Volunteer of the Year Awards (VOYA)
03/11/2010 11:38:00
Makechi, a 45 year old livestock health extension officer from Lugari District has risen from a 'don’t care village drunkard' that nobody wanted to associate with to a highly respected and highly demanded person. He has made a change in his community by establishing the Star Rays Education Centre with a belief that Education is a lifetime gift to his community.
The centre offers formal education to children from the less fortunate families and orphans, it also offer training to local farmers to improve their agricultural production and improve their livelihood. As a result of his effort life in this poor rural village is changing, there is increased milk production resulting to higher return form the farmers in addition to the center attracting volunteers from across the globe. The centre also provides information through radio programmes, magazines, journals and newspaper to the community.
Makechi has also been part of a project to mobilize wheel chairs for the physically disabled children in his community. The beneficiaries of his volunteer action best describe him as “one in a million”.
Volunteer of the Year Awards - VOYA recognises acts of volunteerism as championed by individuals both young and old; organisations; education institutions, corporate bodies as well as government ministries within Kenya. The awards seek to celebrate the contribution made by volunteers in bringing positive change to society.
At the Gala event, there were more awards for various categories - the full list is as follows:
Individual Awards
Volunteer of the Year - William Makechi
Youth Volunteer of the Year - Abdikadir Aden Hassan
The 22 year old youth from Garissa, North East Kenya, has been a volunteer for the last 4 years. He has been volunteering with the National Environment Management Authority as an administrative assistant. During this time he was able to mobilize the Community training on environmental issue that included prevention of mosquito breeding thus resulting to reduced malaria infection in Garissa. He has also been involved in facilitating educative workshops in various environmental issues, bringing to the limelight issues affecting his community through information gathering and dissemination. Aden has also helped in designing and implementation of community development projects like the Garissa Youth project.
He is also a youth leader and a member of the Magnet Youth Group that creates awareness on HIV & AIDS through drama. Hassan also been involved in counseling youth against drug abuse, thus rescuing youths from drug addiction.
International Volunteer of the Year - Bosco Zephania Muhindo
Muhindo has been a Volunteer with United Nations Volunteers (UNV) for the last 4years. Based at the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Northern Kenya, this medic by profession is intimately involved in the implementation of public health activities in the camp, often working more than the designated working hours on end to ensure safe and effective health services reach refugees. He has been particularly aggressive in the advocacy for adequate resource allocation for public health activities, especially those that address the needs of women, children and persons with disabilities.
As a result of his engagement, there are increased hospital deliveries among the mothers, reduced mortality rates, reduced cases of malaria to near eradication of cholera in the camp. There is also reduced cases of malnutrition and what’s more, every family contributes to the construction of pit latrines to ensure proper sanitation. This has led to the reduced cases of cholera outbreaks in the camp for the last 3years.
Organisations and Corporates
Volunteer Involving Organisation of the Year - Ahadi Kenya Trust
Ahadi Kenya Trust is well known for it anti jigger campaign in Kenya, and most recently in Uganda and Tanzania. The organization currently works with and through 1,600 volunteers in Kenya, 60 in Uganda and 40 in Tanzania.
The organization has been able to treat more than 65,000 jigger victims, fumigated more than 9,000 homesteads and donated more than 10,000pairs of shoes. They have started clubs in schools to sensitize the students as well as reduce the stigma on the infected school children.
Learning Institutions: Tertiary Institution Volunteer Programme of the Year
University of the Year Volunteer Programme - United States International University (USIU) Nairobi
USIU has a developed guideline on volunteering programme for the students. The University also provides students with logistical support, supervision as well as conduct surveys on the need of volunteer services before placing the student. As a result the students have been able to work in children homes and homes for the less fortunate in society in addition to donating material things to these homes. This way they make their beneficiaries feel they are still part of the society and they too are important, this raises the self esteem of the children.
Secondary Schools Volunteer Programme of the Year - Starehe Boys Centre
The school has instilled in its students the need to give back to the community through volunteering. As a result every student takes time during the school holiday to volunteer in various sectors. At the end of the volunteering period, the organization/institution where the student was volunteering signs the report card indicating what the student was doing. The Boys have assisted various government ministries in filling as well as computerizing of old files to improve service delivery to the public. These include the Attorney generals Chamber, Kenyatta National Hospital, Ministry of Agriculture, The law courts among others. The school provides logistical support to the students during the volunteering period.
Primary Schools Volunteer Programme of the Year - Matathia Primary School
The school is located in the semi arid are of Lari District, Kiambu County. The volunteer programme involves an environmental club which is run by the students. The programme began in the early 2000 and is made up of pupils from class 4-8. When the programme began, the school compound was bare with one large tree where both pupils and teachers used to compete for the shade during lunch break under the scorching sun.
Since the establishment of the club, the students have not only changed the looks of their compound but the surrounding community. They have planted so many trees in the school and trained their parents to also plant trees in their farms. It is now a green school and a model environmental school in the district. As a result of the effort by the students, the school has been supported by well wishers to install water tanks in the school as well as tapped water. The school is currently partnering with a local Community based organization where they are raising indigenous trees as an alternative source of income for the school.
Government Ministries
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MOYAS) - Recogniation of the efforts by a government ministry to promote volunteerism and commitment to develop a volunteer policy.
MOYAS has piloted the national Youth Volunteering Scheme at the coast where 100 youths were deployed in various institutions as volunteers. In addition to improving service delivery in the institutions where they were placed, the programme enabled them gain work experience and as a result a third of them were retained and secured jobs. The ministry is also spearheading the development of a national volunteer policy where the policy document has been presented to the cabinet.
Special Award
Peace and Reconciliation Volunteer of the Year Award - Maximilla Winfred Okello
Okello is a founder and a member of Mama Amani Group in Rumuruti, laikipia District. A teacher in a local secondary school she has been involved in trying to reunite the community after the PEV. This has involved entering into dialogue with the various ethnic groups living in this area and bringing them together for purpose of reconciliation. She has done this through organizing cultural days where the various ethnic groups display their culture through dance, food and beauty contests.
As a result harmony is slowly returning to this community, they are rebuilding each others homes through communal work. She has introduced them to alternative sources of income such as farming instead of pastoralism which also causes conflict due to demand for grazing land.
Editor's notes
The Volunteer Involving Organisations Network (VIO) is an amalgamation of organisations that work in development through/and with volunteers; and promote volunteerism as a means to development in Kenya.
