Volunteer in Kenya
Some travellers want to understand more of Kenya than its mountains, wildlife and coast. Through Kurunzi Fund, there may be opportunities to spend time on education, nutrition or school projects where another pair of hands is genuinely useful.
Participation is optional and always agreed with the school. The work exists before a traveller arrives, and it continues after the visit.
How this work began
Kennedy Mutuma and Elizabeth Blanchford met through Mount Kenya. A conversation that began on the mountain became a friendship, and the friendship led them back to questions about education, school meals and what useful support could look like over many years.
Kurunzi Fund grew from those relationships. It is an independent nonprofit registered in the United States as a 501(c)(3), working directly with Kenyan schools and community partners. Kennedy is a cofounder and remains closely involved on the ground. Elizabeth helps supporters understand the programmes, costs and ways to give.
Wilderness Alternative plans travel. Kurunzi Fund manages charitable programmes, donations and scholarships. Keeping those roles separate means a traveller can ask Wilderness Alternative about an itinerary, while anyone wishing to give can deal directly with the nonprofit.
The schools we work with
Rugusu, Suswa and Enosampurpur are not three copies of one volunteer project. Each school has its own people, pressures and priorities. What connects them is the patience to begin with what the school is already trying to do.
Rugusu Primary School
Rugusu was Kurunzi's first school kitchen garden project. Students and teachers worked with volunteers to prepare the ground, install water efficient drip irrigation and plant the first beds.
The Green Family grew from this work. It is a group of students and teachers who learn through the garden and help care for it. Rugusu taught Kurunzi an important lesson early: a useful project cannot depend on a week of visitor energy. The school needs to understand it, use it and keep it going.
Suswa Primary School
Volunteers came to Suswa to work with students and teachers on a kitchen garden. While they were there, they learnt that many pupils were spending the school day without a reliable lunch. Listening changed the direction of the work.
Kurunzi supporters helped establish a continuing feeding programme. Beans and maize provide the dependable base of the meal. Greens from the garden, including kale and spinach, add fresh vegetables when the beds are ready to harvest. The garden cannot feed more than 600 pupils by itself, but it can contribute to meals, teach agriculture and give the Green Family practical responsibility for growing food.
The most important part of Suswa is not that volunteers planted a garden. It is that the relationship continued when the school explained what mattered more.
Enosampurpur Primary School
Enosampurpur is a very rural school in Kajiado. It also provides boarding places for girls whose distance from school can make regular attendance difficult. Some classrooms still have open window spaces, and the cooking area is basic. The resilience of the school is visible in the ordinary work teachers do to keep lessons, meals and boarding running with limited resources.
The kitchen garden has a 5,000 litre water tank, drip irrigation and a solar powered electric fence. The fence helps discourage elephants and other wildlife from entering the crop beds. These are not decorative additions. They respond to the reality of growing vegetables in a dry landscape shared with wildlife.
When a bulb fails, he repairs it. When the water system stops, he works out what has gone wrong and helps restore it. He watches the garden, supports the students and deals with small problems before they become permanent failures. Kennedy returns to work beside him and to see what needs attention next.
What the schools need now
Priorities change with the school calendar, food prices and what has already been repaired. The useful starting point is to ask the school and Kurunzi Fund what is needed now, then agree a budget or practical contribution.
If you would like to bring books, sports equipment or school supplies, ask first. The useful item is the one the school has requested.
School meals
Suswa needs continuing support for staple food so lunch is available throughout the school term. Greens from the garden supplement the meal. Kurunzi confirms the current cost and records gifts designated for the feeding programme.
Scholarships
19 students are currently supported through Kurunzi Fund scholarships. Support can include tuition, boarding, uniforms, books, transport, examination fees and other necessary education costs.
Classroom windows
Some Enosampurpur classrooms remain open to dust, wind and rain. The school must identify the priority rooms, measurements and local contractor before funds are committed.
Gardens and water
Water tanks, pumps, drip lines, fencing and locally available replacement parts all need maintenance. These systems help the schools grow vegetables in places where water must be used carefully.
Kitchens and boarding
Cooking facilities and boarding infrastructure are practical school needs, particularly at Enosampurpur. Kurunzi works with school leadership to assess improvements before asking supporters to fund them.
How you can take part
You can join a scheduled Kurunzi programme or ask about an individual contribution that fits your travel dates. What is possible depends on the school calendar, current work, safeguarding, supervision and whether your time or skill is useful.
School gardens
Volunteers may help prepare beds, plant seedlings, install or maintain irrigation and work beside students, teachers and Kenyan project staff. Independent travellers can ask whether an approved project fits their dates. Independent does not mean arriving at a school unannounced.
Classrooms, sport and useful skills
Where invited, visitors may support reading, maths, science, agriculture, language, arts or sport alongside Kenyan teachers. Experience in teaching, farming, engineering, water systems, creative work or storytelling may also help when the school has asked for it. Visitors do not replace teachers, tradespeople or other paid Kenyan work.
Families and teenagers
Structured garden work, sport and supervised classroom activities can suit families and teenagers when the programme is appropriate. The school and Kurunzi decide what is suitable, and younger volunteers remain properly supervised.
Meals and fundraising
You do not need to travel to help. Supporters can give directly to the Suswa meal programme, organise a fundraiser or help with an approved school project. Kurunzi confirms the current budget and how a gift will be used.
Scholarships and pen pals
Kurunzi currently supports 19 students through scholarships. A supporter can ask about full sponsorship, shared support or the general scholarship fund.
Kurunzi has also arranged a Suswa pen pal exchange. Letters and organised communication remain mediated through the nonprofit and the school. Student addresses, telephone numbers and private social accounts are not shared.
Volunteering responsibly
The school and Kurunzi Fund decide whether a visit or contribution is useful. Participation must be confirmed in advance. School access, contact with students and photography follow the programme's safeguarding and consent requirements.
Visitors work with teachers, students and Kenyan project teams. They do not take over a classroom or replace paid local labour so that a volunteer activity can be created. Photographs should be taken only with permission and should explain the work with dignity.
- Ask before arriving. School visits are never automatic.
- Ask before bringing supplies. Current requests matter more than a suitcase of random donations.
- Ask before photographing. Consent and student privacy come first.
- Give directly through Kurunzi. Wilderness Alternative does not collect charitable donations.
Add volunteering to my Kenya journey
Tell Wilderness Alternative when you are travelling and what kind of involvement interests you. We can plan transport, accommodation, safari, coast or mountain travel around a confirmed Kurunzi programme.
Support Kurunzi Fund directly
Kurunzi handles scholarships, school meals, volunteer programmes and charitable project gifts. Elizabeth can confirm donations and sponsorship. Kennedy can confirm what the Kenyan schools and project teams need on the ground.
Travel planning and travel costs are handled by Wilderness Alternative Expedition. Charitable donations and sponsorships go directly to Kurunzi Fund, an independent nonprofit registered in the United States as a 501(c)(3), EIN 92-2122293.