Are you a natural with children?

Working with primary schools located in Mikindani, 7km west of the coastal city of Mombasa or at the south of Mombasa Island, you'll share your English language skills as you soak up the sunny Kenyan culture.

Mombasa is one of the poorer areas of the country, so local youngsters struggle against the problems of child labour, alcoholism and abuse, and schools here are in desperate need of teachers. As a volunteer teacher, you'll play a vital role in enriching their education and helping them to build brighter futures. Large class sizes and limited resources ensure this will be a challenging yet highly rewarding experience!

What does this teaching project do?

i-to-i works with a number of schools located in Mikindani, 7km west of Mombasa, and at the south of Mombasa Island. Mikindani is a very poor suburb, which means the youths and orphans in the area struggle against the problems of child labour, alcoholism and abuse. The schools were founded in the 1990s, usually with sponsorship from the local church, NGOs and other well wishers. They have been set up as places where orphans and street children in the local area can be provided with an education. The schools are severely under-resourced and often have large class sizes due to staff shortages. As the schools cannot afford to pay its teachers a good salary, it is hard for them to recruit staff and often the staff they do have are forced to take on other work, so cannot be at the school regularly.

Why does this project need volunteers?

Education is seen as a privilege in Kenya and until recently was reserved for those who could afford to pay school fees. In recent years, primary education became free and (in theory) universally accessible. With very little funds though, the schools simply cannot afford to hire new teachers or purchase resources. The support of volunteers is critical in order to continue providing the most basic of education to children.

Your role as a volunteer

When teaching in Kenya, your primary role will be to help teach English to the children. Extra curricular activities are encouraged and extremely popular at the school; in particular sports and activities to raise awareness of environmental issues in relation to the communities.

The skills you need

As a volunteer, you will need to show patience and initiative to cope with the sheer volume of children in your classes. You will work closely with local teachers, but for those with more experience and confidence, there will be opportunities for taking classes independently. Your resources will be limited so you will need to show imagination and creativity to get the most out of your time.

Remember the children may come from difficult backgrounds and you will need to show patience and understanding and be able to act as role model. Skills in any extra curricular activities will be welcomed at this project, with particular emphasis on sports coaching and environmental awareness.

Accommodation included

You'll be staying in a local homestay which comes with water and electricity, although both may be cut off from time to time.

Accommodation Upgrade

If you're looking for a single room with a little more luxury, you can upgrade for £275.00 per week. Castle Hotel provides rooms with electric door locks, electric safes, refrigerators, air conditioning, satellite TVs and ensuite bathrooms. In addition, the hotel has internet access, a coffee bar, long bar and restaurant. The hotel is only ten minutes from the Old Mombasa Town, so there are plenty of nearby shops, cafes, restaurants, etc.

Project resources and advice

You may need to bring or purchase sports equipment, crafts or stationery, but this can be bought in Mombasa so you might want to budget for this. We also advise you to budget for stationery supplies that you may wish to purchase in Mombasa.

Local facilities

The schools are either based in Mikindani, just 7km west of Mombasa along the Nairobi-Mombasa road, or at the south of Mombasa Island. Mombasa is the second largest city in Kenya and is also the largest coastal port in East Africa. Mombasa has good transport connections and is well linked to the rest of the country. Facilities are good, with several banks, including Barclays, internet cafes, tour operators and the main amenities you would expect from a city.

Food included

You'll be provided with breakfast and dinner each day, which will be made from delicious local produce such as meat with rice, ugali, chapattis and macaroni.

Airport pick-up included

If you time your arrival to one of the designated arrival dates then airport pick-up is completely free. Please book your flight to arrive into Mombasa (airport code MBA). Should you require a different pick-up time, a charge will be required to cover fuel and staff time to come and get you. Any additional nights needed at the orientation accommodation, for example if you arrive a day or two early, should then be made in-country directly to the accommodation (roughly 2500KSh per night) or for the accommodation upgrade (roughly 60$USD per night).

Things that you will need to organize yourself

What exactly do i-to-i provide?

It may seem like a strange concept to pay for your volunteer experience. You'd be right if you think you shouldn't and the truth is you actually don't! Your placement is free; it's the benefits around it that you pay for. It's important to note that i-to-i is a travel company and not a charity. We provide a professional travel service. We are responsible for finding and assessing worthwhile projects across the world, preparing you for the volunteering experience and supporting you whilst you're there.

Here’s some more information about what your placement fee covers….

Project sourcing and assessment

We work with hundreds of locally run partner projects around the world and are constantly sourcing new opportunities. We visit all projects to check that they are worthwhile and legitimate and we also conduct a thorough safety assessment before we'll send volunteers there. More

Expert help-desk

Almost everyone who works for i-to-i has traveled extensively or worked overseas. This means we're a goldmine of information; we're always available to offer support and guidance before, during and after your trip.

Thorough project briefing materials

Once you book on to a project you'll receive a Welcome Pack that contains loads of general information about volunteering, about your chosen country and project, and a DVD about how to have fun and stay safe. We'll also give you advice on visas and inoculations.

TEFL training

If you are volunteering on a Teaching or Community Development project then a 40-hour Online TEFL course is included in your placement fee. This is an internationally recognised and accredited certificate that will help you to make the most of your time overseas. More

Airport pickup

It can be pretty daunting arriving in a different country for the first time… especially after a long flight! If you arrive on your project start date, there'll be a welcoming face at the airport to pick you up and take you to your accommodation.

Arrival orientation

Soon after you arrive you will attend a thorough orientation with our in-country team. This is to cover important safety and security information. You'll also get some tips about sight-seeing options for your time off and maybe even learn some of the local lingo!

