BY AUSTIN LYNCH

For many years, Tempo woman Geraldine Cassidy knew that she wanted to get involved in voluntary work, 'somewhere within the Continent of Africa'.

But, until very recently, Geraldine didn't know where to start, where to look for information or who to talk to about getting involved in some sort of volunteering in Africa.

In January 2005, she ,spotted an advertisement for the Child Aid trek up Mount Kilimanjaro. Each participant on the trek had to raise over ¤4,000 and this money then goes towards the projects Child Aid supports in Nairobi, Kenya.

"It was while trekking up this mountain that I was informed about Sr Mary Killeen, a Dubliner who has spent the best part of the last 30 years working with projects in Mukuru slum, Nairobi" explains Geraldine.

This was the first contact that Geraldine had been looking for and, after asking a few questions, a Child Aid project leader told her that anyone interested in volunteering, for a period of between 6 weeks up to a couple of months to work with some of these projects could contact the DKA office in Nairobi.

Geraldine sent off her CV and had to undergo some police checks but, by January of this year she was ready to travel to Kenya for her four months of volunteering. Geraldine explains that she picked a period of four months as she believed any shorter wouldn't be enough time to get some worthwhile work done, while any longer may prove too expensive and too costly in terms of time away from home.

Kenya is a country of approximately 33 million people and in the city of Nairobi, where Geraldine went volunteering, 60% of the population live in slums. The Mukuru slum, in which Geraldine worked as a volunteer, is the second largest slum in the city, with somewhere in the region of 400,000 people living there.

Slum homes consist of corrugated iron huts, many no bigger than 8ft by 8ft. Families of between three to eight people can live in these homes. When young boys reach the age of 12 or 13, they are considered too old to be in such a small place with their mothers, and if there isn't enough money to rent a single room for them, these young boys can end up on the streets.

Prior to travelling out Geraldine had been in touch with the DKA office to find out what projects she should work with on arrival in Nairobi.

After an introduction to all the key projects during her first few days in Nairobi, Geraldine showed a preference to work at Mukuru Kayaba primary school and, also spending time working with the V1P street boys project.

Vijana 1st Project (V1P) is one of a number of initiatives which come under the umbrella MSDP (Mukuru Slum Development Project) and is an informal drop-in centre targeted towards children, especially those aged between 10 - 15 years from the streets and those at risk within the slums of Mukuru.

Initially, Geraldine explains, she worked with the street boys' project every Friday and then worked there full-time for the last few weeks of her stay.

"The street kids attending this project were mainly boys around the ages of 11 to 18 years who had spent anything from 4 - 6 years or more sleeping rough on the streets."

During her time there, Geraldine established a timetable and food programme for the boys. It means that not only do they get fed, they also get classes in various activities as well as soccer training in the afternoon.

Working with the others on the project, she quickly appreciated that many of the boys still slept rough and, so she was able to establish three rooms in the slum which now act as a night shelter. "Having this shelter can keep some of the boys away from other street groups and possibly away from the curse of glue sniffing, which is prevalent in such areas", she explained.

"The boys are delighted to have somewhere to sleep, they have three meals per day and a full activity schedule, especially the soccer training in the afternoons and tournaments at weekends."

For eight weeks of her stay in Mukuru, Geraldine spent from Monday to Thursday at Kayaba Primary School where she trained some of the teachers in computer skills. The teachers in the school had access to only one donated computer and, although some of them had IT skills, Geraldine was able to give them a refresher course.

Also, during her stay, Geraldine had the opportunity to visit both the women's and one of the men's prisons in Nairobi. One of the hardest things she found was children within the prisons.

"The children stay with their mothers in the prison until they are seven years old, at which point they will be reunited with some relatives or an orphanage so they can begin primary education," explains Geraldine.

As well as the projects that Geraldine was directly involved in, she commended other worthwhile and innovative projects, including MUSA - which offers sport, music and drama activities for the youth of the slums, MEEP - focussing on financial empowerment and increasing the financial capabilities of these people, and SWED - which focusses on empowering the women and making them independent.

Geraldine admits she found it very hard to leave Nairobi because of the friendships she had made with the street children, whom she describes as 'lovely' and 'looking for a way forward in life'.

She intends to keep in touch with these projects and has vowed to return to Africa someday.

For years, Geraldine knew she wanted to volunteer in Africa but didn't know how.

If you would like more information on the projects in Nairobi, or are interested in sponsoring a child or in volunteering, contact Daniela at DKA office via e-mail (dkaoffice@mitsuminet.com).

Alternatively, anyone interested in trekking up Mount Kilimanjaro can find out more details on Child Aid's website: www.childaid.ie.