Sagrema Foundation

THE HOST - MR. SAMUEL ODOYO.
I am Samuel, a teacher by profession, now 57-years old, I'm a resident of Mfangano Island in Lake Victoria Kenya.
I enjoy meeting people from all around the globe and sharing good times with them.
I'd be very happy if I could be of any help during and even before your stay.

So feel free to ask anything - on getting around Mfangano and sister Islands, learning Local Suba, Luo and Swahili languages, experiencing Suba and Luo cultures and what not.

I’m blessed with a Lovely, patient and a welcoming family, a family with a higher hospitality and integrity to all guests, visiting my home from different corners of the world.

Volunteers will participate in a project or projects of their choice that serves the local community or the organization. The projects are continually evolving and as such may change with time. However, here is what you can expect to be involved in:

(i) MAJOR NEEDS IN MFANGANO AND SISTER ISLANDS IN ORDER OF PRIORITY

EDUCATION:
Fundraising for improvement of community's educational agenda:
1. School fees for needy children (the less fortunate, orphans & vulnerable)
2. Uniform for the needy children in primary schools(full uniform: shirt and short for boys, dresses for girls, socks, shoes, pullovers)
3. Establishment of an orphanage - schools/Centre/home
4. Establishment of School for the disabled/children with special needs
5. The Improvement and or sustainability of endangered Girl child education on the Islands and their personal effects
6. Schools infrastructure (desks, chairs, fences, school buildings/Class rooms, school Latrines)
7. Schools feeding programs specifically for kindergartens and Lower primary ages 3-9yrs
8. School Learning and teaching (instruction) materials
9. Primary schools' subsidy Levies (BOM teachers wages and internal EXAMS.)
10. School Library and/or Community Library

THE AGED, WOMEN AND YOUTHS EMPOWERMENT:
Fundraising for empowerment of community’s old age persons, Women and Youths registered groups
1. Fundraising for their Treasury’s revolving fund to be borrowed by members for self reliance and sustainable economic development, encouragements and motivations.
2. Educating them on microfinance initiative issues for stability.
3. Help in identifying and supporting viable income generating activities for registered Women and Youths’ groups
4. Supporting the orphans & vulnerable children, those neglected by the society, widows, widowers, the disadvantaged, the Less privileged and the Less fortunate individuals and households (improving their economic status, providing shelters, providing clothing and providing food)

COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE:
Fundraising for community’s Health care
1. Establishing/Putting up a Low cost community Health facilities/Centre
2. Establishment of a community and/or Schools’ first aid kit
3. Inviting volunteer Nurses and doctors to come and offer voluntary health services
4. Discover ways of Combating acute infectious diseases like malaria, typhoid, Amoeba, Cancer and Bilharzia
5. Feeding program for the malnourished school children and households
6. Sanitary towels for ages 12 and above school girls in both primary & secondary
7. Community Sanitations (hygienic disposal of wastes/protecting health through hygienic measures like use of Wastes disposal boxes)
8. Low cost and or affordable clean water production for the community

ORGANIC AND PERMACULTURE AGRICULTURE:
Fundraising for community organic and permaculture agricultural developments:
1. Farm tools (ploughs, water pumps, water pipes, farm fences, solar generator, Seeds and Seedlings)
2. Fishing gears and/or tools (Nets, boats, Engines)
3. Fresh fish storage facilities (Ice boxes)
4. Education on farming skills
5. Education on fishing skills

ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES:
Fundraising for community environmental protection and conservation campaigns on:
1. Education on benefits of environmental protection and conservation
2. Tree planting and nurturing
3. Tree nursery preparations
4. Water catchment protection
5. Clean water
6. Soil erosion prevention

(ii) VOLUNTEER CHOICE OF TASKS ON ORGANIZATION'S NEEDS.
1. Organizing crowd fundraises in your home country or your residential country:
We have projects that require financial support for improvement/development, help and or organize crowdfunding campaign for needy and vulnerable learners on the Islands of Lake Victoria in Kenya
• (skills: fund-raising)

2. Research & recommend funding options:
There are various funding opportunities for nonprofits like USAID and we need help researching and understanding the options available to us
● (Skills: Fund-raising, Research & Analytics)

3. Write funding grant proposals:
We need experts in grant writing to help us prepare and write professional grant proposals to relevant funding agencies
Assist in writing a grant proposal to enable women and youth groups get grants from relevant funding agencies
● (Skills: Fund-raising, Content Writing – English)

4. Review & amend a specific document:
We have written a specific document (report, grant proposal etc.) and before submitting it we would love a native English speaker to proofread it.
● (Skills: Content Writing – English)

5. Create a compelling fund-raising video for us:
We would like to create a compelling video about our organization in general or a specific project for fund-raising purposes. We will provide the content but we need a video expert to put it all together and tell a great story
● (skills: Video Editing, Content Writing – English)

