An Eye-Opening Experience – by Floor from Belgium

Hi everyone!
My name is Floor, I’m from Belgium and I’m 18 years old. In February, I decided to come to Kenya for volunteering with BetterMe. I got to know about BetterMe from a friend who visited here last year. She told me everything about it and I was immediately sold because of how personal the organisation is.

You’re a small group of volunteers living in a ‘dome house’ together located at the Korando school. The house is for eight people and it has four rooms and two bathrooms so that means you share the space all the time. 

 At first I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to have me-time, but it’s actually so easy here to have moments for yourself. The weekly schedule isn’t completely full, so you have enough time to do the things you like with or without the other volunteers.

The fact that you live on the school means you’re surrounded by children all the time. The children are really open and interested in meeting new people, so it’s quite easy to connect with them. Most of them are so grateful for the time you spent with them, especially the older ones. They tell you their stories which is so eye-opening for a person like me, who has never been out of Europe. It can also be very confronting sometimes.

I also feel this way when driving around town and seeing a lot of people living in such bad conditions. It somehow made me feel very guilty, but after a good talk with the volunteers I realised that I can’t do anything about that.

You might come here with the thought you are going to change everything. But the thing is; you can’t. You, yourself, are not going to solve all the poverty and problems of Kenya.

It took me some days to accept that and learn that my help isn’t going to change the situation but it definitely makes a difference. And that already is so so amazing!

Kenya itself is such a beautiful country. The mountains, the green nature, the weather, but also the people and their culture. One thing is that a lot of the people aren’t used to seeing white people. It can be uncomfortable and they treat you differently sometimes, but no one will ever be mean to you because of that.

BetterMe hasn’t disappointed me in any way since I’ve been here. From the moment I started my booking until now, they have always been excited and ready to help. Everything is clear in their communication and the vibe between the team of BetterMe and the volunteers is so nice.

The activities we do here are a great help to the community. It goes from teaching art to swimming or life skills. You go to a variety of different places and meet many different people. I won’t tell you too much, so that there’s still something to explore 😉

Packing your suitcase can be really hard, so I’ll give you some tips.

1. Don’t bring too many clothes. You won’t need them, because there are two laundry days a week when someone cleans them for you.
2. Take sunscreen and medication from home, because it’s quite expensive here since it’s only for the tourists most of the time.
3. Bring a small bag that you can close with a zipper to avoid pick pocketing/ theft.
4. Take some earplugs with you, you never know if your roommate snores ;).
5. Rainjacket!! Even on the days you don’t expect it, there can be a downpour (learned that one first hand…!)

And don’t forget to take a look at you’re attic for some old clothes or art supplies to donate :))

Thanks for reading, feel free to ask questions and enjoy your stay at the Korando school!!!!

Floor