the only source of livelihood.

The police force is widely viewed as the most corrupt entity in the country; their actions include use of extreme police force against criminal suspects and crowds. The right to peaceful assembly has been violated on numerous occasions. There is evidence that the police give into extorting bribes and are accomplices in criminal activity. Most police who carry out these abuses still do so with impunity. The condition of prisons remain demeaning and life threatening. Apart from police and penal system abuses and despite recent pressure on judicial personnel, violations of rights in the course of legal proceedings are widespread.

Freedom of speech, especially of the press continues to be subjected to unethical harassment and what the journalists and activist can write or do are limited and restrained. The abuse of children, especially in forced labor and prostitution, is a serious problem. Female genital mutilation (FGM) remains widespread, despite 2001 legislation against it for girls under 16.

Kenya made some progress in 2003, when it set up the Kenya National Human Rights Commission, with a mandate to ensure Kenya’s compliance with international human rights standards. Also, parliament passed the Children’s Act to ensure the protection of minors, as well as the Disability Act, outlawing discrimination against the disabled.

According to the World Health Organization Kenya has a “severe, generalized HIV epidemic”. Like many of its neighbors, the country has suffered a massive human and economic loss from HIV/AIDS, reducing life expectancy to 48 years from 59 years. Despite recent indications that the disease may be declining, it remains a fact that in Kenya, two people die of AIDS every five minutes, producing a new orphan every 50 seconds.

HIV/AIDS is most prevalent among young and middle-aged Kenyans, which unfortunately diminishes the most productive segment of the population. Almost half of the people in Kenya are under 15 years of age. HIV/AIDS leaves orphans and woman-headed households even more vulnerable to poverty. An estimated 700 Kenyans die daily of HIV/AIDS-related causes. The burden of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and water-borne diseases weighs heavily on both the country and Kenyan families, affecting income, food security and development potential.

The abuse of women and girls, including early marriage and wife inheritance, is a factor in the spread of HIV/AIDS). Aassociated with HIV/AIDS is the rate of tuberculosis (TB) which has increased in recent years; in 2004 there were a reported number of 106,000 cases. Current estimates suggest that 60 percent of TB patients are also infected with HIV/AIDS. For an already faltering health system with the combined impact of HIV/AIDS, TB has been devastating. Over 50 percent of the country’s hospital beds are occupied by patients with HIV/AIDS related infections.

By far the most severe environmental threat to Kenya is caused by increasingly unpredictable rainfall patterns. Kenya recently suffered the worst drought since its independence. There were estimates that 3.5 million people required immediate food assistance. One of the most severely affected areas was northeastern Kenya where chronic drought led to high levels of malnutrition and increasing civil conflict as the area’s residence competed for scarce water resources.

A shortlist of other environmental problems include hyacinth (a plant) infestation of Lake Victoria, degradation of national parks due to poorly regulated tourism and water pollution from industrial waste. On a positive note, Kenya has recently (2005) phased out the use of leaded gasoline in accordance with its obligations under the 2002 Dakar Declaration. Deforestation and soil erosion attribute to the environmental problems. Drought and desertification (process to which an area becomes a desert, to which 83% of Kenya's land area is vulnerable) also threaten potential productive agricultural lands.

Kenya had lost 70% of its original mangrove areas in the early 1980’s.Water pollution from urban and industrial wastes pose another environmental problem. In addition to pollutants from industry, the nation's cities produce about 1.1 million tons of solid wastes. Game hunting and trade in ivory and skins have been banned, but poaching threatens leopards, cheetahs, lions, elephants, rhinoceroses, and other species. It is illegal to kill an animal even if it attacks. Around 43 species of mammals and 24 bird species are endangered and about 130 plant species were threatened with extinction.

A recent survey (UNESCO/UNDP) estimated that about 78% of children complete primary school. Only about half of these students (46%) go on for further education in secondary school while many opting to not even consider college due to financial restraints, they can’t afford a tertiary education. Over all 70% of adults in Cameroon are literate. Women, though still remain among the most uneducated and, many children in outlying villages still have no access to public schooling.

Education in Kenya has been based on an 8-4-4 system since the late 1980s, with eight years of primary education followed by four years of secondary school and four years of college or university. An increase has been seen in attendance in primary schools, with many eager children attending. However, many children in rural areas still have no access to public schooling and in that case a universe of ideas diminishes with them not getting educated. Secondary education had little over half of the eligible children enrolled, and the number decreases even more at the university level.

The population of the disabled in Kenya accounts for 10% of the total population and about 25% are of school going age. Out of the total 750,000 only 14,614 are enrolled in educational programmes for children with disabilities while an equivalent number are integrated in regular schools. This indicates that over 90% of disabled children are either at home or in a regular school with little or no assistance at all.

Africaid - Our mission is to provide the much needed financial services and holistic training to the business communities with a main focus on the member women entrepreneurs to save and access credit to expand their enterprises in order to alleviate poverty. We also address HIV/AIDS through strengthening of local communities' identified and established strategies.

AGAP - Awareness Group on AIDS Prevention - The primary purpose of the organization is to sensitize the public, especially the rural youth about the HIV/AIDS virus and to make them critically but positively aware of the apocalyptic potential it presents in the immediate future. We also take care and support of those already infected or affected by the scourge.