6. Develop a responsive website:
We really love to have someone to develop a responsive, Google friendly site; this task would need to include all back and front end development and design, a Content Management System for our internal use, content upload (we will provide all the content - text, images and videos etc.), and delivery of source code upon completion.
● (Skills: Web Development, CMS (e.g. WordPress), Website Builders e.g. WIX)

7. Update our website:
Occasionally we need to update certain areas or pages on our website (content, photos, news etc.) and we would love someone to help us with this here and there!
● (Skills: CMS (e.g. WordPress), Website Builders e.g. WIX)

8. Fix technical issues in our website:
Occasionally we have bugs or issues with our website and we would love someone to help us here and there when this happens!
● (Skills: Web Development)

9. Write posts in English for our Websites, FB page, LinkedIn page, Twitter page and Instagram page:
We are always looking for people who can help us promote our work on social media. Even just a few posts are a great start for us! help in and or designing a serious and compelling website, Instagram page, Facebook page with serious demonstrative actions to viewers.
● (Skills: Social Media Marketing, Content Writing – English)

10. Setup & optimize our Facebook page:
We do not have a good Facebook page and would love someone to set up a compelling page for our nonprofit to showcase our mission and work
● (Skills: Social Media Marketing)

11. Setup & optimize our Instagram page:
We do not have a good Instagram page and would love someone to set up a compelling page for our nonprofit to showcase our mission and work
● (Skills: Social Media Marketing)

12. Design a brochure/report layout:
We often need to prepare reports or brochures for our donors and partners and we would love a great design template we can use as a basis for such purposes.
● (Skills: Graphic Design)

13. Design a PowerPoint template:
We often need to present to our donors and partners and we would love to have a well designed template we can use as a basis for our presentations.
● (Skills: Graphic Design)

14. Design our logo:
We would like to design a compelling logo that would convey the mission of our organization
● (Skills: Graphic Design)

15. We are Looking for someone ready to support and formally prepare Women and Youths’ microfinance initiatives groups - (table banking, merry go round, financial and bookkeeping literacy, business administration and management)

16. We are in need of support and improvement of the status of our organic and permculture farmers (fishermen, poultry keepers, animals’ keepers, crop growers)

17. Help us get supportive and development conscious personnel for our environmental initiatives and Ecological projects

18. Teachers of both academic and co curriculum (Teaching academic subjects in class and sports activities).

19. There is a high need to get well-wishers help in supporting the disadvantaged and the less fortunate in the community (widows, widowers, the aged and those disowned by the society).

20. Help in improving computer literacy to community members and/or children
* Sharing business skills with the members so that they can improve their small scale income generating activities and other side businesses.
* Train the members in basic computer skills so that they can be able to use these skills to earn a living in life.
* Teach bookkeeping to rural members so they can keep track of their small scale businesses.
* Share any other skills that may help improving the education of the disadvantaged and the less fortunate students in the society.
* Sensitize the community about human rights and best ways of reducing domestic violence in families.

21. You can also Just come, without any relevant skills to tour, relax and enjoy the weather, breeze & climate around the Islands in Lake Victoria and learn the residents way of living you are welcome.
We are Looking for Volunteers, who are ready to collaborate and partner with us in a working together spirit to help us improve the lives of the less fortunate children, households and families in the Mfangano and Sister Islands communities by participating as tabulated under the listed projects categories: -

ACCOMMODATION
Guests will get full boarding facilities and stay with host families from the local community, based in a tranquil, rural environment
Each guest will have their own bed, but may share a room if belongs to the same gender or if are couples, Different gender stay in different rooms.
Each of the clean and well spread beds, should have a mosquito net.

MEALS
Volunteers will share meals with host families where they will be served with three meals a day that is breakfast, lunch and supper. Breakfast will be served before the day’s work starts at 8am or not later than 9am with tea, local snacks and fruits. Lunch and supper will be served on time too with a variety of local dishes.
Guests will be provided with 3 meals of interest or on request a day by the host family, or receive a pre packed carry lunch if the project is far from the host family residence or be bought if the Hotels are around.
Food will be prepared by the Hosting family as per the normal daily diet timetable and on the request of the visitor in case he/she is interested in a different meal,
Any guest who comes with his/her budget, all his/her meals will be prepared on his/her order/directives and we will require a meals time table to be prepared in a collaboration of both the guests and the cooks.
We prefer preparing meals with the consent of all the people living in the house/family and considering different interests of different house dwellers including guests.
We serve; Chapati, Mandazi, Tea, farm foods like potatoes, beans, green grams, cassava, maize, bananas, Local vegetables. We also serve beef, Milk, Chicken, several species of fish found in Lake Victoria, Irish potatoes, spaghetti, indomie, chips, sossi, Rice, budgie, Ugali and porridge, and any other food staff palatable to Guests at their orders/requests.

