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Visions Kenya Volunteer in Kenya as a Visions Leadership Camp volunteer! (visit our Volunteer page here)
In August 2007 two Visions Leadership Camps were successfully held in Kisumu, Western Kenya. In total, 102 Kenyan youth received basic leadership training and were able to participate in a fun summer program created for them. Then again, in 2008, a team of Visions volunteers returned to do short leadership trainings in Nairobi and Kitale. School supplies, Visions Leadership Handbooks, books, and other resources were also donated to 3 children's homes in Nairobi, Nakuru, and Kisumu. Visions youth come from a variety of backgrounds and communities. In Kenya we have encountered a few entirely new dimensions. A number of Visions youth have been particularly affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic (HIV infection rate in Kisumu alone is believed to be between 20-30%). Many students are truly 'orphans', meaning they have lost both parents. And all have been hit by poverty in a number of ways, some worse than others. Issues of emotional and physical abuse, drug use, and violence also surfaced. A number of youth at our second camp in 2007 were former 'street youth', many of whom have dealt with family loss, drug problems, abuse, and street crime. The work that is being done by the Agape Children's Home in Kisumu, among others, to rehabilitate these young people is truly extraordinary. Being able to work with such high at-risk youth was both ideal for Visions as an organization and rewarding for all the volunteers who have been able to know these wonderful young people.
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