Hamomi Children's Centre: A Volunteer's Experience

This last November, Ty Harden and I travelled to Nairobi to volunteer at Hamomi Children's Centre, both acting on our desires to work towards something meaningful and see the other side of the world. Neither of us really had much of an idea of what to expect having had, up to this point, our most significant experience with the African continent limited to perhaps a development class in college.

The Hamomi board had given us an open mandate to volunteer in any capacity we wanted. Upon arriving, it was abundantly clear that the school held incredible promise, but, much like Kenya as a whole, more immediate concerns and conditions dictated any future progress. We were immediately deputized as math, science and social studies teachers to classes of 3rd-8th graders. After getting over the initial fear of being responsible for passing on important knowledge, not to mention a panicked review of how to do long division, we realized this was one of the best ways we could help Hamomi, as it freed Raphael and Musumba to attend to the actual operation of the school.

We were surprised to find that not only were the kids at or ahead of their developed-world peers in education level, but all were bi or tri-lingual and easily compensated for our lack of Kiswahili. Eventually, we worked our way into larger projects on the school's behalf such as negotiating for essential medical services from government and local private clinics and working towards developing a food program partnership. Despite the often staggering levels of poverty, many surviving on less than a dollar a day, we were amazed at what everyone was able to accomplish with only a marginal addition of volunteer help and resources. Hamomi is truly a store of vast potential just waiting for the opportunity to grow and expand. If you are interested in volunteering with Hamomi, please contact me, Jamie Clayton, hamomi.jamie@gmail.com