Excellent! - excellentdevelopment.com

Sarah Charlton, Quest Leader on our WaterRelief expeditions, explains what the Quest experience is all about.

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Quest began working with Excellent Development in 2005 after seeing the amazing work that Excellent were achieving in the drought-affected Kola area of Kenya. Since then we have sent many groups of willing volunteers to assist the local community groups with the construction of sand dams, terracing and planting indigenous trees. By combining forces, Quest and Excellent have been able to inject manpower, enthusiasm and much needed funds.

It is a privilege for Quest to be part of a project where local communities are working together to improve their and their children’s futures. And you can be there too if you join a WaterRelief expedition team this summer.

When participating in the project you find yourself working alongside the whole community, from cheeky kids to wise elders on simple yet effective solutions to fundamental problems of survival. Living in basic conditions definitely allows you to appreciate the importance of essentials such as water and firewood. And it’s not just sand dams, each day consists of anything from throwing trays of cement down a line, planting medicinal trees, mixing cement for school water tanks or hacking away earth for terracing, all the while accompanied by the obligatory singing and dancing (or more realistically attempts to dance!). The lively, carnival-esque atmosphere ensures that it doesn’t feel like hard work-even when you find yourself lifting 50kg bags of cement when carrying the Sunday paper used to be a chore!

To have the opportunity to actively participate in a real hands-on approach on very practical solutions that the community groups design themselves is so rewarding and the cultural exchange is so fulfilling. Immersing yourself in all aspects of Kenyan culture whilst making a real and tangible difference to the lives of literally thousands of people will be an experience that you’re unlikely to forget. You can experience living and working with these inspiring Kenyans and see how your contribution will help not only to provide desperately needed water supplies but through improved harvesting, a chance of generating income and all the benefits that entails. As a break from the “manual labour” we also conduct education days to pass on the essence of conservation to the local children, including giving each child a tree to plant and care for so they can learn as it grows.

No specific skills or timeframe are necessary and there’s definitely no age limit-we’ve had volunteers well over 60 from England and Kenya-the only prerequisite is a willingness to get involved! By doing an expedition with Quest and Excellent you would be actively involved in grassroots development which is actually making a huge difference.

If you are keen to experience the exuberance of a rural Kenyan community and aren’t afraid of a bit of hard graft (punctuated with plenty of tea breaks!) then participating in a project with Excellent and Quest in the beautiful rolling hillsides of Kola may well be for you...