Miss Perris Heads to Kenya to Set Up a New Volunteering Scheme

At the end of January, Miss Perris from our Music department returns to Kenya for a month to develop an exciting new project between the School and its overseas charity partner, Moving Mountains Trust, which will see the establishment of a new volunteer programme for KES pupils to participate in, typically during a gap year or the Summer after leaving school.

Miss Perris explains what she hopes to do during her trip to Embu. “Following the KES trip to Tanzania in the summer of 2018, I approached Moving Mountains to see whether there was another way in which I could contribute to helping the charity with their work in Africa. Two weeks later I was on a flight back out to Kenya to work in the Moving Mountains Rescue Centre in Embu, teaching music to the street children who come to the centre every day to have their lunch. It was an amazing experience; the difference in some of the children’s attitudes after just a couple of sessions was incredible. It helped me to realise that the donation of my time and attention was really what these kids needed. Their success even in playing one chord on a ukulele gave them such a sense of achievement and really helped their sense of self-worth.

The main reason for going back out this time is to start setting up a longer-term project, which will also allow pupils from KES and other schools to go out to Kenya and contribute to the project when they leave school. This would not necessarily have to be in a musical sense; any skills that our young people have can be translated into activities which will boost the self-esteem and value of the children in the rescue centre. The children use the centre to make sure they get a hot meal every day, but there is still a need to try and improve their sense of self-worth and give them the confidence to believe that they can progress out of the situation in which they find themselves.

I am running the next school trip to Tanzania in 2020 (along with Mr Boden – from our Music department) and we are really looking forward to taking another group of over thirty KES pupils over to Africa to continue the work of Moving Mountains.”

During her trip to establish the new volunteer programme at the Rescue Centre, Miss Perris will also continue her music sessions with the local children.  Look out for updates from her trip on the School’s social media channels.

About Moving Mountains

Moving Mountains Kenya was founded by Gavin Bate in 1991 to support street kids in Nairobi. Today, Moving Mountains Kenya works on a variety of projects and programmes across the country, and implements the funding provided by its UK charity. All of its projects are conducted with the permission and support of local committees and communities.

The charity’s current programmes in Kenya cover health, education, personal development and social welfare. The existing volunteer opportunities offered with Moving Mountains Kenya provide an opportunity to work with Moving Mountains staff on international development programmes whilst also experiencing some of the adventurous travel opportunities in the region.

Above all else, the programmes at Moving Mountains Kenya are created by the community and for the community, and most of the people working for the NGO are ex-beneficiaries. Many are former street children.