All good things­ come to an end. With one eye laughing and one eye crying I had to say good bye. The most emotional moment. We all remembered the good time that we had together. I was so grateful for everything that has happened. That has sharpened my senses, changed my mind, improved my personality.…

Tom is our program coordinator at Better Me. He became a good friend of mine. He also supports volunteers with some other experiences outside of our “Korando Bubble”. So, he organised a weekend trip to Jinja, Uganda. And he joined us.

A personal ground rule is to visit a country’s capital and major cities at least once when visiting a country for the first time. Those cities might be completely different however the represent the country. In a way. While I loved to stay with my new friends in Korando, I also wanted to see more…

No time abroad without visiting a museum and learning about local history. Going to visit a museum, the only one in Kisumu, was something that definitely wanted to do. And it was a god idea by Lucy, whom I met at the Chapati Festival @Remand Home, where she also volunteered. She showed me around and…

As a sportsman, open to many kinds of sports, the most doable kind of sports seemed to be running. It took a few attempts to find a suitable track for a run. Although the track was occasionally challenging due to its surface, I enjoyed this track each time and I was happy to have this…

Since day one in Korando the children reached out to me, knowing I would stay there for a while. A lot of chats, laughter, hugs, games, just a good time for all of us. No matter if we are at our place, if we went for a run or on our way to the nearby…

Happy to share that I became a supporting teacher for German classes at a local school in Kisumu (St. John Chrisostom Kudho Secondary School). As a volunteer and native speaker it was a true honour to support German classes.

Weeks before my trip to Kenya I saw a documentary about wild animals in Africa. And now I am surrounded by them. More or less. As a nature love it was a great experience to meet those animals in their natural habitat. Just amazing.

Upon recommendation by our hosts, Better Me, we visited the Maasai region. The goal was to visit the Maasai Mara National Park, a large park shared with Tanzania, Kenya’s neighbour to the south.

Life Skills is another project or program promoted by Better Me as part of our pillows. In general, it means to give mental and spiritual support. To prepare youths to their life, train them in self-awareness, self-esteem and other things important in life.

At the time of my decision to join Better Me and to make it to Kenya, I had only a approximate idea of what could happen. To join English classes, take part in physical education or art classes. Another interesting field might be computer classes, ideal for an IT guy like me as there was…

The December 12th marks of Kenya’s independence from the United Kingdom. However, in 2023 it is the 60th anniversary to celebrate. On this occasion there was a Chapati festival for children at the Remand Home.

“Remand Home” is a term that I have learned in Kenya. Back home I have quickly learned to explain this term first before talking about it. Here we go. The Remand Home of the city of Kisumu serves as a correctional institution or temporary home that also offers prevention support to children and youths.

The first free weekend I wanted to get to the equator. Yes, it’s virtually but very close by as noted during the flight to Nairobi (for Kisumu). In fact, the equator line is around 20-25 km away from my place, depending on the route.

Mobile library is a kind of public reading for children during the time of the school break (December and begin of January). It has been founded and established by Irene, a local business woman, taking care of those children living in that (Nyalenda) slum.

Christmas is a special time, also in Korando. But things are different here in Korando. That means, for Korando it needs a sponsor to have a nice dinner and a little party for Christmas. Luckily, we did have a sponsor. I can only speak for our community, but here Christmas was as it is supposed…

During the time of the school break we have helped some of the younger children to catch up with the rest of the class by running English class.

This article is about activities and spending time in Korando withe children. Each day was an enjoyment for all of us. The span of possible activities is huge, there was no boredom at all.

In the beginning I had to learn a lot. About Better Me, the NGO, about its huge (local) network and all the partnerships. Thus about all the opportunities and projects to be part of and to contribute.

Before reading further about this experience it might be useful to learn some facts about Kenya and some places I used to be.

As part of my sabbatical I have spent nearly 3 months in Kenya, from December 2023 to February 2024. It was an incredible experience, a deep dive into another culture, community and country. Join me on a virtual journey through that place at that time…