Amakuti Place Volunteers - Our mission is to provide support to local organizations involved in community projects through placement of volunteers that have relevant experience.
Our local partners include Churches, NGO’s, schools, Orphanages, colleges, HIV Centres and other health organizations.

BOHAPO COMMUNITY BASED ORGANISATION.WESTERN KENYA - Helping orphans, street children and people either affected or infected with HIV/AIDS with clothing, food, medication etc. HIV/AIDS malaria awareness in the rural by going to schools, market places and community meetings and talk with both children and adults.

CANA Family Life - CANA Family Life provides vital medical services and counseling to hundreds of residents of the poverty-stricken Mukuru slum. Though originally conceived as a small HIV clinic, they have since developed a full medical centre equipped with a rudimentary laboratory, pharmacy and maternity ward.

Community Support Group - CSG has worked on a variety of different projects to meet its stated goals. Some of these include: HIV/AIDS awareness clinics and outreach; Mosquito net distribution; Neighborhood cleanups; Sustainable mushroom cultivation; Informal sector worker organizing; Job and computer training; Development of the CSG Library; and Operation Tusaidiane, an ongoing indigenous community theater project.

East African Center for Empowerment of Women and Children - Mombasa - East African Center for Empowerment of Women and Children is a non-profit organization committed to assisting communities to achieve empowerment through adult and child literacy progrms, health education and poverty eradication programs

Freedom from Addiction Organization - To help people with drug addiction and alcohol problem to access treatment and enhance a sober mind and a sane society. Also to empower the society by way of educating them on the effects of alcohol and other drugs through anti-drug and HIV/aids campaigns, trainings and counseling

Habitat for Humanity Kenya - Habitat for Humanity Kenya's Mission focus is
1) To demonstrate the love and teachings of Jesus Christ
2) To provide a way for sharing between the affluent and those in need.
3) To work in partnership with representative local leadership
4) to select families in greatest need first, without favoritism or discrimination.
5) To construct simple, decent and affordable houses together.
6) to sell houses at no profit, no interest and use payments to build more houses.

Interactive Voluntary Development Network (I.V.D.N) - To provide and offer opportunities for both locals and international volunteers to interact in both development and educational programmes thus enabling them to gain experience and build their capacities for their lives and that of future generations.

African Wildlife Conservation Volunteer Placements in Kenya - Sample projects include data collection, tracking and recording of elephants, monkeys and other wildlife species, and community development projects outside the park, such as building and working in schools and medical clinics.

Agriculture Volunteers - Volunteers will assist in planting, clearing, farming and harvest of Horticultural products, volunteer with knowledge of organic farming, new farming methods, extension services will be highly required, this is an on-going activity, volunteers will be using English language and working 8 hours Mon-Fri and Morning Hours on Sat. Knowledge of English is compulsory.

Chebukwa Linda Jamii - The organization has been in existence since 2000. It emerged in response to the plight of mostly rural communities suffering and dyeing of tropical and communicable diseases that can easily be controlled. The organization organizes health education and treatment camps four times a year.

WIDES (Will of Destitute in Society) Development Group, Kenya - WIDES, a non profit making community based organization that strives to improve the current and future living/education standards of poor orphans and destitute, is seeking a volunteer to assist in raising funds for the organization to enable it to achieve both its short and long term objectives. The volunteer will be entrusted with the responsibility of liaising with individual donors or other organizations which can offer material, monetary, or intellectuals’ assistance to the organization. Women volunteers, especially the widows and/or any other individual who really understand the problems affecting the poor orphaned children are highly requested to come in and assist.

International Work Camps - The duration is 3 weeks and duties include: construction work, campaign against HIV/aids, sex education, personal hygiene. All work camp participants live by local standards with basic accommodation and food is prepared by the group, based on locally available foods. The camps promote equitable decision-making, problem solving and develop a sense of group identity. Work camps are self-financing projects and the fee for international volunteers is €300 which includes airport transfers, transport from Nairobi to the work camp venue, work camp meals, project materials and volunteer's clearance fees.

MAGANGANI FARMERS BUTTERFLY PROJECT - Magagani farmers community group was founded out of the need to stop the exploitation of the Araboko Sokoke forest and thus come up with activities that would conserve the forest at the same time generate an alternative source of income for the community living around the forest.

Volunteer in Kenya - Volunteers have the opportunity to be involved in a variety of work including the provision of education and training to children from under privileged backgrounds and the education and counseling of Kenyans about HIV/AIDS.

Volunteer Teachers / Mentors- Various Rural Locations in Kenya - AVIF is an innovative online charity devoted to sustainable development. We operate online & onsite volunteering, help to bridge the technological divide and endeavor to achieve at least some of the Millennium Development Goals within rural Kenya, East Africa.

Volunteering at Human Rights Organization - The Volunteer will volunteering in Human Rights Organization where he/she will assist in training legal and civic education, involved in offering conflict management education in conflict areas, this is an on-going activity, volunteers will be using English language and working 8 hours Mon-Fri.

WEPOGAWEPOGA - is always looking for qualified volunteers to assist with both the educative and administrative functions of the organization. There is considerable scope for personalizing each volunteer’s project; we want to match your project to your strengths, whether that lies in fieldwork, research, administration, fundraising or marketing.