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Machakos, Kenya
Summary
Live and volunteer in a remote African town in the hills of Machakos,
away from the tourist trails and the bustle of Nairobi.
Programs
We the following programs in Machakos:
• Teaching
• Healthcare
Location
The hill towns of Machakos are located 70 kilometers southeast of
Nairobi. The drive from Nairobi to Machakos takes about 90 minutes,
depending on the traffic leaving Nairobi. The area is home to the
Akamba tribe in Kenya who have had extensive contact with the British
going back to WWI.
Machakos is not a tourist area; there are very few foreigners who
visit visit the main town or the surrounding villages in the hills.
So you'll definitely have an "authentic" experience of
life in a small African town/village.
The hill towns, with elevations of approximately 1,100 meters,
are a 20-minute drive from the main town of Machakos. Many local
people make their living from agriculture; there are terraced farm
fields on virtually every hill. The hill town has a medical clinic,
schools, churches, food shops, and various retail shops, etc.
Language
English is widely spoken. You will also hear a lot of Swahili as
well as several local tribal languages.
Accommodations
You will stay with a local Kenyan family who will provide you with
your own room, all meals, include you in family activities, and
generally help you adjust to and learn about their culture and country.
The host families have been hand-picked and trained by both Cosmic
Volunteers' staff as well as our local Kenyan Coordinators. Cosmic's
staff has visited the families' homes, shared meals with them, and
conveyed to them the unique responsibilities involved with hosting
foreign volunteers. Our families can host more than one volunteer
at a time, so you can stay in the same house with your friend(s)
or partner. You can also stay in separate host families that are
very near to each other.
Meals
There is a wide variety of food in Kenya: you will find a general
diet of meat, vegetables, and starch. A sample meal for example,
is Ugali with cream spinach and chicken. Ugali appears to be of
the consistency of mashed potatoes, but has a thicker consistency,
and made of white corn flour. It is a common staple in Kenya, and
accompanies many meat and vegetable dishes. You will also find lots
of ethnic cuisine in Nairobi, including Indian food, etc. Vegetarians
are easily accommodated by our host families.
Communications
Mobile phones are widely available in Kenya, and the service reaches
the hill towns. You can buy and activate a mobile phone for 75-100
USD from one of the many shops in Nairobi before you head out to
Machakos. For Internet access, there are shops in the main town
of Machakos where you can use the Internet and make international
phone calls. Your host family will also have a phone that you can
use for emergencies and local calls.
Transportation
Our local Kenyan Coordinators will accompany you by private car
from Nairobi to Machakos and introduce you to your host family and
school. When you're in Machakos, you can walk from your host family
to the school in less than 10 minutes. To get to the main town of
Machakos, you can catch a local truck or bus very cheaply (sometimes
for free). You can also buy an inexpensive bicycle – but keep
in mind that the ride back up the hills is very strenuous.
Health & Safety
Machakos and the surrounding hill towns are very safe in terms of
personal safety as well as health. The biggest problem faced by
volunteers is usually an occasional upset stomach as their bodies
adjust to the food and water and warmer climate. There is a small
medical clinic in each hill town for basic medical care, as well
as a major medical facility in the town of Machakos itself.
Climate/Weather
Machakos has a warmer climate year-round and is prone to droughts.
Sightseeing & Activities
Most travelers will tell you that no trip to Kenya would be complete
without a visit to a wildlife park or game reserve. The most popular
and best known is the Masai Mara National Reserve ("Mara")
which was featured in the movie "Out of Africa" and is
home to the Masai tribe and the annual wildebeast migration in July.
Mara is better suited to a long-weekend trip, since it is 270 kilometers
southwest of Nairobi.
For daytrips, you can visit Nairobi National Park which sits right
next to Nairobi and has four of the "big five": leopard,
lion, buffalo and rhino (there are no elephants). You can also relax
at a beach resort in Mombasa, the largest coastal port in East Africa
and a six-hour bus ride from Nairobi.
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