Volunteering, Internships and Electives

Porridge and Rice has no paid employees so the charity depends on volunteers of all ages, with a range of skills, both in Kenya and the UK - the only requirement is a desire to help.

Each summer, the charity takes volunteers to Kenya to work in the Nairobi slums with its partner schools. This summer over 20 people spent between 3 and 4 weeks with the 5 partner schools working on tasks from checking children's teeth to repainting Excel school.

  •     Serving Meals
  •     Hand Washing
  •     Health Monitoring
  •     Teaching
  •     Data Collection
  •     Painting Excel
  •     Dental Checkups
  •     School Visits

Serving Meals

Preparing and serving meals takes a lot of work, and volunteers regularly help the staff with the task at both breakfast and lunch time.

The feeding and nutrition programme combats both hunger and hidden hunger so that children can study without the discomfort of hunger and their minds develop fully so they can achieve their maximum cognitive potential.

Hand Washing

Volunteers engage with pupils and staff to teach the importance of hand washing and supervise hand washing before meals.

While the charity ensures that all schools have access to clean water and soap, all habits die hard so children need to be taught to develop good hygiene habits like washing their hands after going to the toilets.

Health Monitoring

The charity monitors the efficacy of the feeding and nutrition programme, and the health and hygiene programme but measuring the height and weight of children each month, then comparing the results to figures published by the WHO for normal development.

The charity is extremely proud that monitoring shows that the work of the charity is having a very positive impact.

Teaching

Volunteers provide teachers will welcome relief by taking classes. Teachers are thus able to catch up on other work like marking, and more importantly, attend training courses.

Teaching lessons provides aspiring teachers with valuable work experience. It also provides volunteers to engage with children in the Nairobi slums so that they understand the aims and work of the charity.

Data Collection

There is very little reliable data about the people of the slums which the charity can use to guide and inform its activities.

Volunteers are thus frequently engaged in interviewing pupils to collect useful information that will be processed in the UK, and used by the charity to make it more effective and understanding in its work.

Painting Excel

Volunteers help with important practical tasks like painting schools, something that the schools really appreciate.

By adding details such as letters, labelled diagrams, and maps of Kenya and Africa, the children in Porridge and Rice partner schools are taught in an environment conducive to learning.

Dental Check Ups

Dental care is not a priority for people living in extreme poverty. Surveys done by volunteers show that that the condition of children's teeth is extremely poor, and not only milk teeth. Dentists cost money which inhabitants of the slums do not have so the response to tooth ache is to remove the tooth using brute force, after damaging the gums or creating opportunities for infection to run riot.

Porridge and Rice provides lesson on dental hygiene and gives children toothbrushes donated by Operation Brush.

School Visits

Growing up in the slums, means that the pupils at Porridge and Rice partner schools frequently have little knowledge of the world outside of their home and low expectations from life.

The charity encourages volunteers to interact with pupils talking to them about opportunities outside of the slums and draw their attention to Kenyans and other Africans have used education to break free from poverty and create opportunities for themselves. The aim is to motivate and inspire. At the end of the day, solving the challenges of the country must be driven by Kenyans. Porridge and Rice believes that it can only provide support and assistance to enable Kenyans to build the kind of society that they want.