LAUNDRIES
During your stay, your linens will be washed twice a week on agreement, and your room will be swept and arranged regularly.
We have a separate bathroom only for our guests' use, but those who like can do swimming in lake Victoria direct as we are only 200 metres from the lake shore.

THE SURROUNDING
With our guests, we enjoy charting, exchanging cultures and sometimes partying or eating out.
I hope all our guests will know more about our cultures and like our Islands the more as they will interact with the locals regularly..
There is free WiFi throughout, that belongs to an NGO, just in a two minutes walking distance, besides that we also have a mobile Wi-Fi to rent out by the day on a first come, first served basis. This enables you to get the internet connection everywhere, which solves the inconvenience most foreigners are likely to experience while in Kenya.
There are shops in nearby shopping centres one within a two minute walk, another within 40 minutes walk opened everyday.
We have Mfangano Island market days on Sundays every week at Sena and goods from different places are sold there.
ATM machines are there in all banks in Mbita which is our sub county headquarters you can withdraw your money any time you are in need of.

WORKING HOURS
Monday to Friday for about 3 - 4 hours a day, starting at 9am to 12noon.
There is no limit on staying periods at Sagrema foundation

ARRIVAL AT SAGREMA FOUNDATION IN KENYA
* All Volunteers can arrive any time of the year either as teams, couples or Individuals

FREE TIME ACTIVITIES
* Guests/Volunteer will be free to use their free time for excursions especially during weekends or selected days other than working days.
* They will be free to spend their free time in a local park, bar or a club for nightlife lovers, attend a social function or any other social places where you will meet other great volunteers in the area, climb the Soklo hills, do sport fishing in Lake Victoria, go round the Islands, meet the Island Women groups, visit our schools, attend church summons on Sundays, meet the traditional storytellers.
* They may also choose to spend a few days or one of their weekends at one of Mfangano sister Islands; Takawiri, Rusinga, Kibougi, Remba, Ringiti or any one of the beautiful inhabited birds islands; Atego, Risi, Mbasa, Namuolo Nyama and Niware.
*they will do swimming direct in fresh waters of lake Victoria, sunbirth and see different birds
* Volunteers interested in these activities except swimming will have to pay extra fees as they involve travel costs.
* All payments Will be done on arrival except for the guest who may like to secure a particular room/rooms of his/her interest

IT IS A TRUST BASED TOTAL FREEDOM, FRIENDLY, RELAXED, MEANINGFUL VOLUNTEERING AND FREE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES' ATMOSPHERE FOR ALL VOLUNTEERS. We are Looking for Volunteers, Donors, well-wishers, organizations and Foundations to work with. Drop an email to collaborate and partner with us on community projects in Mfangano and sister Islands in Lake Victoria Kenya. I'm Samuel a teacher by profession, now 54-years old, I'm a resident of Mfangano Island in Lake Victoria Kenya I enjoy meeting people from all around the globe and sharing good times with them. I'd be very happy if I could be of any help during and even before your stay, so feel free to ask anything - on getting around Mfangano and sister Islands, learning Local Suba, Luo and Swahili languages, experiencing Suba and Luo cultures and what not. I happen to be leading registered community based organizations (C.B.Os) and groups, founded with an aim of alleviating the suffering among the communities of the Islands that have been hit by poverty, hunger and diseases. We reach and touch needy children, widows, widowers, youths, the aged and poor starving families in the community, We strive to provide access to basic quality education, Health-care, farming gears, facilitate Environmental Initiatives and empower the disadvantaged and less privileged/Less fortunate households and families for sustainable economic development and self-reliance In so doing we have managed to send over 200 school dropout students back to school and through micro-finance initiative we have improved the standards of living of over 30 groups' members and still doing that for more needy ones. I’m blessed with a Lovely, patient and a welcoming family, a family with a higher hospitality and integrity to all Volunteers, visiting my home from different corners of the world. In our Family we normally have round table evening charts during evening meals as we get the day’s reports from volunteers and asses the situations to help decide on the following day’s Learning activities. We are friendly to our guests, work on trust with our guests, we listen to them and allow them to do whatever they want to do and encourage them to use everything in their reach at our home, we always social to all gusts around our home. We take care of our guests and feed them sufficiently. On tipical days we are sociable and have our friends over a lot. When we host guests we are helpful and hands on. We can show them where to go and help them get there. Our family hobies are Swimming, Cooking, Fishing, Gardening, Hill walking!, charting, reading, educating our children during family members gatherings We have been hosting guests various corners of the world since 2015 to date it is not easy to please every body but almost all guests come out of our home admiring to come back because of the best treatment they receive.