Accommodation and meals

Accommodation is included with all projects and meals are even included with some. We only use locally-owned and operated accommodation so that part of your placement fee is filtering back into the local economy. Most projects offer homestay, guesthouse or shared volunteer houses as standard accommodation, but some offer the chance to upgrade to a more comfortable living standard. More

Local in-country coordinators

Your in-country coordinator (ICC) will pick you up from the airport and conduct your orientation upon arrival. All ICC's are English speaking and are locals of your destination country. They won't be at your project every day, but will be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week if you need them. More

24/7 emergency support

Aside from the local support from your in-country coordinators you'll be given access to a 24/7 emergency phone line manned by i-to-i staff in case any problem should arise while you're overseas. We also hire crisis management professionals Docleaf to be on hand in case of a situation that requires additional expert support. More

Ongoing training

The safety and security of our volunteers is paramount. For this reason we provide ongoing crisis management and emergency response training to our local teams around the world. At the end of 2006 we flew all our in-country coordinators to the UK for thorough training to help them offer the best safety to the thousands of volunteers they support each year. More

Supporting our projects

We don't fund our projects directly, but once a year they are all invited to apply for funding for special projects or resources from our registered charity arm, the i-to-i Foundation. i-to-i funds the operation of the i-to-i Foundation and is the largest single donor. Along with the generous support of our volunteers, we have distributed over US$200,000 in funding in the last two years alone! More  

Recruiting people like you

We make no secrets of the fact that part of your placement fee is reinvested in to recruiting volunteers just like you! The volunteers recruited in one week will typically deliver over 2000 man-days of service. The difference this makes to projects overseas is immeasurable. Many of our overseas projects rely on assistance from international volunteers, so it's necessary for us to put together brochures and websites to find the people who can support them. This recruitment process is vital to ensure programs have a constant stream of reliable volunteers.

The intangible benefits

Volunteering through a company like i-to-i has a lot of intangible benefits to developing overseas communities and the individual projects that we work with. To find out more about our placements. click here

What we will do after you've booked:

• Once booked on you will instantly receive a welcome email confirming your booking with access to your online account
• We will send a Welcome Pack in the post containing further information and a t-shirt, the information in this pack should answer most things you need to know
• Community Development and Teaching customers will receive an email introducing them to their Online TEFL course
• Community Development and Teaching customers will be requested to complete a police check (where relevant) or send through a reference
• We will contact you if we require anything else e.g. CV/resume for some projects, doctors note for medical conditions etc.
• We will hound you to complete your forms and pay your final balance when they are due
• We are available for any questions you may have on 800 352 1794 or operations@i-to-i.com
• We will prepare for your trip and send you an email with final project and accommodation confirmation 21 days before you go

What you need to do after booking your place with us:

• Book your flights
• Arrange suitable travel insurance
• Fill out some extra details through our online interface:
  • application from
  • travel details
  • insurance details
  • medical information
  • emergency contacts
• Complete your police check or request your reference (where relevant)
• Do your Online TEFL Course (where relevant)
• Make final payment at least 60 days before you go
• Make sure you have a visa for your trip if its needed
• Visit a nurse or travel clinic for advice on inoculations and malaria prevention
• Read all details and prepare as much as you can for your trip
• Take contact details of the in country team and where you're going in your hand luggage - just in case!
• Get on the plane!

Orientation Information

You will arrive on the Arrival Date - Saturday and will be met at the airport on that day (whether it is 12 in the morning or 11:59 at night). You will be taken to the Manson Hotel (see contact details below) where you will have the first day/night to recover from your flight. The hotel has a bar that also serves food and an internet terminal so that you can write home if you need to. It is located within walking distance of the main shops if you wish to have a wander - just ask at reception for directions.

Note: If you're arriving early we can arrange a meet and greet for you. If you require this please contact us to arrange this service. If you wish to make your own way please arrange to be at the address below on the arrival date:

If you have opted for the accommodation upgrade then you should make your way to the following address:

Your orientation will take place the next morning at the Manson Hotel and will introduce you to life in Mombasa as well as important information about staying healthy and safe. You’ll also learn a bit of Swahili along the way!

You will transfer to your permanent accommodation on the Sunday and this will be arranged for you by the team; transfers within Mombasa will take up to 1 hour and those to Kilifi will take about 1.5 hours. You will be introduced to your project on the Monday and start at the project on this day. From here on in you will spend your time with the project but the in-country team are there if you need them.

Insurance

It's important that you get adequate travel insurance for your i-to-i experience and as many of you will be working this often means standard policies won’t work. The good news is that no matter where your coming from we have already found a policy to suit you.

The best time to get your insurance is when you book your project as this means you can get a fully tailored policy exclusive to i-to-i, just ask your consultant for further details at the time of booking.

If you have already booked but still need insurance then you may still be able to take our tailored policy. If, however it was more than a few days ago then try the links below:

Australian customers - find out more here >>

All other customers - find out more here >>

Flights

As with insurance we advise you get these booked as early as possible to avoid high prices and to make sure you arrive on the right day. The i-to-i team is right up to date with the best deals no matter where you’re flying from; their insider knowledge could save you some time and money.

Early Airport Pick-up

If you are arriving before your designated arrival date, we can arrange for an extra meet and greet service for you. For an extra supplement we will be there to meet you at the airport and take you to the orientation accommodation. Accommodation payment for any extra nights will then be made in country directly to the accommodation (approx 2500 KSh per night) or for the accommodation upgrade (approx 60 USD per night).

The cost of this Early Pick-up service is US$ 32.00